More than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find. The result of that work is the FREE web site. FREE stands for Federal Resources for Educational Excellence. The web sites listed below are excerpted with permission from the FREE web site. This month, we highlight web sites for educational technology; in future months, we will feature other subject areas.
Computer Crime: A Lesson Plan for Teachers of Elementary and Middle School Children looks at issues in the field of computer crime, including predatory behavior and breaking into systems to vandalize and/or steal information and intellectual property. The site also offers a "Code of Responsible Computing" as developed by the Computer Learning Foundation. (Department of Justice)
Copyright on the Web — Activity, Learning Page answers 11 questions students, teachers, & parents may have about using Web images, sound recordings, and text in papers, presentations, and Web projects. (Library of Congress)
Creating Hypertext Dialogues Drawn from Narrative History Collections — Lesson, Learning Page invites students to use documents from "California As I Saw It: First Person Narratives, 1849-1900," to create hyperscripts depicting the motivations, expectations, fears, and realizations of immigrants who settled California between 1849 and 1900. Students' hyperscripts are online written dialogues that include links to illustrative written materials, images, and sound files from American Memory collections. (Library of Congress)
The Digital Classroom encourages teachers of students at all levels to use archival documents and to teach with primary source materials from the National Archives. The site offers discussions on how primary documents give form to history, instructions on building a school archive, and templates for document analysis worksheets. (National Archives and Records Administration)
Directorate for Education and Human Resources seeks to promote the health and continued vitality of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education. Resources include publications, programs, and outreach activities for all educational levels. (National Science Foundation)
Ecybermission is a Web-based math, science, and technology competition for teams in grades 6, 7, 8, and 9. Each team proposes a solution to a real problem in their community and competes for regional and national awards (such as U.S. savings bonds). Last year's winning 8th-grade team devised a 2-digit key code system to speed the handling of 911 calls. Registration is open through December 15. (Department of Army)
4Teachers helps teachers integrate technology into instruction. It features various tools for teachers: one for creating quizzes that students can take online, another for organizing and annotating Web sites, a third for developing rubrics, and more. A Webzine presents brain games, Web lessons, and stories about teachers and students using technology. (High Plains Regional Technology in Education Consortium, supported by Department of Education)
GLOBE — Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment is a worldwide network of students, teachers, and scientists working together to study and understand the global environment. Students and teachers from more than 9,500 schools in over 90 countries collect data that are then used by scientists and other researchers. It provides teacher guides, workshops, views of the data and the research, a resource library and more. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
InTime offers 400 video vignettes of pre K-12 teachers using technology in language arts, math, science, and other instruction. A conceptual model for analyzing the use of technology in instruction is among the tools and information on the site. (Department of Education)
Madagascar Adventure explores agricultural practices in Madagascar and analyzes the effects on the people, the environment, and the endangered lemurs. Students then create technology-enhanced presentations. (Peace Corps)
NASA's Education Program tells about NASA's science programs and education agenda. Educators can browse the Guide to NASA's Education Programs, access information on NASA's materials and services, and contact NASA representatives. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
NCES Classroom invites students to create their own graphs, solve a math teaser, play a probability game, or take an online quiz in math or science. Students can find tuition, degree, and program information for colleges and universities across the U.S. or look up statistics about their own elementary or secondary school, or the local library. (Department of Education)
