PROEJECT & IDEAS > Distance Learning > Classroom Webpage
DESCRIPTION:
Having your own classroom webpage can have its advantages. Communication with students and parents being just one of many. Using your webpage to extend your contact time with your students beyond the classroom can be another powerful benefit.

Ideas on how to turn your classroom webpage into a DISTANCE LEARNING LAB:

  1. Add Study Guides for your students for upcoming quizzes and exams.
  2. Create pronunciation guides and include sound files for students to listen to.
  3. Include visual representations (photos/clip art) of vocabulary to be learned.
  4. Have class lectures available for review as a podcast to download.
  5. Make PowerPoint presentations used in the classroom available to download.
  6. Include more detailed information and relevant links than regular classroom time allows for interested and more advanced students.
  7. Convert vocabulary lists into fun games..
  8. Create self-directed student activities.

Once you have created and are mantaining your virtual classroom, don't forget to encourage and reward your students for visiting and using actually using it. All your hard work in editing, uploading, and mantaining the site are useless, if your students do not know about it nor use it. Here are some ideas how to generate traffic to your site.

  • Personalize your webpage by using your students' illustrations, photos, and voices.
  • Assign homework or extra credit that includes looking something up that is only available through your website.
  • Make sure you mention and refer to your website frequently during class.
  • If you have a projector and Internet connectivity, show your website frequently during class time, so students become familiar with its layout and content.
  • Reward students who visit your website and then e-mail you comments or even contribute to the site with relevant links.
  • Showcase students' work by publishing them online.
STANDARDS ADDRESSED:
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS (NETS) FOR TEACHERS
  • Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
  • identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.
  • plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.
  • plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.
  • facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards.
  • use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.
  • apply technology to develop students' higher order skills and creativity.
  • manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.
  • apply technology to increase productivity.
  • use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS (NETS) FOR STUDENTS
  • Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
  • Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
  • Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
  • Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks.
NATIONAL ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE STANDARDS

GOAL 2

  • Standard 2: Students will use English to obtain, process, construct, and provide subject matter information in spoken and written form.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
  • Computer
  • HTML knowledge or WYSIWYG Editor
  • Internet Hosting Company
EXAMPLES

Example of teachers using their classroom website as a distance learning tool:
TUTORIAL on how to create your own classroom website.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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