TDC Help and Resource Site

As teachers we are often faced with having to explain websites; why they contain wrong information or why they look good but are really bad.

The Internet is a playground for all types of individuals. And, why we do rely on information we obtain from the Internet, it is imperative that we learn to discriminate between the good, the better and the really bad!

It is even more important that we educate our students so that they can discern the good from the bad – using higher order thinking skills!

To this end, we now have a list of websites sure to challenge everyone. Are they real? Are they Fake? Don’t let their looks deceive you!

Real or Bogus Web Sites:

Here is a short list of some “bogus” websites.

Aluminum Foil
Ban DHMO
Boilerplate
California Velcro Crop
Genochoice
Rhyt Hospital
Improbable Research
OvaPrima
Male Pregnancy
Haggis Hunt
McWhortle
Moonbeam Enterprise
Clyven
Uncyclopedia – Satire of Wikipedia
Click Monkeys
Continental Drift Cam
Dog Island
Drivers License Search
Final Curtain
Buy an Ancestor
Kresky TV
Pets or Food
Sasquatch
Tree Octopus
Whitehouse
Martin Luther King
Vmyths
Urban Legends
Snopes
Lasik at Home
We Want Your Soul
Nano Docs
Dehydrated Water
Achieve Immortality
Shepperton University
Institute for Historical Review

Resources:
Copyright and Fair Use in the Classroom, on the Internet, and the World Wide Web [UMUC] ****

This University of Maryland University College site is devoted to copyright and fair use, defining the terms and providing specifics on what may be copied without permission.

The U.S. Copyright Office *****

This is the place to start for accurate and up-to-date information regarding copyright law.

Designed for academic institutions. You can take a quiz to determine your level of understanding here as well.

Guide to the TEACH Act

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act was enacted in November 2002 as an amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976. Found in section 110(2) of the Act, it covers distance education as well as face to face teaching which has an online, web enhanced, transmitted or broadcast component. It exempts from liability the transmission, including over a digital network, of a performance or display of a copyrighted work by an accredited non-profit educational institution to students officially enrolled in a course or a government body to officers or employees of government as a part of their official duties or employment. It does not cover making textual materials available to students.

This tool covers Section 110(1), the “face to face teaching” exception and Section 110(2), the TEACH Act (Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization  Act). Instructors can use it to determine compliance for using copyrighted materials in classes.

Need a primer on the Internet? How about some great background information about the Internet to share with your students?

Internet 101 is a great site that is well conceived and well written. Accessible by students and adults, this site will help anyone to better understand the Internet.

Project Gutenberg

There are over 25,000 free books in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog. Introduce your students to electronic versions of the classics!

The National Science Digital Library is a reviewed index of resources for the physical and biological sciences and includes data, tutorials, and general information.

NBC News and HotChalk will help you bring the real world into your classroom in a safe, secure online environment built with you and your students in mind.

As part of their $32 million U.S. Department of Education OSEP award, Bookshare.org chose Read:OutLoud by Don Johnston Incorporated as the text reader that would best achieve the goal of providing access to reading materials and enabling students to read texts with comprehension.

Beginning in fall 2008, students who qualify under the Chafee copyright exemption amendment will use Don Johnston’s Read:OutLoud® Bookshare.org Edition text reader to access thousands of electronic  books, educational materials and resources in NIMAS and DAISY from the Bookshare.org website. The program’s goal is to eliminate barriers for students with reading disabilities and to provide the necessary tools to ensure access to the general curriculum, materials and textbooks.

Are you looking for easy ways to create Flash Cards using technology? Here are a couple of solutions that may help:

1) Flash card software, Mental Case

You can use Mental Case to learn a language, memorize trivia, or study for an exam, but that’s just the beginning: Mental Case allows you to quickly capture any tidbit of useful information from any application in a mental note.

2) Try Scholastic.

Scholastic has a variety of tools for teachers, including Flash Card generator, home page generator, and more.

Do you need help with the APA editorial style, or crafting citations? Here are a couple of easy to use websites that should answer your questions.

APA.org has an APAstyle website that offers help with using this editorial style. The College of Wooster has posted a site that offers quick answers to your questions as well. You can find them online at APA Research Style Crib Sheet.

There are many programs available today that will allow you to edit any digital image. You probably use one that came with your digital camera. For many of us, these programs can be difficult to learn, and complicated to use. What we need is something free – and simple to use!

That’s where PICNIK.COM comes in. Picnik is an online program (using Web 2.0 technology) that allows you to upload, edit and download your pictures. You can choose from a variety of effects, fonts, shapes, and frames. You can fix photos, resize photos, and crop photos! And if you want even more, you can sign up for their Picnik Premium for $24.95/year.