Teachers often have similar questions when trying to integrate technology and the Internet in their classroom. Several of the most frequently asked questions appear below with possible solutions. Hopefully you will be able to make use of these ideas.

Here are the questions:

How do we ensure that students stay on appropriate sites?

How can we get all students through a one-computer center or mini lab (10-15 computers)?

How do you keep one computer in your classroom used effectively most of the school day?

What do you do when students don't finish a task that requires a computer?

What do you do to minimize printing problems?

How should students save work?

What can students do with the Internet?

• Participate in Projects  
• Gather data 
• Share Information 
• Publish their work 
• Communicate with other students/schools 
• Visit other places 
• Correctly cite resources 
• Make Bookmarks 
• Blog
• Ask an Expert 
• Research 
• Gain background knowledge 
• Enrich their knowledge 
• Gain background knowledge about a topic
• Love of Reading  - every day go to a different Reading site 
• Students create their own bookmark list on a topic they have become an expert on 
• Reading, Writing, Math - most things in the curriculum - find specific sites and use them to extend and enrich a lesson 
• Online Discussions 
• Read books and short stories 
• Interact with kid magazines 
• Use primary sources 

How do we ensure that students stay on appropriate sites?

• Supervision - watch the students, be within line of site of the students at the computer 
• Check their Go Menu, History, and cache periodically 
• Present Clear Guidelines for what students are supposed to be accomplishing while on the Internet, these guidelines need to be in place before punitive measures are administered 
• Guidelines for Consequences 
• Structured Activities with specific tasks in an amount of time that will allow them to accomplish the task and not allow time for surfing or going to inappropriate sites 
• Student Responsibility - teach students the realities of the Internet and to be responsible for their actions and decisions 
• Create launch pages
• Create a short cut on the desktop to the site you want students to visit and only allow them to go to that site 
• Bookmark the sites you want students to visit and only allow them to go to those sites 
• Teacher Planning and Preparation - teachers must visit the sites and check the links prior to students using the Internet to see if they are all appropriate 
• Only allow them to perform searches on Yahooligans! 
• Group your students so that each group has a trustworthy student who will report inappropriate activities

How can we get all students through a one-computer center or mini lab (10-15 computers)?

• Student of the day demonstrates a computer program on Internet  site to the entire class. 
• Make a center with a schedule that all students rotate through.
• Make it a cooperative learning activity. 
• Schedule the time, so each student knows there time for the week, i.e. Maria's time is Tuesday from 10:20-10:40, Joseph's time is from 10:40-11:00, etc. You can use or modify this schedulecreated in Excel. There is one worksheet with 20 minute intervals and another with 15 minute intervals, click on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet to see the different choices. 
• When one student and/or group finishes, they tell the next group what to do. In this manner the teacher doesn't have to explain as much. 
• Create efficient groups - have at least one student who can read the material, have one student who is a confident technology user, etc. 
• Peer tutoring 
• Learn - Teach - Learn - follow a process where the first group learns from the teacher, they in turn teach the next group, they learn and teach the next group until everyone has learned the new task. We know that we learn things better when we have to teach, so make students part of this process. 
• Use a projection device to show entire class what they will be doing on the computer before the students go to the computer and/or lab, this will make more efficient use of the limited computer time 
• Cooperative Learning groups - each child has a task, for example in a group with 5 students, one types on the keyboard, one is in charge of the mouse, one reads, one records information, and one is the time keeper who keeps the group on task.  Students should rotate tasks.
• One group starts the activity and another group finishes the activity - Have 6 people in the group, three people are doing the activity with roles, and three students are standing behind watching, and they switch half way through. The students watching during the first phase are attentive because they know they will have to know what is going on, the second group watching are attentive because the activity was meaningful and they bought into it during their time and they want to learn what happens. 
• Students should be held accountable for the work on the computers.  Have share what they accomplished on the computer with the entire class or turn it in for a grade.
• Use a storyboard or other pre-organizer so that pre-thinking occurs before the child is on the computer. Key ideas or concepts could be outlined beforehand, allowing for most efficient use of time when they are on the computer.  For example, a group or student cannot work on the PowerPoint presentation until they have completed the storyboard on paper for the presentation.
• Active participation of all students in the group - they know the expectations for what they are supposed to accomplish and how they will demonstrate learning. Student may be expected to develop questions for the teacher or quizzes or puzzles for other students.
• The teacher will show the 'student computer helper of the week' key things that might happen with the computer activities for the week, and the students know if they are problems that they need to ask the 'student computer helper of the week'
• Post schedules, responsibilities and assignments. Many teachers list the steps the students must follow on the computer.
• Pair students - put students with strong computer skills with those students who have fewer strengths in this area.
• Use parent helpers to monitor and assist students.
• Provide a basic set of activities for all students to complete and provide additional enrichment activities for those who finish quickly. 
• Use a timer.  Each child or group sets the timer for the determined length.  When the timer rings the student quietly notifies the next child in his row and the process continues.
• Assign Computer helpers to assist if a child or group has trouble with the computer or printer.  Teach the students to troubleshoot simple problems.  Some teachers require students to tell them the 3 things they tried before asking for help to alleviate the situation of students simply raising their hand any time they have a problem without trying to solve it themselves.
• Demonstrate how to do a computer activity on the TV monitor prior to doing the activity.  Show students typical problems they might encounter and how to deal with them.
• Avoid using the computer as a reward for students who finish; provide ways for all students to get access on the computer.
• 3 day process in a lab of 10 computers with 30 students, each student is on for one day and the two days that the students are off they have other activities. This is especially useful if the computers are near the library and the students can be using the library for research on the two days that they are not on the computers. 

How do you keep one computer in your classroom used effectively most of the school day?

• Centers - students rotate through them 
• Schedule blocks of time, each child gets two - twenty minute time blocks on the computer during a week 
• Each week a teacher or students find "The Site of the Week" that pertains to the main topic of learning for the week and everyone must go to the site by the end of the week and write a synopsis. Students sign up for times during the week and have a time limit so that all students will have an opportunity 
• Every few weeks, the students are taught to do something on the computer, the students have the next two weeks to complete the task. Each child has a scheduled time, plus there are open times available to all students 
• Leave the computer on with a word processor running, students are allowed to come and type documents. The student disks are next to the computer so that they can save their work to the disks. 
• Have expectations that your students will use the technology. 
• Have PowerPoint presentations running that teaches something.
• Design Fun Brain activities such as Quiz Star, Math Games, Puzzles, Track Stars, that are related to what the students are learning.
• Have students learn new programs, or design puzzles or math games for the rest of the class.
• Put activities and assignments on the web page, so students can do assignments at home if they are absent or fall behind.
• Use screen savers to display a buzzword and definition that rotates all day.
• Distribute computer passes that students can use at designated times. One teacher gave this to her students as a holiday gift. 
• Use the computer to display the daily schedule.
• Use PowerPoint to teach a new concept.
• Have students use PowerPoint to create presentations to share with the rest of the class.
• Use simulation programs that involve the entire class or a group of students. Tom Snyder Productions has outstanding materials for the one computer classroom.
• Many students do not have the background knowledge to understand a concept or topic.  For example, students in a language arts class were reading a story about a boy who lives in a subway station.  Students in Tucson, Arizona did not know about subways or subway stations, so the teacher found images on the Internet and used an AVerKey to display them for the entire class to see.  You can find images or movies to show students from the Internet.  Go to a Search Engine like Alta Vista or Google that allows you to search for images or movies and do a search for the concept you need the students to understand.
• Have students keep a  journal on the computer or share reflections
• Use the computer as a research center.  Use CD-ROM reference materials or have links to your favorite Internet reference sites such as Britannica, Encarta, Encyclopedia.com, or  Fact Monster. 
• Produce a class newsletter; each student or group contributes articles on what they are learning and doing.
• Daily Oral Language - a teacher types 2 sentences with mistakes on the computer in a font large enough for everyone to read.  The image is displayed on the TV monitor.  Each child writes down the sentences and fixes the mistakes.  Students go to the computer and correct the mistakes and practice computer and grammar skills.
• Use a drawing program like KidPix to reinforce skills.  Students can make a picture with stamps that begin or end with the  consonant or vowel sound being learned.  Students can draw and label parts for a science lab, such as parts of plant, life cycle of the moth or the water cycle.  Students can write a sentence or story and draw a picture to accompany it.  Students can write the most important fact from new learning and provide an illustration.
• Have students create a graph using Excel or the Create a Graph site.
• Display student work on a TV for group editing.  Discuss spelling, grammar, voice, sentence fluency, plot, character development, setting, or the topic you are studying.
• Have students create concept maps or graphic organizers using KidPix, Inspriration, or Kidspiration.

What do you do when students don't finish a task that requires a computer?

• Students can stay after school and finish the work 
• Have computers open during lunch time for students to complete work 
• Students can finish their work during recess 
• Students can sit behind others who are completing the task and observe and finish the assignment 
• Technology "Whiz Kids" can assist students - Whiz Kids are a group of students that attend after school meetings to become the Technology Experts at the school; they assist in troubleshooting hardware and software problems and teaching students and teachers how to use the technology. 
• Students can attend Homework Help Nights at CDO as computers are available 
• Provide alternative assignments that don't require a computer 
• Adjust the timelines 
• Print information from the Internet and allow students to take it home and read 
• Get more computers :-) 
• Depending on the reason the student didn't complete the task (illness, lack of responsibility), give the student a grade of 0 or choose to ignore the assignment and don't average it into his grade 
• Provide buffer activities - build extra time into the schedule, in that way students who didn't finish will have more time to finish, and those that finished can do an enrichment activity like creating a picture or slide show in Kid Pix. Make the activity one that students will want to do so that they work hard to finish the assignment on time
• If a student finishes early, partner them with someone who hasn't finished to help them along.
• If you know that a student of group of students will not be able to finish the entire assignment, target the most important parts and tell them what you expect them to accomplish.
• Provide follow-up discussions with the entire class, so that all students will learn the information even if they didn't accomplish it on the computer.
• Suggest to the child or parent that the student finish the assignment on computers at the local public library.
• Schedule computer time during elective period.
• Use techniques to motivate students to want to finish. Most students like to work on the computer and you might tell them that if they don't finish in the provided time, they will have to take it home and complete it with paper and pencil.
• Design activities with the possibility in mind that students might require additional time or that assignments could be finished without the computer.

What do you do to minimize printing problems?

• Students must go to Print Preview before printing to see how many pages an Internet document is or to see if everything looks like they want it to 
• Students are limited to being able to only print 2 pages 
• Students aren't allowed to print pages from Netscape, they must copy and paste the parts that they need to a word processing document- this makes them read the information and find the important parts, and it helps them with their bibliography. Teachers have posted the steps next to the computer so that all students can follow the procedure 
• Set the Printer to Econo Print - you must do this from the menu on the printer - the printer will be changed for final drafts of documents, this saves on the amount of toner being used 
• Students have a "?" card and a "Print" card and they raise those or place them on top of the computer if they have a question or want to print. An adult must give permission before they can print 
• Select times for specific stations to print 
• Teacher must give permission before a student can print 
• Limit the number of pages a student can print 
• Save the documents and the teacher prints them out later
• Bookmark Internet sites so students can refer back to them later but don't need to print the information.
• Have students take notes about the information.
• Watch your students, monitor what is on their screen.
• Have students make a written request for what they want to print and why they need to print. 

How should students save work?

• Students need to learn the importance of saving documents.  Teach them how and where to save. All schools have the ability to save to the server.  Ask your tech specialist to help you. Teach them to save often!
• Some programs have autosave features that will automatically save work on a specified time interval.  Investigate if the program the students are using have the feature and turn it on.
• Determine where students will save work. Will students will save to a floppy disk, hard drive or school server?  If you choose floppy disks realize that floppy disks are not the most stable medium and be prepared for a few students to lose  work over the course of a school year.  You will need to determine if students can take the disks home and if they can you should have a plan for where they will save when they forget the disk at home (an extra multi-use disk may solve the problem).  If the students save to the hard drive you will need to determine where they will save.  Will they save on the Desktop or on a hard drive, will they save in a specific folder?  You need to teach them how to save to the correct location and how to get the file back.  In addition, you need to discuss the ethics of deleting or using other student work since they will have access to it.  The best place to save work is a school server.  Most school servers are backed up daily so the work will not be lost.  Students will need to be taught how to log into the network and save and retrieve files.
• If your students are creating PowerPoint presentations you will need to find a large enough place to save the presentations.  Many student created presentations will not fit on a floppy disk. 
• If you allow students to bring disks from home be sure to scan them for viruses.