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As another school year closes, many teachers are glad that the months of creating lesson plans, giving lectures and checking papers have ended. The summer vacation is usually a time of resting tired minds, strained voices and weary eyes but, at the same time, preparing for the coming of June and the renewal of both the joys and pains of teaching. To those in that particular state of mind, here are five internet tips that may help you become better prepared.(originally from mentorings.org


1. Google. We all know that search engines help you find the information that you need for subject material. But tech savvy teachers also use the service to catch plagiarizers. Most teachers analyze writing style, choice of words, sentence construction and logical reasoning to determine if a student worked entirely on his own. By simply typing a few words or sentences in the search bar, Google helps provide you with hard evidence particularly for those who just download and print an entire term paper from the internet and pass it off as their own work. This may also help teach students to respect intellectual property and cite their sources.


2. Youtube. In 2006, Time Magazine declared “YOU” as the person of the year. What this meant was that the internet has enabled any ordinary person to participate in providing information and entertainment of interest to the public which used to be the domain of big media organizations. Youtube gave millions of people the opportunity to create personal channels to broadcast and share content. Teachers who struggle with available audio-visual equipment in schools can guide students to find videos relevant to classroom discussions. Students can also be encouraged to upload content themselves. You may probably wonder why so many kids today are suddenly playing the Rubik’s cube which used to be the fad in the 80s. There is a popular instructional video in Youtube that shows you the technique for solving the cube. If Youtube can make an old mind game interesting to the new generation, imagine how it can help gain interest for your subject.


3. Web Logs or Blogs. Simply put, these are websites that allow you to create an online journal that can be viewed and commented on by anyone. It has always been very hard to motivate students to write. The formal theme writing activities seem to have become outdated. Encouraging students to create blogs (For example, www.blogger.com) allows them to express their thoughts and feelings in a way that engages their interests. Blogs are also a great source of information on varied topics. Students can even create photo, video or music blogs depending on the subject matter. This provides great motivational plus points by encouraging students to be critical of their own and their classmates’ work.


4. Message Boards. The word “recitation” is far more effective in keeping students quiet than the word “silence”. Recitation can be supplemented with online interaction through discussion forums (For example, www.forumotion.com). What is great about online discussion forums is that it allows students to create personalized accounts and use these to participate in whatever topic you posted. Teachers can facilitate the discussion and control the content of the forum by setting permissions as to who can read, write and comment within the topic. This is a great way to draw out the classroom shy types and encourage them to speak up online.


5. Social Networks. You have probably heard of Friendster. This is an example of a social network very popular to Filipinos. So popular that the site is not accessible from a lot of company and school computers because it is believed to affect productivity. What many fail to realize is that social networks such as these point the way to the future which leads to increased social interaction and collaboration. Social networks provide the environment that allows the development of knowledge through sharing and collaboration. You can teach basic entrepreneurship to students by letting them develop products to be sold through social networks such as Multiply (www.multiply.com) which a lot of young Filipino technopreneurs have already done.


Bear in mind that these five tricks are free. If students complain about the cost of the internet, remember that a lot of students manage to set aside part of their allowance to play online games. Young minds learn to adapt easily to the internet environment. The question is, “Can you keep up with them or risk being obsolete?”


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