Parents concerned about Internet safety and their teen (or preteen)'s online information-sharing should read this article. It may sound devious to check up on your children, but the era of social networking makes it a must-talk topic. Your child or young adult may not realize the serious safety issues involved with having online space. Trying to "just say no" will not work on this issue. Have the conversation. Although this may not be a classroom issue, the negative sides of social networking tools are harming the positive tools for learning made available through the same technologies.

Teachers may want to share this article with parents to help them get the dialog started.

Students will research Puerto Rico online, then communicate via e-mail with students in Puerto Rico to discuss different aspects of the island. Discussion topics include tourism and the environment of the island, and comparing the treatment of the Taino Indians in Puerto Rico by the Spaniards with the treatment of the Cherokee Native Americans in North Georgia by English settlers. Students will also learn about Puerto Rico statehood and collaborate with their e-mail buddy to write a four-page paper outlining the pros and cons of statehood.
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These simple lesson plans provide a developmentally appropriate way to introduce the computer keyboard to young children using manipulatives and mnemonics to help them remember key locations. the web page itself is very simple and straightforward, but the ideas are the important part. Note: this teacher is selling the final two lessons in the series, and TeachersFirst does not endorse any product for sale. You can, however, read and try the first two lessons, then decide for yourself whether you wish to go further.

The Virginia Department of Education has created a very usable collection of acceptable internet and technology use policies from schools, colleges, and universities. These are presented along with some general guidelines as to the information that an AUP should contain. Great resource for schools and districts that want to be clear with students, faculty and staff about on-line rights and responsibilities.
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Share this link with your teaching colleagues who use the internet and technology regularly in the classroom.

Using an authentic environmental issue - acid rain - this lesson plan guides students through Internet research to discover pH levels of rainwater in their state, collect specific data from their own community, and investigate possible causes and solutions. In the process, students learn to use a spreadsheet to record and analyze data. Links to relevant Web sites and student materials are provided, along with ideas for extension activities. Aligned to National Standards.
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Throughout the 20th century, advertisements have influenced public behavior and opinion while leaving enduring icons and slogans in their wake. Explore some of these snapshots of American culture in this Ad Council site that provides printed and multi-media glimpses of its public service milestones - from war bonds, to Smokey the Bear, to Vince and Larry, the crash test dummies. View the examples in class and challenge students to design their own ad campaigns to address contemporary issues in America society.
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These fairly advanced puzzles - posted by two professors at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science - challenge students to construct and apply an algorithm or proof, or write a computer program to arrive at a solution. A new puzzle appears every few weeks, followed by a solution and related references.
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Cornell University’s guide to evaluating online information sources would be a great primer for teachers who are not proficient web searchers. High school students will also find this site a useful way of separating the reliable research sources from those less trustworthy.
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Professional development activities are just a mouse click away. This exceptional online library contains hundreds of educational videos, covering all grade levels and content areas. Search by discipline, grade, or keyword and complete a free registration to view the materials. Check out the broadcast schedule for a list of daily simulcasts. A high-speed connection is a must.
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Try this student-created site on copyright and use of artwork in school and web projects as a great way to introduce elementary students to the basics of copyright an intellectual property. Teaching these habits early on is a great way to ensure compliance later on.
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This site offers a broad collection of ideas, resources, and best practice discussions regarding the uses of assistive technology in schools. While the precise applicability of these resources will depend on local circumstances and student populations, this site could be a live-saver for teachers suddenly faced with a special education technology need.
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This interactive manipulative helps strengthen skills in pattern recognition involving shape, color, and number. Project in the classroom for a guided activity or use as a small group challenge in the computer lab. Visit the Parent/Teacher link for helpful suggestions and guided questions. Aligned to National Standards.
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This collection of downloadable templates provides great ideas for using Excel spreadsheets to create timelines across the curriculum. Visit the resource links for timeline content and interactive timeline tools.
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This comprehensive article gives all the details on using gated blogs safely in the classroom, including explanations of blogging basics, a TeachersFirst Step-by-Step on how to start one, complete reviews of several free blogging tools for teachers, and over two dozen ideas for how to use a blog with your students. Make "writing to learn" approachable and exciting. Don't miss the specially-honored TeachersFirst Class Blogs.

You could use this step by step as the framework for a self-directed or "buddy" professional development project. Share it with your principal or professional development coordinator.

This lesson plan introduces students to the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Using a bouncing tennis ball, students must collect data, enter it in a table, create a graph, and identify the variables in each 2-minute trial. Incorporate technology into this lesson by requiring students to use a spreadsheet program to record and represent their data.
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Students must grab a partner, choose a category, and test their knowledge with these interactive games that touch upon trivia related to historical dates, literature and writers, sports, and more.
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Tap into basic reading and mouse skills with this computer lab activity that creates a virtual scarecrow based on individual student responses. To extend this activity into the math classroom, poll students as they progress through the questions, then use that data in a graphing lesson.
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This is a well-written tutorial introducing HTML, site design, server issues, and many other topics. If you're interested in building your own site, or even if you just want to try a sample HTML page, this tutorial has both the detail and the tone to help. Privately published.
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Follow the progress of 100 TeachersFirst members as they collaborate and use a safe web2.0 tool with the support of the tool developer and TeachersFirst's teacher-friendly team. The 100 participants receive free, premium pilot accounts to use TRintuition’s workBench and our support to help them build learners in their classrooms. These accounts allow teachers and students to create online collaborative projects using the workBench’s visually-rich and user-friendly tools, possibly even collaborating with classes from other schools.

Both teachers and students can build online or downloadable projects using the workBench. Each free premium pilot teacher account includes up to 45 student user accounts for access throughout 2008. Teachers who are part of the pilot project will be asked to complete at least one classroom-related, student- or teacher-created project (or as many classroom-related projects as you wish!) before November 30, 2008.

This blog documents the project and the idea-sharing from the announcement of the project start in April, 2008 and will remain online as a prototype for collaborative use of technology after the project completion.

Teachers who wish to join the project should read the details and sign-up from the blog. Learn more about the TRIntuition workBench from the TeachersFirst Edge review of this tool.

This practical lesson gets students involved in using math to solve a real life problem: "How much will my dream car really cost me?" Using Excel, students create a spreadsheet and calculate interest and total payments based on several different loan terms.
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This site provides teachers with ready-to-use agricultural lessons that are both interactive and interesting to students of all ages. The site is geared towards grades 4-8, however there are activities for students in grades K-12. Students will enjoy the interactive "corn" scavenger hunt, witnessing the birth of pigs, seeing the Iowa of 150 years ago, virtual field trips and more. The web site is interdisciplinary and teacher-friendly.It includes numerous lesson plans (most interactive) and lots of new approaches to teaching subject matter. Requires QUICKTIME for video.

This web site is perfect for combining students' love of technology with standards in science, history, technology, information literacy and language arts. Especially unique are the interactive scavenger hunts and virtual field trips that allow students to step "out of the classroom." Partner students on computers for the scavenger hunt or take a virtual field trip together on a projector.

This interactive "just-for-fun" site challenges kids to make choices while developing tech-related motor skills. Using left and right arrow keys, students must move the basket-wielding elf forward and backward as he attempts to catch falling leaves and acorns. Different leaves carry different point values, so choose wisely, but stay away from the falling chestnuts. This site requires FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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Students will learn about the history of Cinco de Mayo and the Hispanic culture on this webquest. In groups of four, they work through seven different activities involving web research. Activities range from answering questions to making a piñata to sampling Mariachi music. A list of books on Cinco de Mayo is also included.
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The American Library Association’s ongoing coverage of the multiple privacy, access, and protection issues surrounding the Children’s Internet Protection Act offers a very thorough look at both the ethical and practical problems librarians confront on a daily basis. There are also examples of how local libraries – academic and public – are coping with these issues.
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TeachersFirst Edge entry: for slightly adventurous technology users. Imagine being able to give students (or parents)an exact link to a specific quote within a web page. This TeachersFirst Edge tool does exactly that. Why would you want to? Perhaps you want to send students to a certain paragraph for an activity: for reading comprehension, for reading a specific portion of text, or even for highlighting a literary device within a text or poem. Students will no longer waste time, announcing, "I can't find it!" or return to school saying they couldn't do the homework!

No membership or cost required. Tool can be used in less than 30 seconds. Skills needed: Open TWO windows in Internet Explorer or any web browser. One should be open to citebite; the other to the web page you wish to reference. On that web page, locate and "highlight" the exact passage of text you want to "send" people to see. Copy/paste the passage into the quotation box at Citebite (copy, then change windows). Return to the target web page and copy/paste its actual URL into Citebite. Click "Make Citebite." Copy/paste the new url, indicated after "Your citebite link is:" Note: if the original quote is within a FLASH presentation, it will not copy/paste or generate a Citebite. See this example of a Citebite link to a tip about TeachersFirst Edge tools: http://pages.citebite.com/b1j4l1j7o0ndu

Have your middle and high school students do a web page "credibility critique" on their potential sources by using Citebite before they start a research project. They can highlight passages as proof of credibility -- or lack thereof -- and give you the Citebite links. They will love this easy way to reference a specific portion of a page. You will love the ease of finding it. If you give them a Word document table as a web site evaluation rubric, they can paste the Citebites there, with their comments in the neighboring cell!

This site contains a very brief summary of current issues concerning students and Internet usage. It provides current acronyms for Internet terminology, AUP's (Acceptable Use Policies) and discussion starters for parents who are interested in discussing Internet issues and responsibilities with children.

This is a TeachersFirst Edge Entry for ANYONE who wants to know more about new technologies. No special skills needed. Watch and learn. If you are embarrassed to say that you don't know what all the "new web 2.0" terms are all about, this one is for you (and probably for your students' parents, as well). Common Craft uses a very simple, visual method of explaining all the latest technologies so that anyone can understand, using short video clips narrated by a positive and respectful voice. The next time you hear someone talking about RSS feeds or some other new doo-dad, stop here first so you will know what they are talking about. Did you think you were the only one who did not know? Fear not. This site has incredible popularity because there are LOADS of people quietly questioning -- just like you. Videos require Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Start by looking at "Most Viewed" and "Most Popular Right Now," but don't be afraid to search for other topics that have you wondering. You will definitely want to make this site a Favorite and tag is as "professional" information to keep you informed. Share it on your teacher web page to help out your parents, too!

This site has current movie reviews from the parents' point of view: What current movies are appropriate? What ages are they appropriate for? In addition to current films, there are reviews of TV programs, new DVD's, games, websites, books, music, etc. The site uses its own rating system: "Appropriate for age," "Know your kid," and "Not appropriate for age." Along with written reviews and Q/A approaches, there are video clips and tips. Each category of entertainment has several recommended and reviewed items with age ranges. There is also a newsletter and in-depth articles on subjects of concern to kids and parents.

Let your students' parents know about this site via your teacher web page or class newsletter. You may also want to share it with your school PTO or PTA.

A summary of the steps which schools, libraries, and similar institutions must take to comply with this act's security provisions. A useful guide to librarians, administrators, or those developing web content for young people. Developed by the state of Wisconsin.
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This site is a discussion-opener on safe use of the "social web." Some of the tools included are social networking sites, virtual worlds, chat, cell phones, video-sharing, and more. There are tips and advice for just about any medium kids and adults use today, as well as discussion forums where parents can ask questions and share information. Each article and advice section can be emailed at the click of a mouse. You can also download and share printable version (site creators do ask that you not modify them and that you simply tell them if you do download and share). While some posts may not represent your point of view, the important thing is to open dialog.

Include this link on your teacher or school web page for parents to access as part of a plan to work together. Consider using it as a hub for an evening discussion session with parents and students in a "round table" to air concerns and work together. Simply blocking or ignoring these tools is not educating or helping our kids. We want our students to grow into safe and responsible citizens both online and in person. If your school can involve and inform parents and students, you will have a better likelihood of using the new tools of the web in productive classroom settings, as well.

Teachers involved in distance education projects will find this introduction to the freedoms embodied in the TEACH act a useful tool. This act governs the copyright rule for the transmission of images and other materials as part of an accredited distance education course. These rules are generally more generous than “fair use” but still impose some limits. If your school creates distance education content, this one is a must.
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This is a collection of resources to help teachers and computer users understand the application of copyright and fair use laws to their work.
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Try these resources if you're unsure about how copyrighted materials can be used in the classroom.

Here's a whimsical look at copyright that may be useful for those who need an entire tutorial on the topic. If you're looking for quick answers to specific questions, there are better sites than this, but it works well for a general overview.
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Copyright Kids is a copyright primer created expressly for students. It provides a structured introduction to various aspects of copyright and their implications for students, especially those using the web for research projects. This one could be a great classroom reference or an integral element of a unit on copyright issues.
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This highly interactive explanation of copyright laws helps students recognize and understand their responsibility in citing sources. Use as an introduction or refresher before assigning research projects. The site also contains teacher resources and tips on explaining copyright issues.
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Help students to become savvy Internet users with this nicely structured lesson plan, complete with print-friendly handouts. Students are asked to brainstorm characteristics that make a Web page useful, use a critical evaluation tool to analyze an actual site, determine if the information is real or bogus, and reflect on the importance of carefully evaluating information found on a Web site. Aligned to standards.

Use this lesson as an introduction to an Internet-based research project, Web hunt, or WebQuest.

This award-winning site focuses on Internet safety. Advertised as being the "the country's leading specialist on cyber crimes" (Boston Globe. March 10, 2000), the site offers downloadable guides of different levels for parents and students, training for schools, and a variety of information about how to protect oneself against cyber crime. There are downloadable student and parent Internet user agreements, brochures,and tip sheets. Some areas of the site are still being developed.

As you start any class activity that uses the Internet, refer to the basics you learn from this site. Even if your school "teaches" Internet safety in another class, YOU need to reinforce it every time you have students online so they realize the universal importance of safety principles -- even with older teens.

Include this site on your teacher web page for students and parents to access as a reference. Share the printables with parents at open house or conferences.

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This site boasts activities designed to help educators utilize technology and internet resources in the class room. The site provides lessons and web-activities about technology and the internet for grades K-8. The lessons cover topics such as evaluating websites, promoting the use of secure internet resources, and encouraging safe chatting and emailing habits among students.
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This site offers one of the more articulate "teacher blogs" - usually interesting, seldom trivial, yet rarely whiny or preachy. Teachers who sometimes yearn for someone who can put things back in focus will often find this English teacher's posts helpful. This is an example of a blog for personal, rather than class use, with the intended audience being adults.

Typing tutorials are rarely captivating, but this one is an exception! The site walks students through a series of twelve activities that work every section of the keyboard. Each activity begins with a warm-up, then progresses through left and right hand exercises. In the process, students receive coaching and kudos from an unforgettable cast of characters. Keyboarding class will never be quite the same! (The emphasis is on hand position and accuracy, not speed.)The site uses FLASH or you can click for the NON-Flash version. Get Flash from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

Avoid the frustration of sending students to a site populated by dead links. Just enter a URL into this handy online and let it check to see if there are any broken text or image links on the page. Dr. Watson will also spell check a site, generate Word counts, and compute download speeds.
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Use this handy online tool to generate tests using a variety of formats - multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, true and false, short answers, and more. Just complete a free registration, then start creating and customizing your assessment. Follow the prompts to select font size and style, choose a format, enter each question and answer, and print the test and answer key. Your tests are saved online and can be easily accessed or edited from anywhere.
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This is a great guide for teachers interested in getting their students to use the web and related technologies creatively. You'll find a step-by-step process that lets students get organized before heading off on a project and encourages them to sort through their results before building a project. Great backgrounder for teachers getting started with web research.
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This is a nice collection of on-line tutorials and related information on software frequently used in schools. The author has clearly "been there - done that." If you'd like to do more with the programs on your computer, start here.
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Have you ever wished that you had an expert to turn to when undertaking a challenging unit or lesson? Imagine a professor from Yale volunteering to work with your students. This free, web-based mentoring service does just that by bringing teachers and students in contact with experienced mentors in a variety of subject areas. Curriculum-based interactions take place via email, web forum, chat and teleconferencing and can range in length from 6-weeks to an entire school year, depending on the needs and interests of the students. The website includes summaries of completed Electronic Emissary learning projects, and information on how to get involved with the program as a mentor, student, or teacher.
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Wow - the Best Practices lesson plans at this website are awesome! Each lesson plan incorporates technology to teach the students about a language arts topic. This is a site not to miss. Subjects include fairy tales, endangered species, spelling, poetry, sentences, sequential writing, research, My Town, tall tales, virtual vacations and many others. Most of the lesson plans include standards, assessments, explicit details and a ton of activities. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Many of these activities are perfect for your interactive whiteboards! These lessons are ready to go. Use the activities that are useful in your classroom to integrate technology into your Language Arts lessons.

The lesson plans at this website are amazingly detailed! Each lesson plan incorporates technology to teach the students about the mathematical topics. Most of the lesson plans include standards, assessments, explicit details and a ton of activities. There are about 15 lesson plans that include topics such as factors, division, statistics, math magic, logic and many others. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Use these interactive lesson plans to combine technology and math for your class. Many of the activities are perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard.

The lesson plans at this website are amazing and ready to go! Each lesson plan incorporates technology to teach the students about various social studies topics. Most of the lesson plans include standards (state of Michigan), assessments, explicit details and a ton of activities. There are over 30 lesson plans. The unique topics include a lot about the state of Michigan plus other topics such as Alaska and the Iditarod, famous people, research, U.S. regions, Hawaii, an interactive atlas, consumers, Laura Ingalls Wilder and pioneer life, presidents, money and many other social studies topics. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

This site offers wonderful lesson plans. Get your interactive whiteboards ready and utilize these free and ready to go activities. There are printables, interactives, discussion topics, assessments and many other resources that are useful in any elementary social studies class.

This plain-vanilla site explains the importance of good ergonomics in setting up computers for students. The information is presented clearly with a focus on creating a cost-effective method of constructing a computer setup that won't contort your students without. If you're responsible for any student's use of a computer, this is information you should know.
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Share this site with the educational technology staff at your school to ensure that your school's computer lab encourages good ergonomics.

Find images to use in your classroom multimedia productions, on your web page, or on bulletin boards without violating copyright. Help your students find images to include in their own products. This site is a tool to search the web for photos with "Creative Commons" rights. This means that many are free and ask only that you let the photographer know where you are usng the photo. Some are NOT free. Note: YOU MUST read the rights and permissions information that accompanies each image, since the photographer sets his/her own requirements. The intent of the site is to share photos in an open, easily-searchable environment, but in accordance with these requirements. Help your students learn about copyright by SHOWING them the rights sections and modeling compliance. The search tool is easy to use.

Use photos from this site in your PowerPoint shows, web page, blog, etc, but be sure to stop and mention where you found them and the thinking/reading you did to be sure you were in compliance with the rights granted. If you suggest the site for student use, model this process on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Then hold students accountable for demonstrating that they have done the same (make it a part of your project rubric). These concepts of copyright are challenging for young students (below about grade 4. You may want to "collect" some photos for their use and save them locally for them to choose from until they are ready to understand the more difficult rights issues.

tanford University's guidelines on Fair Use, coupled with specific information (see the links at the bottom of their page) for multimedia projects. The site includes links to numerous primary legal sources.
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This lesson teaches students to regcognize and use personification and alliteration by asking them to visit several illustrative web sites, then create a simple Powerpoint presentation illustrating each figure of speech. The lesson includes links, downloadable "idea cards," and a Powerpoint template. Aligned to national standards.
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If you’re looking to stay connected while studying or on the road, this site allows users to search for wireless internet (Wi-Fi) connections by state, city, and country. Whether you’re looking for a bookstore, coffee shop, or hotel with wireless capabilities, this is a good place to start your search.
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This online tutorial provides students, teachers, and parents with guidance and up-to-date information on understanding search engines, using search strategies, evaluating Web sites, and citing resources. There is A LOT of information here, but it is organized into manageable subdivisions that teachers and librarians will find useful. It’s fairly high-powered content, so sift through it to isolate those specific gems that your students will need before they jump into a research project.
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Enter your own questions/answers or words/meanings in this flash card maker. Options include being able to print them out or study them online. Learning support teachers will love this option to encourage study skills.

A good study-at-home option for you to show your students! Be sure to read the "Take Note" message regarding the required plug-ins and cookie enabling for this site to work.

TeachersFirst Edge entry: for the more adventurous technology user. This site allows you to upload and share images in an online location. It is not specifically an education site, so it has the drawback of possibly including "inappropriate" content. As a teaching tool, you can upload picture collections and "tag" them with a unique keyword so students can access them for various activities, such as creating sequenced "comic strips," making annotated posters, including photos in blogs, and other electronic projects. This is a great way to make the photos accessible for the students to use. Note: use the DIRECT URL to the specifically-tagged photos ("photosynthesisproject") or create a collection for each project.

Join the site for free (and make sure you turn OFF all the "send me emails" features). Place photos online for all the projects you expect to do with students. They will remain in place for future years. If you wish to, remove them from "public" viewing when you do not need them. Note: You MUST be the actual copyright holder to upload photos to this site, so use your digital camera, NOT downloaded photos from the web! Skills needed: taking and saving digital pictures, location and upload of photo files, "tagging" them so students can a find them, copying the URL of the tagged group or of the collection, changing the attributes of your uploaded pictures, finding other tools on TeachersFirst or elsewhere to use the photos.

This site offers levels, important information about safe Internet use, at three difficulty It addresses kids' favorite ways to use technology, including cell phones, chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail, etc. A glossary of Internet terms and warnings throughout the easy-to-read pages make the information accessible. It also motivates the students who use it to proceed carefully and thoughtfully while communicating and downloading information. The three levels (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) differentiate for prior Internet knowledge, rather than grade or reading level. The site is an excellent introduction to doing Internet research, as well.

This site comes from the UK, so some of the language is distinctly British. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

The site suggests having children take their parents through the steps on the site so both learn together. Parents can thus be assured that the child knows how to keep his or her communications safe. Put this in your newsletter home for parents and provide a link to this site on your class webpage. When introducing the history of the computer, project the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector.

Challenge your students' creativity and personal reflections about art: both their own and art through the ages. Use this site to CREATE their own videos with images from their own artwork, text, and video clips provided by the site. There are suggestions for structured video topics or you can suggest other ideas. The site provides clear, step-by-step instructions for students to complete their videos. The files can even be downloaded and played on any computer. Art teachers and computer teachers alike will love the possibilities of this project-site. If your students maintain electronic art portfolios, they will certainly want to add a video from this online production studio. REQUIRES FLASH!! Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Demonstrate the skills and steps on an interactive whiteboard or projector, or simply allow your "digital native" students to work through the directions. Since no two computers are alike, it is strongly recommended that you or a student-assistant try a "practice run" to make sure your computers have all the right plug-ins and permissions. Then watch your students go to town! Share the products on a projector or burn them to CD. We were unable to find information on the site about copyright and whether you have permission to share them on a web page. This is a TeachersFirst Edge entry, though it is not difficult to use. Skills needed: drag and drop video elements, follow directions in Help, downloading files, unzipping and saving (directions provided)

This is a great compilation of information on internet safety, covering many hot topics including safety for your children, protecting your personal information, stopping unsolicited email, and keeping your computer safe. The section on Safety for Children is especially appropriate for parents of school age children and includes an Internet Safety Guide, Tools for Families, a place to report problem sites and occurrences, and further web sites for children. Computer literacy teachers and those responsible for teaching INternet safety in any course will find the information wuite helpful. Sections are divided by age-ranges so information is age-appropriate.

Share this site in your classroom newsletter or on your teacher web page to help parents protect their children, themselves, and their computers. Some of the safety information is directly aplicable in your classroom technology-based lessons, as well.

You may find some good tips for protecting your own home computer and children, too!

This is an extensive site dedicated to interesting young people in technology-related jobs, especially math and science. There is information on numerous careers and the preparation necessary for each. The site includes technical careers that require varying levels of experience and academic preparation.
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Use this most-popular search engine because it ranks results by a unique combination of popularity and reputability, making the most reputable/popular sites appear in the first page of results. Don't stop there, however. Learn to use the Advanced searching tools, such as searching for definitions (add definition to your search terms), or even a timeline display of results, where applicable.
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If you ask students to research a person or any topic that has chronological elements, such as a historical event, an arts movement, a biography, an author, etc, add view:timeline as an additional search term, as in thomas edison inventions view:timeline . Try it! For more Google tricks, do a TeachersFirst keyword search on google for other resources and ideas for using Google.

Don't have a calculator handy? Check out this tip sheet that details Google's built-in calculation feature. In addition to basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, the tool can also compute advanced math functions, convert one set of units to another, and perform calculations using built-in constants.
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TF Edge entry: If you have not heard about them, Google's online collaboration tools are a must for slightly adventurous technology users and for those in schools where students are allowed to log into their own accounts for web services. With Google Docs, users can create, edit, reformat, upload, and share documents they've created in WORD or other office applications. They can also look at their editing history. Perhaps the best feature is the ability to collaborate on documents and spreadsheets with anyone or with a selected group. Groups share editing capabilities, making collaboration much easier. Users can publish newly created, uploaded, downloaded, or revised documents and spreadsheets as well as making links to them on personal blogs. Easy directions and familiar-looking pages make exporting and importing documents simple; Google also helps users keep them organized.

A "tour" and simple to understand directions make this site easy to use. Have your students set up collaborative groups for projects, lab data, and more. Or set them up yourself, giving them specific passwords to access their "space." Skills needed: join Google Docs, take the tour, experiment with collaboration tools, upload and download files.

Users are normally invited to "join" via an email message. This may be problematic in the many schools that do not permit student email access at school. Note that notifications sent by Google Docs may also land in "junk mail" folders or be blocked by spam filters. We suggest that you experiment with a small group of students to determine what will work in your particular situation. One option is to set up the groups with the teacher as a "member" but have students work from home, using their personal email addresses, for group projects. Make sure you are protecting the safety of student work and identity and are within your school's Acceptable Use Policy.

While it requires an internet network connection and installation of the software, Google Earth is one of the slickest geography teaching tools to come along in many years. Want to see Washington and L. A.? No problem. Want to navigate from London to Liberia? Just click. This site's ability to combine satellite imagery and map data gives it huge possibiliites as a teaching tool.
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Teachers can store "placemarkers," then project the site in the classroom, "flying" from point to point during a lesson. If you teach geography, this one's well worth the time required to master it. Requires a free download, but it's great fun. It is also a great option to give context to literary and current events locations so they become "real." It is worthwhile to explore some of the bulletin boards for users who have already stored placemarkers you might use, such as the locations of all the Shakespeare plays!

Google has pulled together descriptions of how to use some of the new features available by just using the search box. In addition to searching and finding driving directions, users can now check flight times, do math problems, check the routes of packages, see travel conditions, obtain stock quotes, get definitions and more. At the bottom of the page, searchers can link to more shortcut offerings, including Google Guide's Cheat Sheet and Google Guide's Coffee page.

Show your students how to quickly find definitions and do simple math problems in an instant!

This Google feature allows international or ESL/ELL students to search for specifically designated pages (i.e., newspapers) in their own languages (i.e., French or Swahili) produced in specific countries (Ivory Coast or Kenya). Options include setting the interface to any language, getting on-the-spot translation, and also viewing the home country Google interface (i.e., www.google.cg – Republique du Congo) without having to import language scripts for the computer.

Could be used as an exciting tool in the foreign language classroom! You may have to talk to your network adiministrator on filtered school district networks, if they have blocked translation tools to prevent students from "doing" assignments via these tools. This is a challenging choice to make: enable cheating vs. enabling a valuable learning tool.

Google Maps simplifies planning a trip, showing a map, or any of several other tasks. This makes it a great tool for teaching geography concepts, because you can plan a lesson using local data and landmarks. Best of all, you can zoom our and see how your neighborhood fits into the rest of the world - even zoom from one place to another. It's a free site, and it requires no downloading.
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If you teach geography, this one's a must. It is also helpful for showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. Type or paste in an address and click "search maps." If you click Satellite or hybird versions of the map, you will see actual satellite images of the terrain Teach map skills by showing students their own community. Zoom in on their street or on the school. This site and its more sophisticated cousin, Google Earth, are great on an interactive whiteboard. Unlike Google Earth, Google Maps does not require software installation.

Create and collaborate with artists around the web using this online image montage and poetry tool. Each image is an ongoing compilation of other images, arranged in a grid. Add your own images and poetry or simply browse those made by others. Contributors join for free. The images often have surreal appearances and more avant-garde poetry. This site could be a dicussion starter in an art or creative writing class or a study in the diverse uses of web 2.0 collaboration in a computer class.

Share selected images on a projector as writing prompts or to open a "what is art" discussion. You could also use the images simply as examples of montages before a hands-on project, though this approach misses the clickable depths of each image. Teachers should be aware that this site does not limit image content, so some nudity may occasionally appear in the images. Check you art program's guidleines for such images and/or maintain teacher control over which ones are shown in class, if this will be a problem in your shcool.

Even the best of search engines can return frustrating results if your search strategy isn’t right. Subtitled "Deep Content," this site offers an extensively detailed guide to Internet search strategies and techniques. While there’s enough detail here for serious academic research, the essentials of this site would make a great introduction to web searching for secondary students.
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This pdf file, organized by the American Library Association, lists sites to help teens evaluate websites, stay safe while using the internet,keep up with new offerings and technology (like blogs), and do research and citations correctly. This is an excellent overall compilation done by professionals in the library field and is a good source for instructors as well as students. You MUST have Acrobat Reader to open this site. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

A great resource for teachers to use with technology-wild students who need to use solid evaluation criteria to ground their internet usage decisions. You can print out the file as a handout or use the links as part of an activity prior to starting a research project.

Wow - this is a website that you don't want to miss, here you will find numerous lesson plans! These unique lessons are interdisciplinary and incorporate technology, math and other subject areas. The lesson plans provide state standards (for Michigan), assessments and explicit details about the activities. There are interactive activities, printable worksheets, discussion topics and much more. Some examples of the unique topics include "Geometric Constructions on the Computer", "How Much Does That Car Cost???", "Purchase a cell phone with systems of equations" and "Transformations, Tessellations, and Technology". Many of the technology activities provided require FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Do yourself a favor and check out this free website when planning your high school math, business, or "life in the real world" classes. Get your interactive whiteboards or projectors ready to utilize these complete activities.

This website provides about ten lesson plans (PDF files) that incorporate technology into science lessons designed for high school students. Some of the lessons are interdisciplinary and include several subject areas. The lesson plans provide state standards (for Michigan), assessments and explicit details about the activities. There are interactive activities, printable worksheets, discussion topics and much more. Some of the specific topics include fossil fuels, the periodic table, density, climate comparisons, and lego robot competition. The technology activities provided require FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Do yourself a favor and check out this free website when planning your high school science lessons. Get your interactive whiteboards ready and utilize these ready-to-go activities.

Check out this free website that provides two unique lesson plans designed for high school special education students (see the plans for specific exceptionalities addressed). The lessons are interdisciplinary and include numerous subject areas. The lesson plans provide state standards (for Michigan), assessments and explicit details about the activities. The two lesson plans are "Cause and Effect" and "Pictorial Portfolio.

The portfolio idea is a great one for documenting student progress and involving them in the process. If you work with special ed students, consider expanding this lesson plan into an ongoing portfolio throughout the high school years. The portfolio could also be useful for transition planning, as the student can show accomplishments to potential employers to explain job skills.

The design of this privately developed site shows its age, but users will find abundant content and visuals here. It just takes a little work. The site covers the evolution of technologies ranging from the earliest wax recordings to today’s DVDs. Along the way, users can learn about the people and processes that have helped sound and video recording develop.
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Teachers may want to guide their students’ use of this site.

This is a chronological history of the World Wide Web intended primarily for programmers, marketers, and people who earn their living working with the web. Parts of the history may be useful in explaining web behaviors, or they might be helpful to a student researching the web for a class project.
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Students – ages 11 to 16 - can solicit the help of a virtual librarian on this British site that offers an "Ask Jeeves" style of homework assistance. A teacher-monitored live advice session is offered during evening hours (U.K. time - roughly 2pm-5pm Eastern time).

While this site does not have all of the answers, and the search method can be a bit awkward (correct spelling is a must!), it is still useful as a resource to point students in the right direction when they need more information about a topic. Bookmark this site on your classroom computer or suggest that parents make it available to their children as an at-home reference.

Stanford University’s Center for Manufacturing has created a series of web-based animations and short movies showing how commonly used items from blue jeans to aircraft are manufactured. While some of the technologies are sophisticated, the presentations are sufficiently simple that they could be used for middle school or even some elementary students.
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Try this one as an add-on for an inventions or technologies unit, or take a “slice” as a science illustration.

It’s all text, but this description from a physics professor at the University of Virginia should remove all doubt about how your CD player makes music. Try this one as a supplement to an inventions unit or a discussion of digital recording.
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Empower students to help themselves in learning content-related material with this engaging collection of educational multimedia lessons created by Staffordshire University students. Enter a first name, choose an age range, and explore the interdisciplinary offerings. Drag the magnifying glass through the town map, and click on the signpost of your choice to reveal a collection of activities organized by subject area.

Teach your students to be savvy Internet users with this lesson plan that stresses the importance of carefully evaluating sites used for research. Using specific criteria and a checklist, students must "grade" informational sites using a downloadable checklist.
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Help students make smart decisions about choosing Web sites for research with this lesson plan that walks through the process of evaluating online material. Includes a printable checklist to guide the evaluation process. Aligned to ISTE National Technology Standards.
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This site from the University of San Francisco offers a review of copyright dos and don'ts for classroom activities. Users will learn what they can and cannot do with copyrighted works, including resources found on the web. Good introduction for those planning a web project or interested in using web materials in their classes.
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International Society for Technology in Education promotes appropriate uses of technology to support and improve teaching and learning.

The International Technology Education Association (ITEA) is the professional organization for technology, innovation, design, and engineering educators. Their mission is to promote technological literacy for all by supporting the teaching of technology and promoting the professionalism of those engaged in this pursuit. ITEA strengthens the profession through state and national legislative efforts, professional development, membership services, publications, and classroom activities.

This study has helpful information for educators and other professionals concerned with the quality of internet accessibility in out public schools. The study examines the educational and societal implications of placing internet filtering software on school computers. The study is specifically aimed at determining whether such software actually impedes the pursuit of curriculum goals by inappropriately blocking educational resources. The study’s use of state mandated curriculum standards as a basis for internet searches places the study in a context that continues the current dialogue over the most effective way to filter internet use in schools.
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Are you wondering how to incorporate more technology into your classroom or have your students use it well? This is a good site for basics on using PowerPoint. It has exercises for both the teacher and the students, as well as student project assignments. PowerPoint can be a powerful tool if it is not overused, and it is a simple technology even young students can use for projects. This "how-to" site stays up to date with new information as new versions of PowerPoint appear. The tutorials build in difficulty, so there is always a new skill you and your students can learn wehn you need it.

Not only is this site full of actual examples you can use with students, it also has a wide variety of links to other PowerPoint sources, including some completed shows you can download and use. Share it as a reference on your teacher web site or mark it as a Favorite on TeachersFirst so you can find those tips easily when you need them.

This site has extensive resources on internet safety for adults and students alike. Visit the Xblock section where kids and teens can become "i-mentors," helping their peers and adults to better understanding Internet safety or go to the iLearn section for tutorial modules for kids, parents, and even senior citizens. You have to join, but it is free. The site may be good for schools looking to develop rules and policies for safe classroom internet use. It also discusses some of the information sharing risks children should be aware of when using internet resources.
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Share this resource with parents at open house or conferences. They will thank you for it!

MySpace, Xanga, FaceBook, Moodle, blogs, Flickr, wikis, podcasts, and more! Is geek-speak Greek to you? If you have not heard the term yet, you will soon: Web 2.0 is the term for the new generation of web-based collaborative tools and other uses of the web. Your students use them in MySpace and Xanga, but these are just two small pieces of a much larger picture. If you are technology-curious or want to know what your students are talking about, take the time to read this explanation by one of the movers and shakers of web 2.0. The discussion includes some tech jargon and some of tuhe underlying philosophy behind it--not a "light" read in some spots, but it makes sense. The page is actually created with one of web 2.0's tools: Squidoo.

Read for your own professional knowledge to stay ahead of the tech game, or share this site with mystified-but-curious parents and administrators, as well.You could even assign your computer students, tech ed classes, or techie students to use this site as a reference for a research project on the future of the web. Gifted classes would find it particulaly useful. The reading and conceptual level is definitely hgh school to adult.

Much of the content in this Library of Congress site about Thomas Edison and his phonographs is beyond the scope of middle schoolers. However, there are sound recordings from the original machines that let students listen to the product of Edison's work, and the basic biographical information will be useful for those studying inventors. Explore this one in some depth; there's a lot here.
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This website helps to "connect" the dots of inventions. The "Invention Connection" challenges students to trace the paths and interconnections of many inventions. Students can complete this activity over and over again and learn about new inventions each time. The text portions may require some explanation to elementary students. This site requires Flash, get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

Use this wonderful resource during your inventions/inventors units. This activity helps students to understand the connections between numerous inventions and forces then to think about unusual commonalities between unlike objects. This invention activity is perfect for an interactive whiteboard. You may want to have a separate window open to "look up" some of the more esoteric inventions that show up, since they may not be familiar to you and your students.

This unit, completely revised in late 2007, provides an on-line introduction to inventors and inventions of the industrial revolution in England and the United States. In addition to information on key inventors and their inventions, there are interactive activities designed for student involvement, timelines, and an interactive quiz. An extensive list of "invention links" lets students learn more about inventions and inventors.This unit is written for middle and high school but is also adaptable for upper elementary.
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See the lesson ideas page for ways to use this on your interactive whiteboard or with students working on their own. There are several ideas for projects and competitions to engage, challenge, and assess. You will definitely want to share this link on your teacher web page as a review tool, as well.