Web Resources and Online Communication

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Web Resources and Online Communication

• Petrea Redmond

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Your space on the web

• Create your own web address which tells us a
  little about yourself
• E.g. www.teachtech.edu.au

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URL and Email dissection

• www.usq.edu.au
• redmond_at_usq.edu.au

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Internet in Schools

• Internet User Agreement or Acceptable Use Policy
• Filtering
• Inappropriate sites
• Avoid student surfing or searching
• for search engine ranking

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How to find stuff on the web

• Type in URL
• Use search engines
• Use subject directories
• Use meta search engines

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Search Engines

• Software (web crawlers/robots/spiders) that visit
  web pages and gather information storing data in
  a database
• When you are using a search engine you are not
  searching the Internet Live you are searching a
  fixed database
• Any search engine searches less than 40 of the
  entire web

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• The search engine retries WWW documents from its
  data base that match the Keywords entered by the
  searcher
• Examples Google, Alta Vista, Excite, Infoseek,
  .
• How search engines differ
• Search different data bases
• Details of site given differs
• Robot used to search differs
• Relevancy of ranking differs

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Subject directory/Web Index/Web Guide

• Organised indexes of subject categories that
  allow the Web search to browse through lists
• Maintained by humans
• Smaller number of sites that search engines
• Categories may include Entertainment, Business,
  Sports
• Example Yahoo

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Meta search engines

• Does not create it own data base, it searches the
  data bases of other search engines
• Example Dogpile

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Keywords

• Identify keywords be specific
• Select synonyms and other word forms
• Students sometimes have difficult gaining
  appropriate information using this method only

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Wildcard Symbol

• allows you to search for several words with
  the same stem
• Educator
• Educators
• Educat
• Education
• Educational

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Using phrases

• Use inverted commas
• For example, if you type in
• Australian sporting heroes the search engine
  will search for each word separately and you will
  get an overwhelming number of hits
• Australian sporting heroes will results in a
  search for the string of words, limiting the
  result

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Boolean searches

• Most search engines use Boolean logic
• Combine keywords with AND, OR, and NOT

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NOT

• Retrieves pages that contain Adam but NOT Eve

Adam
Eve
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OR

• Retrieves pages that contain either Adam, Eve or
  both Adam and Eve

Adam
Eve
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AND

• Retrieves pages that contain both Adam and Eve

Eve
Adam
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Other Tips

• Consider plural forms, capitals, check spelling
  and alternative spellings
• Include or exclude terms by prefixing terms with
  or -. Eg if searching for Apple Pies you
  may put
• Apple Pies Macintosh
• Read the help and tips are of search engines and
  meta search engines

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Browsing Vs Searching

• Browsing use of subheadings and directories
• Searching use of keywords etc
• Surfing

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Which is the best one?

• Students - child friendly
• Try NoodleTools and NoodleQuest

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Evaluating Sites

• Why?
• Teachers evaluate prior to student use
• Time efficiency
• Appropriateness
• activities

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What makes a good site?

• Y Chart

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How to pick a good educational site

• Separate form from content
• Reliable source
• Validity/accuracy of information
• Currency
• Relevancy to students
• Reading level
• No or limited advertising
• Lots of white space
• Technical issues

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Some other peoples ideas on web page evaluation

• Web page evaluation rubric
• ABC of Web evaluation
• A hybrid
• Keep looking..

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Online communication and Communities

• 3rd Wave change in patterns of interaction
• knowledge or information age
• Netiquette acceptable behaviour using CMC

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Netiquette DOs for students

• Be concise
• Be polite
• Use Threads
• Be careful with humor or sarcasm
• Check e-mail regularly
• Edit message before replying
• Use a subject line
• Lurk

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More Dos

• Check spelling and grammar
• Delete sent mail regularly
• Reply to the proper person
• Create a context for comments
• Check the receivers name and address
• Be forgiving
• Read FAQ

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Netiquette Donts for students

• Send chain letters
• Use all CAPITALS
• Assume privacy
• Flaming
• Spamming
• Assume information is current
• Perpetuate hoaxes
• Open email from unknown sources

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Real Time Vs convenient time

• CMC synchronous and asynchronous forums
• Email
• Chat
• Mailing List
• Newsgroup
• Bulletin Boards
• MUDs, MOOS and MUSE

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Email

• Asynchronous
• Telephone Tag
• Elements to, CC, greeting, body, signature,
  attachments
• KeyPals

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Chat, IRC

• keyboard conversations
• Real time or synchronous
• Use of nicknames
• With students
• Author online
• Specify rules
• Play first
• Start with activity, and move on

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Mailing List or listserv

• Asynchronous
• Must subscribe
• People with common interest discuss issues, share
  information or ask questions
• Forms part of general email, 12 email sent goes
  to all members
• Many professional associations
• QSITE
• Education Queensland
• OzTeachers

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Bulletin Boards

• Asynchronous
• Generally Open
• Need to look
• USQ Discussion lists - closed

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MUD, MOO and MUSE

• Interactive virtual worlds that players construct
• Games

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Emoticons and smileys

• Images created with keyboard to designed to show
  an emotional state of sender in plain text
  messages
• ) Happy smileygt( Very angry smiley ) Winking
  smiley( Frowneyhttp//www.cknow.com/ckinfo/emo
  ticons.htm
• http//www.netlingo.com/smiley.cfm

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Educational uses of CMC

• Authentic audience for writing
• Connecting with community
• Connecting with other schools
• Connecting with Experts