LS 564
Learning Resources for
Children on the Internet
Melise Graham
Fall 1999
This
web site presents two interactive adventure stories. The first looked promising, but was inaccessible. The second was entirely text, not very
appealing to a young reader. Activities
such as coloring pages, pencil games, etc., accompany the stories. A link to Children’s Adventure Bookstore, a
partnership with Barnes & Noble is provided, as are links to “family”
sites.
Although
age-appropriate for my elementary school library, I do not believe this would
be useful. I’d prefer to read a picture
book to the students, showing the illustrations, rather than utilize this web
site by reading from a computer screen with no graphics or interaction.
http://db.cochran.com/li_toc:theoPage.db
This site rates hundreds of different web sites that would be interesting and appropriate for elementary school aged children. It offers a wide range of topics, from curricula-based subjects to fun things to do. The Sports/Recreation hit brought up pages of yo-yo tricks, bubble making recipes, and magic tricks as well as baseball tips, karate, basketball, snowboarding, golf and many other sports fields. Holidays linked to stories, activities and games for several different holidays throughout the year. Animals linked to museums and science web sites. History linked to historical societies, museums, the History Channel, sites developed by schools, the National Geographic Society, and more. Science brought up a link to virtual frog dissection. Activity pages were available at a click of the mouse, centering around the character Theodore the Tugboat, the mascot of this web site.
This would be a terrific resource for my elementary library. I appreciate the rating system as well as the diversity of subjects offered. Teachers would appreciate this site, also.
The
Exploratorium
This site is designed to promote the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts Museum as an educational center. “The Exploratorium is a collage of 650 science, art, and human perception exhibits,” says the web site. Programs and special exhibitions change occasionally; this month’s include frogs, robot races, the fault line of the San Andreas, and Investigate Earth. Membership to the Exploratorium includes free admission to the museum, a subscription to the award-winning Exploratorium Magazine, a newsletter, Family Fun Night, and discounts at the museum store.
Although a very interesting site, this is not really a useful resource for my elementary school in Texas. If I lived in the San Francisco area, I would definitely consider utilizing this for my own family. It looks exciting.
4
Kids Treehouse
This web site provides a variety of resources for
elementary age and above children. It
includes online activities, entertainment, suggested reading lists, and
science, math, and social studies resources.
In the science department, I clicked on Earthrise. This is a database of photographs of the
earth taken by astronauts from the space shuttles. The Math department included a link on Interactive Geometry which
looked great. Language provided foreign
language-English dictionaries, and a resource list of some of the best foreign
language sites available on the Internet.
Included in the web site are resources for parents, safe use of the
Internet for children, and data and photos of missing children that popped up
(annoyingly).
This is definitely a useful resource for the elementary
school library. Teachers could utilize
its links within their curricula. I
will bookmark this one!
Internet
for Kids
This site could not be displayed 10/12/99.
KidsCom
Disney advertisements sweep across the top of this web page, a definite turn-off for me personally. I found this site very gimmicky, providing links to commercial enterprises such as Pokemon. Each link created more opportunities for Disney advertisements to bombard children visiting the site. Promotions of the newest Disney film were shown each time the mouse was clicked. The Parents and Teachers icon brought up a Parents Talk page. It offered topical ideas such as Hallowe’en costumes and pumpkin bread recipes.
This site is not of enough educational merit to wade through the advertisements and promotions. I would not use it in the elementary school library.
Kids
on Campus
www.tc.cornell.edu/Kids.on.Campus/WWWDemo/
This web page, Kids on Campus 1996, Exploring the World Wide Web, is sponsored by Cornell University’s Theory Center. It provides links to curricular areas such as Planets and Space, Dinosaurs, Disasters and Weather. It includes activities such as flash cards, brainteasers, number facts, math tricks, mad libs, and optical illusions. Links to sites on photographs of insects, butterflies, whales, and fish are provided. This is a colorful and intriguing site that would entice children to explore the Internet. Links to various galleries and museums are also included: The Smithsonian Gem and Mineral Collection, The White House, and the Children’s Art Gallery are several. Virtual trips around the world are available, including a tour of the Hershey Chocolate factory and the Crayola Crayon factory. Unfortunately, many of the links were down the day I tried to access them. Some, such as the animations and sounds links, are no longer maintained, as they were Cornell University student projects.
On the whole, the links provided by the Kids on Campus web site would be very useful and informative for an elementary school. I would use this in my library.
Kids
Web
www.npac.syr.edu/textbook/kidsweb/
Kids Web pronounces itself a “digital library for K-12 students”. It is designed as an easy-to-navigate subset of the World Wide Web, providing links to sites appropriate for school-age children. It divides itself into the categories of art, sciences, social studies, and miscellaneous. Links to external lists of material on each subject allow advanced students access to more information.
The Social Studies page provides many interactive site of interest, including many with archival photographs. The Science page has links to satellite photos from NASA and the Hubble Telescope, news, interviews and developments in the field of Biology, and upcoming science programs on television, to name a few. The Arts page links to web museums and art resources available on the Internet, including the Louvre. It also provides links in the areas of drama and literature.
This extremely comprehensive site would be an asset in the school library. Teachers could utilize it with their students across the curriculum.
NASA’s
Quest project
This award-winning site provides online chats and webcasts with NASA scientists on a variety of different subjects. The calendar of events suggests that there are numerous opportunities to join in the sessions, daily. The site promotes teaching with the Internet, and provides lesson plans for using the web site in every area of the curriculum, not just science. Archives of past projects are available. Information on obtaining grants for one’s school to become Internet accessible is given in great detail, with hints on writing a grant proposal specific to the organization giving the grant money.
This site would be quite useful in a school library, primarily for the teachers who are interested in becoming more internet-savvy with their teaching methods.