 Chapter 6: Fostering Online Learning with Educational Websites and Apps Alexis Montgomery and Kendra Phipps

Managing Information Electronically  Digital Content  Social Bookmarking  Cloud Computing

Organizing Electronic Resources to Address Curriculum Standards  Local, state and national curriculum standards can be found online.  A standards connector can organize and store web-based material in teaching and curriculum learning standards.

Enhancing Learning  WebQuests  Virtual field trips  Videoconferencing

WebQuests  Virtual journeys in which students visit a group of preselected websites.  Designed and guided by teachers.  Teachers can use software like PowerPoint and Prezi and websites such as QuestGarden to create WebQuests.  Students prepare presentations to share with classmates.

Example Prezi brown/

Virtual Field Trips  Virtual field trips can expand the worldviews of students.  March 29, 2012: More than 1 million students across the United States took a virtual trip to Ellis Island in New York City.  Virtual field trips do not require reservations so teachers can be flexible in timing of the trips.

Virtual Field Trips (cont.)  Google Earth offers virtual tours to:  Roman Colosseum  Palace of Versailles  Sistine Chapel  Smithsonian Institution  And many more amazing places!

Interactive Videoconferencing  Offers real-time access to people and places that students are unable to visit.  Achieves interactivity between students and the places the class is visiting electronically.  Makes participants at each site feel involved and invested in the experience.

Online Learning and Virtual Schools Pros  Home-schooled students are no longer being taught by parents that may not have a background in education.  Gifted and Talented students are able to do the advanced work they need without being placed with students that are older.  Virtual schools are less expensive than “brick-and-mortar” schools Cons  Students are deprived of the social interaction present in traditional schools.  Teachers receive less pay and benefits.  Students in virtual students do not perform as well as students in traditional schools.