Welcome to the International Schools
Educational Technology
Services (I.S.E.T.S.) enewsletter BEYOND DIGITAL for November.
Who are we?
http://isets.org/aboutus/About_Us.htm
Teacher Web Portals: With so many sites geared to teachers,
ISETS highlights four of its favorite teacher sites.
Online Application Tutorials: Wanting to sharpen your skills
with an application? Here we feature a selection of Windows and Mac
online application tutorials.
Subject Links: Links for students and teachers to plan and
research class themes and units, sorted by topic.
Surf Byte of the month: Our monthly pick of two great sites for
you to use in your class today!
Teacher Web Portals: Today on the internet, teachers have the
possibility to access a wealth of excellent sites specifically
designed for teachers. These sites often include lesson plans,
classroom resources, curriculum guidance, project ideas, links and
activities with a rich variety of teacher-centered information. This
month ISETS highlights four of its favorite teacher sites.
PBS Teacher:
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/siteguide/siteguide.shtm
This is an extremely comprehensive site, integrating many of the PBS
archives, resources, links, and services all into one easy to use
site. They have a great introductory tour for first time users. It is
extremely rich in content -- massive in scope but easy to navigate.
The resources are laid out by curricular subject, topic, grade level
and standard. Included are tips on how to teach with technology. You
can subscribe to the site, which then gives you access to many more
resources.
TechLearning.com:
http://techlearning.com Another favorite of ISETS’. This site is
divided into three sections: Teachers, Tech. Coordinators, and
Administrators. It is rich in information, links, resources, has a
wealth of free online newsletters, and also a great section on tips.
They have an excellent offline magazine too. There is also information
about products, reviews, weekly news and a useful section about
grants. Within the site is a comprehensive database of their articles,
which are excellent, and hot links on a wide variety of topics. Well
worth a stop.
Smithsonian Education:
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/
At this appropriately-named site find the gateway to education
resources of the Smithsonian. A rich resource, with three sections:
for teachers, families and students. Each month a topic is highlighted
(this month Native Americans). Each section has an excellent search
engine, which allows you to target your needs through a database
search. The educator’s section has hundreds of teaching materials,
resources related to these materials, and access to the museum’s vast
archive. Along with many of the resources, lesson plans are provided
in pdf format. ISETS’ favorite section is the field trip section
allowing you to virtually travel the world through many of the great
museums, and explore endless topics. The whole site is done with great
taste and an excellent layout.
Learn online: Australian Broadcasting Education Site:
http://www.abc.net.au/learn/
This is a well-resourced site, with a user-friendly interface containing a
wealth of sites, links, and lesson ideas. There is a school section,
life learning section, subject category section, and learn about
section. You can browse the site by age category. The site contains an
excellent teaching with technology section. The resources tap into the
wealth of information and resources from the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. With the site you also have access to the radio and TV
show catalogue with online content for teachers.
For more on this type of site click here:
http://isets.org/eEducator/lesson_plans.htm
Online Free Application Tutorials:
Working in an international school often limits your access to
professional development opportunities (or requires one to travel
great distances). With our busy schedules it is often hard to keep
updated on many of the applications we work and teach with. New
versions come and go, and so often trying to find the time to come to
grips with the tips and tricks is a challenge. Here at ISETS we have
created a set of online tutorial links to the most common applications
many educators interact with on a daily basis. These sites provide
online tutorials with diagram-based step-by-step instructions.
Featured are both applications and operating systems for the Windows
and Mac platforms. Click here to get a full view of these links:
http://isets.org/eEducator/apps_tut_index.htm
Subject Links:
This feature of the ISETS site focuses on internet links organized by
subject topic in alphabetical order. With one click, view links to
over 60 different topics. The sites have been previewed by ISETS and
can easily be integrated as classroom resources. Use this index with
your students when researching class themes or topics. (also available
at eStudent link:
http://isets.org/eStudent/subject/subject_links.htm ).
If there is a topic you don’t see, drop us an e-mail with your topic,
and we’ll set up a link. Have a look at our present selection:
http://isets.org/eCurriculum/currlink/subject_links.htm
Surf Bytes of the Month
National Geographic Map Machine
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
This amazing site includes physical, political, cultural, and
historical maps of each of the continents. With this is a huge
database of satellite images, complete with country and city labels.
As you interact with each map, you can zoom in and out, and have quick
access to the map legend, which does an excellent job of explaining
the map key. The historical maps are wonderful in giving a real feel
for how topography has been perceived in the past. The big plus of
this site: it is easy to navigate, and extremely student-friendly.
This is a wonderful interactive resource that acts as a rich
springboard to many class themes and units. Appropriate for students
in grades 4-12.
Quiz Center
http://school.discovery.com/quizcenter/quizcenter.html
This is a very powerful tool which allows you to create, administer,
and grade quizzes online. You work with templates, and basically fill
in the template with your own content and answers. With this you can
then get instant feedback (web based) on how your students have done.
You’ll be able to make online quizzes that provide instant feedback to
you and your students. The site is free. You have to create an account
with My Discovery . This then gives you access to many more features
of the Quiz Center. This is part of the school.discovery.com web
portal.
Beyond Digital is a free online enewsletter and part of the
ISETS’ (International Schools Education Technology Services)
web portal. To subscribe or unsubscribe please click on the
link below:
http://isets.org/Beyond_Digital/beyond_digital.htm
…until next month, http://isets.org
Comments: contact@isets.org
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