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Two Few Computers and
Too Many Kids
What Can I
Do? Part
I
By Tamela Randolph, Jacqueline Scolari, and Douglas
Bedient
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If enthusiasm were the only requirement
for technology
integration, every student would have a computer on his or
her desk
to use in every discipline. Yet reality is such that many
financially
stressed districts, whether urban or rural, cannot afford
to put
a computer on every desk, and classroom teachers must
stretch all
resources, electronic and otherwise. Another challenge in
developing
technology literacy and adeptness in students and teachers
is integrating
technology into daily routines. The ideas presented in
this four-part
series in L&L should be viewed as ways to
integrate the
computer into classroom activities despite limited
resources. Our
suggestions encourage teachers and students to pursue a
variety
of tasks that use the computer as a tool for advancing
teaching
and learning. These are starting points and might be
addressed by
individuals, pairs, or teams of students, depending on how
a given
classroom or topic is organized. Because many schools lack
sufficient
technology or equipment for all students to work
simultaneously,
these ideas describe ways to assign work so that all
students have
relevant tasks though some are using
technology.
Web Sites
by Task Number
Note. These Web sites were
valid when
this issue of L&L went to press. We have
no control
over these sites, though, and the Web is very volatile.
Please let
us know if you find a broken link, and we’ll do our
best to
update it.
3. Online Bulletin Board
Ultimate Bulletin Board: www.ultimatebb.com/
UBB
is the most common online system. It includes several
unique administrative
features.
4. Practice Test Items on the Web
FrontPage:
www.microsoft.com/frontpage/
Claris Home Page: www.filemaker.com/products/hp_home.html
Adobe
PageMill: www.adobe.com/products/pagemill/main.html
These
Web tools allow the creation and management of Web pages.
HyperCard:
www.apple.com/hypercard/
Mac
tool for creating custom software organized as stacks of
cards.
5. Challenge Questions
Information
Please: www.infoplease.com
This
site provides access to almanacs, dictionaries, and
encyclopedias.
Metacrawler:
www.go2net.com/search.html
A
meta-search engine that searches several Internet search
engines
and their databases of Web pages simultaneously.
World
Book: www.worldbook.com
Several
versions of this encyclopedia are available online and on
CD-ROM.
10. Find Images for Student Reports
Image
Search: www.thrall.org/proimage.html
Posing
as a search engine, this site aids in finding art, images,
and clip
art on the Web.
Copyright
Resources: http://desktoppub.about.com/compute/software/
desktoppub/msubcopy.htm?COB=home&terms=copyright&PM=112_300_T
13. Computer-Based Gradebook
GradeCenter:
www.schoolhub.com/gradecenter/
Self-proclaimed
as the Web’s best online gradebook.
ThinkWave
Educator: www.thinkwave.com/educator.html
A
free classroom management application that is available
for teachers’
use.
18. Subject-Relevant Humor
Bamdad’s
Math Comics Page: www.csun.edu/~hcmth014/Comics.html
Bamdad’s
hosts a wide variety of mathematical jokes.
Science
Jokes: www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes
This
site includes poems, quotes, puzzles, mnemonics, and other
interesting
things for mathematics and sciences.
19. Subject-Matter Contests Online
Houghton
Mifflin: www.eduplace.com/math/brain/index.html
Weekly
brain teasers for Grades 3 and up are posted here.
The
Math Forum: http://forum.swarthmore.edu/pow/
Online,
international, weekly mathematics contests for a variety
of levels
are sponsored by Swarthmore College.
Intel
Science Talent Search: www.sciserv.org/sts/
An
annual science competition.
Duracell/NSTA:
www.nsta.org/programs/duracell/
An
annual invention challenge for all U.S. students in Grades
6 through
12.
ThinkQuest:
www.thinkquest.org
A
variety of contests for girls and boys.
MathWorld
Interactive: http://forum.swarthmore.edu/mathworld/
Bimonthly
challenges for K–12 students.
20. The Birthday Child
Famous
Birthdays.com: www.famousbirthdays.com
Just
what the name says—birthdays of famous people are
posted at
this site.
The
Internet Movie Database: http://us.imdb.com/OnThisDay/
IMDb
contains some interesting facts about movie personalities
who were
born, died, or were married on the chosen day.
A thorough listing of individuals whose birthdays are on the chosen
day.
440
International: www.440.com/twtd/today.html
Find
events that took place on any day in history on this site.
The
History Channel: http://historychannel.com/tdih/index.html
Events
that occurred on a particular day in history are archived
here within:
Automotive, Civil War, Wall Street, Technology History,
and What
Else Happened?
21. Pet Information
Purina:
www.purina.com
Information
about cats and dogs—such as breeds, nutrition,
training and
behavior, and health and grooming—can be found on
this site.
The
Hartz Group of Pet Care Companies: www.hartz.com
Care
tips for dogs, cats, birds, small animals, and
aquatic-reptiles
are readily available.
The
American Kennel Club: www.akc.org
Lots
of material for dog aficionados.
22. Scholar Bowl
Knowledge
Master: www.greatauk.com/freequestions.html
KM
has weekly quizzes and sample scholastic competition
questions available.
Some seriously challenging questions can be found at this site.
A nice collection of practice questions for scholar bowlers are available.
25. Electronic Greeting Cards
Blue
Mountain Arts: www.bluemountain.com
Find
cards for everyone on this site.
HappyBirthdayToYou.com—A
Singing Birthday Card: www.happybirthdaytoyou.com
Produce
a completely personalized, professionally recorded version
of “Happy
Birthday” along with a personal spoken message in the
middle
of the song. Choose blues, country, children’s, rap,
jazz,
or six other musical styles.
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Tamela Randolph (trandolph@semenovm.semo.edu)
is an assistant professor at Southeast Missouri
State University.
She teaches mathematics content courses for
preservice elementary
teachers. Her research interests include integrating
technology
into the classroom. Contact Tamela at Department of
Mathematics,
MS 6700, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape
Girardeau,
MO 63701.
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Jacqueline Scolari (jscolari@som.siu.edu)
is an assistant professor of information and
communication
sciences in the School of Medicine at Southern
Illinois University.
She also directs SIU’s Medical Resource Center.
She investigates
practical technology initiatives in public
schools.
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Douglas Bedient (ga3213@siu.edu)
is a professor of curriculum and instruction at
Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale. He directs a secondary
teacher education
center and is a past international president of Phi
Delta
Kappa.
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Richard Dillon is editor of
L&L’s
One-Computer Classroom column. Contact him at 825 NE
128 St.,
Seattle, WA 98125; 206.366.8420; rwdillon@seanet.com.
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Copyright © 2000, ISTE (International
Society for Technology in Education).
All rights reserved.
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