Find (online or in a magazine) a report about a teaching project which makes use of the New Media that you really liked and that you think was a success. Explain it to your readers.
I found several teaching projects in the Internet. Some sounded very interesting others were very promising but seemed to me quite uninteresting or not appropriate.
In the end I found a brilliant teaching project with concrete approaches for a concrete target group and the project has already taken place in several primary schools.
The mediaproject ist called “Internet-ABC” and was developed by M@us (Medien – Ausbildung – Universität – Schule) Regionales Medienzentrum Gießen-Vogelsberg.
As the Internet is an essential modern day tool for adults but also for adolescents and children, it is used in daily life for researches, games and communication. But using the Internet can also be dangerous and unsecure. Children can get lost or they can be transferred to web pages with no appropriate contents at all.
pupils learning with the "Internet-ABC"
Therefore they have to learn the handling of surfing through the Internet and this is what the project is about. The project “Internet-ABC” teaches the secure handling of searching engines for both adults and children, imparts technical basic knowledge of the Internet and explains possible risks when using the World Wide Web.
Peter Weißmüller (M@us Medienzentrum) already visited several schools and gave lessons in secure Internet surfing. He compares the World Wide Web to the road traffic: People who walk or drive on the street have to be aware of the road traffic regulations. And the same is essential for the Internet: Before you surf the Internet you have to learn certain “rules of surfing” that help to find the right web pages.
The lessons examine topics like “What is a browser, a router, a server?” (- in a role-play the children become browsers, routers, servers, and pc’s themselves) but also themes like “Are there also search engines for children?” (-e.g. “Blinde-Kuh.de”, “Helles-Köpfchen.de” or “Kindernetz”) or “Beware of giving too much information about yourself!” (for example in chat rooms).
The target groups for this project are 4th grades of primary schools and their accompanying teacher. But the contents of this project are usable for children in the ages of five to twelve. Class is taking place once in a week for 90 minutes over a timeperiod of six weeks.
I really like this project because I think the security for children who surf the Internet has become indispensable and computer courses like that ARE essential!
For more information you can also read through several press reviews:
06.12.07 – 31.01.08: Lautertalschule Engelrod Pressespiegel
20.02.08 – 09.04.08: Stadtschule Alsfeld Pressespiegel »Website
21.04.08 – 26.05.08: Eichbergschule Lauterbach
14.05.08 – 18.06.08: Dieffenbachschule Schlitz
04.08.08 – 12.09.08: Oberwaldschule Grebenhain Pressespiegel
15.09.08 – 07.11.08: Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule Herbstein Pressespiegel
10.11.08 – 17.12.08: Lautertalschule Engelrod Pressespiegel
14.01.09 – 18.02.09: Dieffenbachschule Schlitz Pressespiegel
23.02.09 – 03.04.09: Grundschule Schotten Pressespiegel
20.04.09 – 29.05.09: Schlossbergschule Ulrichstein
02.06.09 – 10.07.09: Grundschule Kunterbunt, Mücke
24.08.09 – 02.10.09: Eichbergschule Lauterbach (2 Klassen)
05.10.09 – 27.11.09: Grundschule Kirtorf
30.11.09 – 29.01.10: Gerhard-Hauptmann-Schule Alsfeld (2 Klassen)
01.02.10 – 12.03.10: Grundschule Homberg (2 Klassen)
15.03.10 – 07.05.10: Grundschule Antrifttal (2 Klassen)
10.05.10 – 18.06.10: Grundschule Katzenberg
Hi Sandra,
what an interesting project! I also find it quite impressive that the new media are already included in primary schools but to my mind, you almost cannot start early enough to prevent children/teens from “abusing” the internet and the web (either on purpose or accidentally). Therefore, I think this teaching project is a good way of showing pupils (even at such an early age) how to handle a computer appropriately.
Greetings,
Lisa
You give a good a overview of the whole project, ranging from the explanation of its primary objectives to more detailed and concrete information on the topics that are dealt with in class. What I also liked about your blog task was that you put the project in a greater context. I concur with your opinion; ensuring secure ways for children to surf the internet is indeed indispensable!