XXV Jornadas TEA 25 YEARS OF BREWING IDEAS Puerto de La Cruz, del 24 al 26 de enero de 2008 C o m p u t e r s C o m p u t e r s What are computers? Computers are machines that perform tasks or calculations according to a set of instructions, or programs. The first fully electronic computers, introduced in the 1940s, were huge machines that required teams of people to operate. Compared to those early machines, today’s computers are amazing. Not only are they thousands of times faster, they can fit on your desk, in your lap, or even in your pocket. Computers work through an interaction of hardware and software. Hardware refers to the parts of a computer that you can see and touch, including the case and everything inside it. Software refers to the instructions, or programs, that tell the hardware what to do. A word processing program that you can use to write letters on your computer is a type of software. The operating system (OS) is software that manages your computer and the devices connected to it. Two well-known operating systems are Windows and Mac OS. Your computer uses the Windows operating system. What can you do with computers? In the workplace, many people use computers to keep records, analyze data, do research, and manage projects. At home, you can use computers to find information, store pictures and music, track finances, play games, and communicate with others—and those are just a few of the possibilities. You can also use your computer to connect to the Internet, a network that links computers around the world. Internet access is available for a monthly fee in most urban areas, and increasingly, in less populated areas. With Internet access, you can communicate with people all over the world and find a vast amount of information. Here are some of the most popular things to do with computers: THE WEB The World Wide Web (usually called the Web, or web) is a gigantic storehouse of information. The web is the most popular part of the Internet, partly because it displays most information in a visually appealing format. Headlines, text, and pictures can be combined on a single webpage—much like a page in a magazine—along with sounds and animation. A website is a collection of interconnected webpages. The web contains millions of websites and billions of webpages. Surfing the web means exploring it. You can find information on the web about almost any topic imaginable. For example, you can read news stories and movie reviews, check airline schedules, see street maps, get the weather forecast for your city, or research a health condition. Most companies, government agencies, museums, and libraries have websites with information about their products, services, or collections. Reference sources, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, are also widely available. The web is also a shopper’s delight. You can browse and purchase products— books, music, toys, clothing, electronics, and much more—at the websites of major retailers. You can also buy and sell used items through websites that use auction-style bidding. E-mail E-mail (short for electronic mail) is a convenient way to communicate with others. When you send an e-mail message, it arrives almost instantly in the recipient’s e-mail inbox. You can send e-mail to many people simultaneously, and you can save, print, and forward e-mail to others. You can send almost any type of file in an e-mail message, including documents, pictures, and music files. And with e-mail, you don’t need a stamp! Instant messaging Instant messaging is like having a real-time conversation with another person or a group of people. When you type and send an instant message, the message is immediately visible to all participants. Unlike e-mail, all participants have to be online (connected to the Internet) and in front of their computers at the same time. Communicating by means of instant messaging is called chatting. Pictures, music, and movies If you have a digital camera, you can move your pictures from the camera to your computer. Then you can print them, create slide shows, or share them with others by e-mail or by posting them on a website. You can also listen to music on your computer, either by importing (transferring to your computer) music from audio CDs or by purchasing songs from a music website. Or, tune in to one of the thousands of radio stations that broadcast over the Internet. If your computer comes with a DVD player, you can watch movies. Gaming Do you like to play games? Thousands of computer games in every conceivable category are available to entertain you. Get behind the wheel of a race car, battle frightening creatures in a dungeon, or control civilizations and empires! Many games allow you to compete with other players around the world through the Internet. Windows includes a variety of card games, puzzle games, and strategy games. THE INTERNET It seems like everyone's talking about the Internet these days. But what is it really? How does it work? How do you access it? And most important, what can it do for you at work or at home? Fortunately, accessing and using the Internet is fairly simple. As we approach a new millennium, the Internet is revolutionizing our society, our economy and our technological systems. No one knows for certain how far, or in what direction, the Internet will evolve. But no one should underestimate its importance. Over the past century and a half, important technological developments have created a global environment that is drawing the people of the world closer and closer together. The Internet, as an integrating force, has melded the technology of communications and computing to provide instant connectivity and global information services to all its users at very low cost. Ten years ago, most of the world knew little or nothing about the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide collection of computer networks, cooperating with each other to exchange data using a common software standard. Through telephone wires and satellite links, Internet users can share information in a variety of forms. The size, scope and design of the Internet allows users to: connect easily through ordinary personal computers and local phone numbers; exchange electronic mail (E-mail) with friends and colleagues with accounts on the Internet; post information for others to access, and update it frequently; access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and even video; and access diverse perspectives from around the world. What Kinds of Information are Available? In addition to text documents, the Internet makes available graphics files (digitized photographs and artwork), and even files that contain digitized sound and video. Through the Internet, you can download software, participate in interactive forums where users post and respond to public messages, and even join "chats," in which you and other users type (and, in some cases, speak) messages that are received by the chat participants instantly. How Do People Use the Internet? Obviously, the Internet can bring you a whole host of capabilities. But how can they be put to practical use? Among the ways that users like yourself are taking advantage of the Internet are: •Sharing research and business data among colleagues and like-minded individuals. •Communicating with others and transmitting files via E-mail. •Requesting and providing assistance with problems and questions. •Marketing and publicizing products and services. •Gathering valuable feedback and suggestions from customers and business partners. The Internet's potential is limited only by users' vision and creativity. And as the Internet grows, new and innovative uses will surely follow. How Do Teachers Use the Internet? •How teachers take advantage of this depends much upon their own knowledge of the Internet itself and their sense of adventure in integrating it into their classroom activities. Let’s make some handmade books! Materials: • printer paper (you can use a slightly heavier paper for a longer lasting book) stapler something to colour with (if using B&W template), or coloured papers. • • Directions: Print template of choice When you find something interesting in the Internet. The B&W version is fun for young children to colour in or for older children to coloor as gifts for younger ones. I like printing a colour cover and B&W pages. Colour the template pieces if you are doing the B&W version in an interesting web page you find in the Internet. • NUMBERED PAGES: If you imagine a 'real' book for a second, you know that each page has printing on the front and the back. We're going to fold the pages to make it like a real book. Ignore the cover for now. Fold each page along the center dotted line so the images are on the OUTSIDE and the blank sides of the paper are on the inside (imagine you're making a greeting card). You can use a glue stick, if you like, to glue the pages together (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE COVER!) Stack the pages, so the odd numbers are on top and the folded edges are lined up. Trim with scissors or paper cutter if needed. • COVER PAGE: Fold the cover page along the dotted lines , again with the images on the outside. OPTIONAL: You can laminate the cover page or print it on cardstock if you want it to be more like a real book's cover. • ASSEMBLE THE BOOK: Open the cover page (like a folder) and slip the pages inside so that when you open the cover you'll see page 1 -- the unfolded edges of the pages will go against the folded part of the cover. Close the cover page and tap the book so everything lines up. Put three or four staples along the edge to hold the book together. Trim again, if needed. Flip through the book once, carefully folding the pages to make the book easier for the children to read. • PRINTING THE TEMPLATES Close the template window after printing to return to the main screen. OWN EXPERIENCE OWN EXPERIENCE OWN EXPERIENCE OWN EXPERIENCE OWN EXPERIENCE USEFUL INTERNET SITES • • • • • • • Finding useful Internet sites that have a direct connection to the curriculum is rarely a simple task. The World Wide Web is not a library. It has no central card catalog organized by topic, subject or author. Search engines are available, but they often`provide students and teachers with sites of questonable educational value or sites totally unrelated to the topic being researched. Students and teachers can search for hours on the web without finding relevant information. Quality educational sites are abundant, but they are not always easy to find. Reliability of the information found on the Internet is often an issue. Anyone can post information on the web and lots of people do. Reputable sites do exist, but may be indistinguishable from the others. The Internet is constantly changing. Web sites come and go.Familiar and useful websites suddenly dissapear or move to different addresses. Web sites are frequently redesigned and new features are added http://www.dltk-kids.com/top10.htm http://www.sesameworkshop.org http://www.starfall.com/ http://www.northpole.com/Workshop/ http://www.northpole.com/PersonalizedStories/ http://www.bry-backmanor.org/mlk.html http://www.bry-backmanor.org/actpag75b.html How to Fold a One Sheet Book http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html CONCLUSIONS 1. Teachers should know that using the Internet can increase students’ motivation: (you can say “it comes from the Internet”, and sure they will participate in a different positive way in the activity). BE aware that Most English teachers, even those who consider themselves computer novices, have several relative advantages when learning to use the Internet. They are, in most cases, skilled at English, experienced at typing or keyboarding, and have some basic computer literacy (i.e., they probably have at least used a computer for word processing). 2. CONCLUSIONS • 3.-When teachers want to create the kinds of activities which have a purpose and are well-integrated into classroom goals using handmade books and they prove successful, they can build from there a more ambitious one the next time. 4.- Teachers can be a guide in the handmade books giving the students the whole material. Teachers can be a superviser just in case students are the ones who bring the material, information to the classroom to make the handbooks (mini books, shaped books, fan books, big books). 5.- Teachers should know that web sites come and go. So when you work on a topic and find the information for your handmade book, do not forget to keep the original data into a file in your computer. Maybe in a near future you would like to add something and that useful website dissapears. • • CONCLUSIONS • 6.- Teachers have discovered that the Internet provides them with an almost limitless amount of up-to-date information. The data is delivered to their computers in a matter of seconds and the information comes in many different forms (text, audio, video and still images. • 7.- Teachers should allow students being creative when they make handmade books. Of course, teachers must give some rules to be followed by students.