Internet Education
In the past few years, the internet has gained the attention of the general public and has opened up as a convenient and easy to use source for communication and information. The absence of a centralized control has created a culturally rich and creatively unique information environment. Public confidence has grown as the published information has become more reliable and search engines make it easier to find. Now, much of the world is looking toward the internet for research and knowledge.
This provides science teachers, looking for ways to encourage scientific curiosity, a new tool for instruction. It must be noted however, that to publish on the internet effectivly requires a great deal of work. While creating internet web sites has become easier with new web design programs, organizing and presenting the scientific information effectivly requires as much work as it does for classroom teaching. With time, creativity, and a desire to help students learn, the internet can be used as a fun tool for the teaching of science.
Why Internationally?
When addressing a group in any setting, it is important to know your audience. This is especially true in teaching. Age, grade, and interest level are a few of the many important audience variables that can change the delivery of the information you are presenting. Imagine the differences between teaching astronomy to a class of third graders in Fairmont, West Virginia, or to a class of physics majors at the University of Western Australia.
In the classroom setting this is not often a problem, but on the internet the situation is unique. Although you may intend your information to be read by United States high school students, most likely you will reach a much larger range of people. It is understandable then that you should be very aware of the things you may say, and references that you may make. When you say "we built...", "we are...", or "our government...", are you talking about 'us' as a nation or 'us' as a people? Equally you should be aware of comments that might offend an international reader. No matter how strongly you may believe that the "United States has the best...", making such a comment on the internet is likely to get you more feedback than you want.
Keeping a global view may be a challenge at first, but the benefits of teaching to a planet sized classroom can be rather exciting.
Advantages of the Internet
Multimedia is a term often used, but the advantages not always fully comprehended. With some limitations, the internet is now a multimedia environment. This means that not only can a teacher provide words and pictures for students as with a textbook, through the internet a teacher can provide sounds, videos, computer simulations, and interactive games to help describe a difficult idea or concept.
For example, those students which find it difficult to see things three dimensionally could use an interactive simulation to rotate around anything from a model of an atom to a model of our galaxy. Combined with images of other galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope, interacting with a computer model can help students gain a three-dimensional perspective.
This type of multimedia information can also stimulate a learners interest. Recordings of historical speeches, films of man walking on the moon, open heart surgery, demonstrations of a principle of physics, or even an exotic animal in the wild can captivate a student's imagination.
Even more, the internet provides the opportunity for direct feedback. Sending questions using e-mail to the scientist or teacher who provided the information is an option not available with a textbook or CD-ROM disk.
Credibility
Their are two sides to the question of credibility on the internet: "How credible are you?" and "How credible are you perceived to be?" Anyone with the desire can not only access, but can also publish on the internet. With such a large amount of information from such a wide variety of producers, an intelligent internet user learns to 'weed-out' information from questionable sources. The simplest way to do this is to look at the service provider. A document from www.nsta.org (National Science Teachers Association) would tend to be more believable than one from a personal homepage of an online service provider.
Other credible providers may include companies which have other forms of established media publishing (such as CNN Online or Discovery Online) or other government or education services (such as nasa.gov or wvu.edu). With this in mind, you can see that your service provider can be a factor in the perceived credibility of your information. And as with all published material, the perceived credibility of your information will be subject to correct grammar and spelling.
Equally as important for the teacher is the actual credibility of your information. While you may get away with misquoting a historical figure in a high school classroom, the 'facts' you present on the internet will again be open to the scrutiny of a global internet community. It is not a bad idea to have your scientific information proof read by as many scientists as you can get a hold of.
Content and Organization
There are a number of possibilities that come to play in the actual organization of teaching across the internet. These depend on the depth and the purpose of the online course or information. Again, it is important to know your audience.
Options include providing information as:
*a supplement to classroom teaching
*detailed information for excelling students
*alternate source for students having trouble
*online lectures, supplemented with a textbook
*a complete, stand alone teaching course
In addition to these basic ideas, are questions of how much feedback will be available to the students. Will students register for the class and submit worksheets to the instructor for grades? Will online quizzes be provided? What sort of home lab experiments are available to the students?
A number of techniques that are common around the internet include Frequently Asked Questions, Links to Other Resources, Ask a Professor, and Interactive Quizzes. The options are limitless and many online examples are available for ideas. The use of the internet is relatively new and most instructors are still experimenting.
Additional Information to Consider
Avoid redundancy. Be aware of what types of similar information is already available. Add to what is there, organize it better, or create a "links to other resources" page. There is a great deal of information already available, but there is always room for improvement.
Understand that the internet is a fast paced and quickly changing medium. Update relevant information and be aware of trends in the industry. It is not enough to create a web site and leave it, you must also periodically check for problems and compare your site to other sites.
Be sensitive to internet users who can not afford the latest computer hardware. A large percentage of internet users are still using text-only browsers. Make your information available to these people as well. This includes making your images "clickable" so they may be downloaded and viewed with another program.
Keep your site "user friendly". Make sure the information you provide is well organized and easy to comprehend. Outline formats work well with the hypertext medium.
Watch out for copyright infringement. NASA images are not copyrighted, but many other images are. Most copyright laws carry over to the internet, including plagiarism.
Be aware of what you may be promoting. How your site is funded and who provides your internet access will determine the presence of advertisements. Be aware of banners and other links that may be included with your site. The best policy is to use educational internet providers, such as public schools or state colleges and universities which do not rely on corporate funding.
Finally, in teaching science it is important to remember that no online game, video clip, or sound byte is better than the actual experience. Make sure your courses and lessons encourage students to be active in the "real world". In the cyberspace environment especially, it is necessary to make the information relative, as well as to emphasize the importance of using lab experiments and everyday events to understand science.
Getting Started: Resources and Education Sites
General Resources:
Teacher
Talk Home Page
Copyright
Information
Online Science Courses and Lectures:
Atomic Physics
Supersite
Chemistry Topics
for Your Selection
Physics 161
- Online Access
Science Education Resources: (Includes links to internet science
courses)
Astronomy
Picture of the Day Educational Links
Internet
Chemistry Teaching Resources
K-12 Science Education
Resources
National Science Resource Center
Science Education
Association Home Page
US
Department of Education - Helping Your Child Learn Science
USGS
Biological Resources Servers