------------------------------------------------------------ An Online Educational Community A newsletter that educates parents, teachers, and students. September 2000 Issue #14 Zigmond Snook, Editor, mailto:editor@innovamultimedia.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the fourteenth issue of "An Online Educational Community". To read past issues of our newsletter, visit http://www.innovamultimedia.com/archive.html or to learn more about us, check out our website at http://www.innovamultimedia.com If you think a friend might be interested in reading this newsletter, pass it along in whole or in part. You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, fill out the form at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/newsletr.html Each month we will focus on a different educational theme and base our feature article and learning tips around that particular theme. ------------------------------------------------------------ IN THIS ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ => What's New at INNOVA => Feature => Contest - Win a Whale => This Month's Free Lesson Plans => More Great Education Web Sites => Whale Links for Whale Lovers => What's Hot - Our Latest Software Reviews => Feedback ------------------------------------------------------------ What's New at INNOVA ------------------------------------------------------------ INNOVA Affiliate Program INNOVA will be starting its Affiliate Program in October. Now is your chance to make money selling excellent educational resources. If you would like to be updated on the launch of our Affiliate Program please contact mailto:affiliate1@innovamultimedia.com EcoFixer Game Added to AOL@SCHOOL Site INNOVA's EcoFixer has been added to the AOL@SCHOOL's Primary Brain Teasers section. Check out EcoFixer on our site at: http://www.innovamultimedia.com/games.html ------------------------------------------------------------ FEATURE ------------------------------------------------------------ Making Online Education Work For at least a decade now, online education has been regarded as another practical and viable means to education. This is particularly true when local colleges do not offer the courses required, or when professionals want to add to their academic qualifications without disrupting their careers and family lives. For students in areas where traditional classrooms are long distances away, online education is possibly the only practical method. It is more viable and certainly less expensive than relocating. Yet for all its advantages, there are also some pitfalls that are especially relevant to educators involved in the creation of online course material. Some of the disadvantages of online education reported by students taking online courses are: 1. The lack of face-to-face human interaction; 2. Technical problems with the computer and course materials; and 3. The evaluation of tests and exams. Many online students claim to miss the warmth of face-to-face human contact: the facial expressions, body language, and spur-of-the-moment stories and examples contributed by both teachers and students. They also believe that live teachers are in a better position to clarify a point or sort out any confusion or misunderstanding about the course material. Apart from student-teacher interaction, online students also seem to miss student-student interaction. They feel that students working together in groups teach each other, fill in communication gaps, and help raise each other's understanding of the subject. Apart from academic learning, human interaction teaches students valuable social interaction skills. Many students feel that the technical problems they encounter are because not all students and teachers are equally computer savvy. Many experience problems with the course material itself. They feel that courses are often poorly designed and unimaginative. Online education is better suited to subjects like history, sociology, and philosophy -- subjects that don't require demonstration and experimentation like science or fine arts. What about exams and grades? A very real concern for many students is the evaluation and assessment of their performance. It is easy to cheat on the Net; books could be opened and knowledgeable persons are just a phone call away. The need for self-regulation can be viewed as a clear disadvantage. Here's what you can do to address some of these concerns: 1. Hold an online orientation program that helps students understand technical requirements. Group students according to their skill levels. Ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength, especially students from non-English speaking backgrounds. 2. Carefully plan online courses. Some courses lend themselves well to online education; others do not. 3. Adapt the teaching method to the computer or Internet environment. Work closely with professionals and learn to use interactive tools and the medium creatively and imaginatively. 4. Design tests and exams in a way that individual performances can be assessed, e.g. essay writing. 5. Make a commitment to make the medium work. Get the same commitment from students so that they discipline themselves based on the requirements of the online environment. 6. Last but not least, stay approachable. Students need more support in cyberspace. Reprinted with permission © 2000 by EdGate.com, Inc. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------ Contest - Win a Whale ------------------------------------------------------------ INNOVA Multimedia Ltd. is giving away TEN of our "A Whale of a Tale" educational software lessons and the latest version of LessonBuilder, a custom course creation utility, as a FREE DOWNLOAD on our website! Visit http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lbuilder11.htm to download your free copy. When you download LessonBuilder you are automatically entered in our contest to win a free CD-ROM from our "A Whale of a Tale" series. Good Luck! ------------------------------------------------------------ This Month's Free Lesson Plans ------------------------------------------------------------ Teachers, check out free "A Whale of a Tale" lesson plans on our website at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lesson1.html Leap into Language 3 - "Pronouns" at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lang3d.html encourages children to use pronouns consistent in number and gender with nouns to which they refer. Surf into Science 3 - "How Pulleys Work" at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/sci3d.html encourages children to demonstrate how pulleys work. ------------------------------------------------------------ More Great Education Web Sites ------------------------------------------------------------ Check out some of these INNOVA recommended resource sites: Between the Lions http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/lions/ "Between the Lions" is based on the PBS children's TV series. The site presents a new story each week with related interactive games & activities for kids 4-7. It also recommends books for each episode & offers more than 300 tips & resources for helping kids learn to read. (ED) At Home in the Heartland http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/welcome.htm Welcome to this exhibit about family life in Illinois from 1700 to the present. You will have the opportunity to meet real people and share in their decision making. Alphabet Superhighway http://www.ash.udel.edu/ash/index.html The Alphabet Superhighway, under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Education's READ*WRITE*NOW! Initiative, assists secondary and upper elementary students to create, locate, and communicate information through active learning, guided discovery, mentoring, competitions, and other on-line activities. Math: Megamaths Tables http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/megamaths/index.html This site combines old-fashioned drills with comic entertainment to help your students practice a range of math skills. In one fun competition called the "Grid Game," a game-show host quickly spouts out timed word problems that reinforce math comprehension. This site's quirky animations and various activities should keep students absorbed while they improve their arithmetic. (EG) Whacky World of Words http://www.members.home.net/teachwell/ Whether you are young, old; student or teacher, if you love to play around with words you have come to the right place. Letters, words, phrases, sentences... and beyond. I love to play with them all. Let's mix'em, shake 'em, and turn them inside out. You'll be amazed by what they can do. Social Studies: Global Gang http://www.globalgang.org.uk/ This site attempts to raise children's awareness of other cultures by showing how kids around the world live, eat, and learn. It offers a global message board for posting jokes or notes, a game room with global flair, and an international news bulletin. The "Planet Teacher" section will soon offer lesson plans on multicultural themes. Science: Exploratorium's Science of Baseball http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/ Why not polish off your recess or P.E. time with some science lessons on America's pastime? Teach your students the scientific conditions at work to produce a homerun or a curveball. In addition to the technical info, there are history-related stories, such as women in the sport and baseball in Japan. A Pocketful of Rhymes http://members.aol.com/Bvsangl/pocket.html Hey Kids! Ready for Some Real Cool Rhymin' Fun? Children's Games from Around the World http://www.rice.edu/projects/topics/edition11/games-section.htm Around the world, children have one thing in common. They love to play games. Discover how children from Venezuela, Mexico, Korea, China, Germany, and many other countries play different versions of the same traditional games such as jump rope, marbles, tag, top spinning, hopscotch, jacks, card games. Welcome to Internet 101 http://www2.famvid.com/i101/internet101.html Discover how the Internet works. Find out where you can get great software. Learn the secrets of search engines. Have your questions answered and problems solved. MysteryNet http://www.mysterynet.com/learn/main.shtml Everybody loves a good mystery. They're engaging, entertaining, and they give that satisfying 'Aha!' ------------------------------------------------------------ Whale Links for Whale Lovers ------------------------------------------------------------ Check out these INNOVA recommended whale sites! Discovering Whales: http://whales.magna.com.au/DISCOVER/ This site talks about the different types of whales that exist as well as many of their different characteristics. There are also many great photos of these beautiful creatures. Whales!: http://www.clearlight.com/~kid/whales/hbwhales.html They discuss many whales facts. There are many photos and sounds of many different types of whales. ------------------------------------------------------------ Whale Trivia: ------------------------------------------------------------ The Sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales. The males are about 15-20 Metres in length and the females are 11-13 Metres. The adult weigh 40-50 tons. This whale has 36-56 teeth, in 2 parallel rows. The teeth are about eight to ten inches long and weigh over a kilogram each. Sperm Whales are known to live all over the world especially in the Mediterranean. They like to eat squid and fish. The fish include rays, sharks, lantern fish, and red fish, but it all depends. The larger they are the larger prey. Also the larger they are the more they eat at greater depths. Scientists who study these whales swear there is about 2 million of them left and should be protected more. The oldest Sperm whale known to man was 77 years. ------------------------------------------------------------ What's Hot - Our Latest Software Reviews ------------------------------------------------------------ INNOVA's Dive into Math 1 sample lesson will be highlighted in AOL@SCHOOL's primary math section the week of 7-13 October. Check out this sample lesson and 11 others from the "A Whale of a Tale" series at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/NewMenuSystem/Mainmenu.html ------------------------------------------------------------ Feedback ------------------------------------------------------------ If you have comments or suggestions concerning our online newsletter or website, please direct them to mailto:editor@innovamultimedia.com Your comments and suggestions will be published in the feedback section of future issues. Past Online issues can be found at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/archive.html ------------------------------------------------------------ "An Online Educational Community" may only be redistributed in whole or in part in its unedited form. Written permission from the editor must be obtained to reprint or cite the information contained within this newsletter.

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