The Global Classroom by Cathy Buckingham

Getting Started Integrating the Internet Into the Classroom

     After considering various information and issues concerning the global classroom, it seems wise to seek out advise on the best ways to create such a learning environment. Classroom Connect is a monthly publication for educators that provides expertise and Internet resources to help teachers improve instruction so that student performance grows. The staff provides Internet Curriculum Integration tapes to help train teachers in addition to sponsoring a national conference each year. Their web address is www.classroom.com. Classroom Connect recommends a three-step approach to help teachers begin to integrate the Internet into their classroom instruction. Initially teachers should add an Internet component to their traditional lesson plans and join an Internet project. Many web sites offer hundreds of examples of ready-made lessons for teachers to use. The Lesson Plan Place is a particularly large clearinghouse for several hundred lessons organized by subject and grade level. One particularly useful example is under the language arts category: the University of Illinois Intensive English Institute has developed a group of reading comprehension lessons for 6th through 12th grade. These lessons utilize a RealPlayerG2 to play exerpts of current radio shows or other broadcasts. Students listen and answer questions which are scored by the program in an interactive way that provides instant feedback to students. Other Internet sites from which to acquire lesson plans are as follows: Teachernet.Com Lesson Ideas, World School, ERIC, and The Explorer Database.

     Internet projects are found in news groups and mailing lists where large companies like MECC and Scholastic and even individual teachers send out requests for participation from classrooms like yours. These projects might be Email pen pals, collaborative information gathering and problem solving, competitions like Internet scavenger hunts, or interactive writing like progressive stories or sharing essays on topics of mutual interest. Two of the best places to find classroom projects are Global School Net Foundation and IECC-Projects (Internet Curriculum Integration, Tape 1).