Calling students by name on the second day of class is a powerful way to include them in meaningful interactions. Not only do we have class demonstrations for selecting and evaluating software for content relevant purposes, but students select four of their own software selections to analyze. Therefore, I have found making requests to commercial software vendors, who want their software analyzed by our preservice students, to be a valuable investment. Some software must be returned to the company within a 90-day period, other demoware is ours to keep. Students locate 5 well-selected sites for teacher or student use.
Students analyze attributes of the website and the potential to invite higher level thinking.
Lesson plan ideas for a specific grade level or purposeful staff development uses are described for each site. At the end of the assignment, summary statements must be outlined providing 5 good reasons for Internet use in school and 5 thoughtful cautions regarding use of the Internet in the educational setting. A theme unit, an interactive learning center, a multimedia project, or a social studies website. Students may work collaboratively or independently on their final projects. There are revolving due dates for project completion and presentation in class.