Web Guides & Directories
If you would like your search for good educational resources to take on an international flair, take a look at this directory. Besides the usual catagories like Math and History, you can also find web sites related to Scottish Curriculum Issues and Welsh. In addition to materials for your students, the site also includes learning materials and links for adults, including some free online courses (like gardening presented by the Royal Horticultural Society).
Of all the many search sites on the web, this is the most popular. However, it’s also the best, the one most likely to return what you want on the first page. Google works by placeing a higher priority on pages which are linked from other pages. If you want to do any serious searching with Google, be sure to read the advanced search page which is very well written. I would not recommend this (or any other web search tool) for independent student use, however. If you can’t find what you need at Google, try Alta Vista. While using Alta Vista is more complicated than Google, it indexes more of the really obscure stuff on the web.
Roughly speaking, podcasts are to blogs what radio is to newspapers. And iTunes is the largest directory of podcasts available. There are thousands of audio programs being created every week and, while most of it is not suitable for classroom use, there are also some excellent materials that are. The collection includes a large number of programs from public radio, from both the US and other countries. You’ll also find a variety of programs produced by teacher for teachers as well as student-created programs. To use iTunes, you must download the application (free for both Mac and Windows) and install on your desktop. You can then use the interface to find, manage, and play the podcasts (no iPod required).
This visually delightful page does a fantastic job of reviewing web sites produced by and for kids, ages 18 and under. Every week, those of the highest caliber receive Digby’s “Four-Paws” Award for Excellence. You can even add to the site by nominating your favorite ones.
This is a very large and comprehensive directory of web sites for educators maintained by Kathy Schrock, the head of the Technology Department for a school district in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Even better than this collection, however, is the Additional Information section. Here you’ll find links to materials about using the Internet in the classroom. Updated daily, this is an excellent place to explore frequently.
An impressive collection of materials for teaching in the primary grades and pre-school (not just kindergarten). The lesson plan sections are updated weekly and there are sections on classroom crafts, teacher tips and ideas for games. There is a small list of links to web sites for children and to other sites for primary teachers.
Formerly known as MarcoPolo, Thinkfinity is a partnership between six major instructional web sites (soon to include seven or eight), now under the sponsorship of Verizon Foundation. The site is included here because of the excellent search tools that connect them all together. You can search based on the topics you are teaching, on the sites that you want to include and/or on the type of media (audio, video, animation, etc.) that you need. The main site also includes information about their professional development programs and printed materials, all of which are completely free. The regular newsletter the MarcoPolo people used to send has been suspended for retooling but should be back soon.
This is the Library of Congress’ directory of all the countries in the world (yes, including Iraq but strangely, there’s no map) with links to information about the country’s geography, science, religion and more. The main page for most countries includes a very nice map and the categories that apply. The collection of links for some countries with few internet points are rather sparce as you might expect but this is an outstanding collection for anyone doing research on world history, cultures and current events.
Blogs are a relatively new phenomena which allows anyone to publish their ideas on the web. Keeping track of the more than 30 million blog conversations is what Technorati does. Their main page shows the major topics currently being written about as well as the most popular search terms for that hour. Users can also create watchlists to keep track of the subjects in which you’re most interested. While most teachers will not be interested in a large part of what is written in blogs, they are fast becoming an important source linking people to information on the web.
The granddaddy of all index sites on the web – if you can call something in business for only a few years a granddaddy. Yahoo may not be the most complete directory but it is the easiest to use. The search engine is fast but looks for key words in their descriptions, not the text on each page. For younger kids, look at their junior version called Yahooligans. Yahoo also has a directory of email addresses and phone numbers and directories for a growing list of metropolitan areas.
This site is one of the best for helping teachers make use of the Internet. First of all, look for the Blue Web’n section which is a searchable index of sites organized by curriculum topics. Also take a look a Filamentality which allows you to create your own online activity which then can be shared with other teachers. Even if you don’t feel like building a lesson, take a look through the thousands available in their library. Finally, this site has excellent sections on grant opportunities (along with resources to help you apply) and on professional development. As a bonus, the organization of the site has improved tremendously in the past year.
