Technology guru Kathy Schrock explores the Net to find the best sites for educators.
In this exclusive Education World interview, Schrock talks about how she got started,
and about the books and the Web site that she has created to help teachers work
the Internet into their lessons.
Looking for a list of sites on the Internet that might improve your curriculum
and contribute to your professional growth? Check out Kathy
Schrock's Guide for Educators!
Kathleen Beck Schrock is in charge of technology for the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional
School District on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Much of her job involves integrating
technology into all curriculum areas and grade levels. She also maintains an extensive
online "Guide for Educators" -- a virtual one-stop encyclopedia for educators!
"I had collected many index cards of Gopher sites from 1993-1995, and, once
I learned HTML, I decided to share my card box with the world," says Schrock,
explaining how the Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators Web page was launched.
A portion of the Web page is organized by subject. The site includes pages
such as Art & Architecture, Education Resources, History & Social Studies,
Hobbies, Mathematics, Science & Technology, Special Education Resources, Sports,
and Weather. There are extensive links for each subject. The page also includes
a great deal of information about search strategies and the Internet -- for example,
"Assessment Rubrics and the World Wide Web," and slide shows titled "How to Find
It and What to Do With It When You Do" and "Creating a Content-Rich Homepage for
Your School."
In addition to the Web page, Schrock has written or collaborated on three books: Evaluating Internet Web Sites: An Educator's Guide; Beginner's Handbook:
Developing Web Pages for School and Classroom (with Susan Hixson); and Microsoft
Publisherä for Every Day of the School Year (with Midge Frazel), which
will be available this fall.
EVALUATING A WEB PAGE
As author of Evaluating Web Sites, Education World asked Schrock What
are the most critical elements for teachers and students to look for in evaluating
a Web page?
"The main characteristic" of an excellent site for educators, Schrock says,
"is that it meets the need of the educator looking for information. Besides that,
it should be authoritative, contain information about the author, and provide
a bibliography of sources used if it is an informational page."
In her book, Schrock encourages teachers and students to think critically about
the Web. She provides a Web Site Rating Form, a basic checklist for teachers to
use in evaluating Web sites. Also included is a set of Web site evaluation sheets
for students at the elementary, middle, and secondary grade levels. The book even
has lesson plans and transparencies for teaching students how to evaluate Web
sites.
"Learning how to use the Internet is not difficult;" she writes in the book,
but "learning to separate the quality information from the mis- and disinformation
is the hard part."
EXPLORING SCHROCK'S GUIDE
"Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators" has garnered many awards. It was selected
as one of the Top Ten Sites for Educators by Electronic Learning in the fall of
1996 and as an outstanding education-related site by Education Index for November
1997. A tour of the site clearly demonstrates why the in-depth, diverse site has
won so many honors.
The Art & Architecture page, for example, provides many links. Just one
of them, @rt Junction features activities, projects, and resources for students and teachers. And, under Science and Technology, there is
an extensive list of Environmental
Science Sites, including a site with a library of links to environmental
information on the Net.
Available at the Literature
and ELA page are links to sites ranging from a database of favorite
mystery writers, characters, novels, films, or TV shows to a site with links to
information about hundreds of contemporary authors.
Whatever grade or subject you teach, whatever your areas of personal interest,
there is bound to be a wealth of information for you in this guide. So wade into
this online ocean of information (electronically, that is), get your feet wet,
and before you know it, you'll be swimming in a sea of pertinent Web sites.
BOOKS BY KATHY SCHROCK
To order any of the books by Kathy Schrock, including those listed below, go to Kathy
Schrock's Guide for Educators and click Kathy's Books:
Beginner's Handbook: Developing Web Pages for School and Classroom,
by Susan Hixson and Kathleen Schrock, is available from Teacher Created Materials.
Evaluating Internet Web Sites: An Educator's Guide, by Kathleen Schrock,
is available from The Master Teacher.
Microsoft Publisher for Every Day of the School Year, by Kathy Schrock
and Midge Frazel, is available from Linworth Publishing.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM KATHY
SCHROCK
American Graffiti Home Page Kathy Schrock pays tribute to the classic film American Graffiti with a complete list of credits that links to each actor's
other movie and TV roles, a discography and review of the film soundtrack, trivia
and famous lines from the movie, and other American Graffiti-related stuff.
Kathy
Schrock's Guide to Eastham Schrock features information about the Massachusetts
town of Eastham, on Cape Cod, with its scenic ocean beaches and historic sites.
