Through students, parents, fellow colleagues, e-mails,
search engine results, and school initiatives, it seems as though I can be
bombarded with several new websites to evaluate each and every day. I think
this can be viewed as a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s awesome that
there are so many current, new, and engaging resources to access at the tip of
my fingers. On the other hand, it’s incredibly overwhelming, time consuming,
and sometimes difficult to filter through all the content available.
When I evaluate a new website to use with students, I take
several things into consideration. Just like any other information I’m sharing
in the classroom, I first consider if it is age-appropriate, easily accessible
to all students, and fits within my district curriculum. Websites also require
other evaluation.
* It’s
important to evaluate the reliability of the website. How long has it been
around? Who/what group developed
and supported the website? Is it designed for use in education or can it easily be adapted and used for my
students’ needs?
* The
cost of accessing features on the website is important to me in my classroom.
In a similar fashion to apps, my district
does not provide many paid subscriptions to websites unless there is strong justification from as to why
that particular site is needed in their classroom. Good or bad, paid subscription sites are often
placed on the back burner due to the vast amount of free Web 2.0 tools available.
* If I discover
a website at home, it’s important for me to determine if the site will be
supported by our district’s
filter and any additional plug-ins or software that may be needed. Even if it works great at home, there are often more restrictions
on student computers at school.
* Will
my students be safe on this website? This is a question I ask myself not only
because of CIPA, but also because parents
are trusting me to keep their children safe. I tell students all the time that their safety is my number
one job followed by learning and then having fun. I think it’s important to stress to them that safety is
not just in a physical sense, but also includes their online presence.
* I
often catch myself wanting to try the newest website that was shared with me or
that I just discovered right away. This is
where I have to stop back and evaluate my teaching and students’ needs. Am I using a website just
because it’s neat, engaging, or the newest trend? OR Am I using the website because it contributes to more
effective instruction and will help assist student learning?
Teachers definitely have their collection of websites that
are specific to student usage and also specific to teacher usage. Many of the
things I evaluate when looking at a new website to use with students carry over
into the desirableness of teachers using websites. The most important things
that stick out to me, however, are the learning curve to navigate a new site
and the practicality to share and use the site with teachers and students of
all technology usage levels. Teachers in the Web 2.0 era do a great deal of
networking and sharing materials. If a website cannot easily be shared or explained
to colleagues and/or students, it is often off my list before even evaluating
the other aspects of it. Personally, I’m the most “tech-savvy” of my 5
grade-level colleagues. I explore and try a variety of new websites before
sharing with them. Once in a while, I will try something personally or with
only my students, but to keep consistency among our grade level, I almost always
only use tools that I think even the least “tech-savvy” of us could be
successful with. They are great sports and always willing to try, but I believe
that we need to use the internet and its resources to help us work “smarter”
and not try to add in complications just to use a fancy new Web 2.0 tool.
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