d.
Developing Your Own Knowledge of the Resources
Having
made decisions about using some of the resources and opportunities
in tandem, it is important for the teacher in the case study to
get to know the resources well enough to feel confident about
using them in the classroom. It is also important that the pupils
will feel comfortable about using resources.
We
can focus on this with an exercise that should provide some focus
on the relations between generic CD ROM encyclopedia material
and more focused web-based resources.
First,
take a look at the version of Encarta your school holds as part
of its Swansea Bay Online Learning Partnership contract. This
will be available from your mentor or your school's SBOLP contract
manager.
Then
answer the following questions - just to give you some focus to
begin with:
- How
far does the CD provide you with textual, graphical and video
resources you could find useful to merely set the scene for
this area of work.
- Do
you know how to copy and paste elements of the CD to your own
worksheets, and are you aware of the legal constraints on your
activity in this respect?
When
you have done this, take a look at the web sites listed below
and answer the questions that follow:
Resistant
Materials - Wood
www.campbell-special-wood.com
Gives examples of types of wood and their uses.
www.shopsmith.com/cshowgrp-6000.htm
Gives wood-turning tips and images.
www.woodworking.com
This site is useful, but is devoted to links.
www.turned.wood.com
Provides excellent galleries of work.
Resistant
Materials - Metals
www.principalmetals.com
A commercial information site.
www.diversifiedmetals.com
Commercial site providing pictures of metals in use.
www.conexmetals.com
Provides loads of pictures of metal products.
Resistant
Materials - Plastics
www.plasgad.co.il/children.htm
An Israeli commercial site with pictures of plastic products.
Childcare
and Education
www.slacker.clara.net/teletubbies/
An independent site on the famous tubbies.
www.bbc.co.uk/education/teletubbies/
The official site of the tubbies.
www.bbc.co.uk/nature/
A BBC site on issues in nature - some good images.
www.cmom.org
The official site of the Children's Museum of Manhattan.
www.childrensmuseum.org/teachers/teachers.html
A resource centre attached to the museum.
www.mesc.nbs.gov/butterfly/Butterfly.htm
A
site devoted to helping children understand butterflies and other
aspects of nature.
Nutrition
www.dietition.com
Information and pictures on health and diet.
www.vegsoc.org
The vegetarian society - information as well as pictures.
www.ifis.org
The official site of the International Food Information
Service.
www.nisbets.co.uk
A good site for a catering supplier - to help pupils build up
their own catalogues.
www.nutrition.org.uk
Information and some image-source for nutrition.
Textiles
http://a-mass.com/xstitch/chart_gallery.htm
A gallery of charts and pictures for stitches.
www.firstview.com/designerlist/home.html
Galleries of recently released clothing designs.
www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/history.html
A fascinating site on the history of costume.
- If
you were able to look at two or more of the sites, how would
you compare them in terms of relevance to the objectives the
teacher in the case study wants to meet?
- Do
any of the sites offer opportunity to gather both image and
video materials, and how do you think you might do this?
When
you have looked at a CD and the web in the light of these questions,
and perhaps thought of some ideas of your own to go with these
resources, you should discuss with your mentor what you want to
do with the material in the classroom. This can be done in a mentor
visit, over the telephone or by email, and should serve merely
to satisfy you that you are on the right track with your use of
the materials.
 e.
Planning the Work of Learners
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