Technical Tips / FAQ
How does the Minnesota-China Connection project relate to
my teaching area?
The Minnesota-China Connection project can apply to many areas of
your curriculum and focus on Minnesota Academic Standards. Many of
the activities encourage comparisons between the two geographies
and cultures and invite students to look at their own world a little
more closely.
To help you integrate the program into your classroom teaching,
the learning activities are sorted by grade level and subject area.
Use the learning activities by subject area list to search for areas
that fit your grade level and teaching subject, or browse the list
of activities to find something that fits.
You're encouraged to come up with activities of your own. The learning
activities outlined on the Minnesota-China Connection project website
are only a sample of what is possible. There are many more creative
ways you can use the material in your classroom. Please feel free
invent your own activities.
If you have a success story or if you’re stuck on a project,
e-mail Angie Judd, Academic Standards and Professional Development
Division at the Minnesota Department of Education at angie.judd@state.mn.us.
Why use technology in teaching and learning?
As a teacher, you have multiple demands on your time and expertise.
The technological improvements that allow you to incorporate new
media in your teaching plans can either streamline your work or lead
to confusion if you are unsure of how to apply technology in your
classroom.
Here are some of the benefits of using technology to transform learning:
- Technology can and does make teaching and learning more
fun.
- Technology can make teaching easier as the transformation
of learning is achieved.
- The use of technology can increase productivity for teachers
and increases learning gains in students.
- Technology can help students become self-learners.
- Technology can remove physical barriers to learning, providing
students with access to educational opportunities beyond
the school walls and limits of the scheduled school day.
- The use of technology can increase engagement of parents
in the teaching/learning process.
How do I use the “live” elements of the project?
This website will remain as a rich teaching tool long after the
Trade Mission in November 2005. We know, however, that providing
this unique, live link to the activities in China brings the experience
that much closer and makes current events and issues that much more
relevant, especially when viewed from a peer-to-peer vantage point.
Note: Certain portions of the Minnesota-China Connection website
will only become active in the weeks before the trade mission, but
there is content available right now to help make the live experience
even stronger.
September – October: Pre-Trade Mission
Assign different topics from the Explore More
section to various students, who can review the background information
and links to present a brief report on a topic to the class. As
a supplement, have students begin clipping articles related to
China, Minnesota trade in China, and use these to help set the
stage for the climate of the Trade Mission. By gaining prior understanding
of the various “threads” at
play between the two countries, students can start seeing
the interplay between the threads of culture, government, the economy
and the environment.
Students can begin collection questions about
what they’d
like to learn by following this mission.
Late October – November: Trade Mission
As the Trade Mission gets underway, bring students back to enjoy
the live features on the Minnesota-China Connection weblog and website.
Each day of the trip, students accompanying the Governor on the
trade mission will be filing text reports on their adventures and
observations using a weblog or blog. You can have your students read
the reports each day.
Every few days, video transmissions will be sent from China. Before
class, check to see if a new video has arrived and make sure your
Internet connection is set up to view the video so you are ready
when class begins.
Throughout the mission, ask students to check if their pre-trip
questions are being answered, and if they have further questions,
invite them to use the weblog to ask an expert.
At the end of each daily report, students can discuss or answer
Daily Challenge Questions. These questions, developed by the Minnesota
Department of Education, will prompt the students to relate the issues
covered to their own lives. Use this daily challenge as a journaling
exercise and/or a group discussion question, or develop some challenge
questions of your own.
Encourage students to share their answers and discuss and review
other students’ responses using the Minnesota-China Connection
weblog.
How can everybody in the class view the Minnesota-China
Connection website?
There are several ways to share one Web site with a classroom of
students, even if you only have one computer in the classroom.
Projection: Connect your computer to a projection device so that
you can display the site for all students at once. This efficiently
uses your Internet connection, it allows you to control where on
the site students concentrate their time, and it promotes group discussion.
Any supplemental material you use and tasks should be appropriate
for a setting in which you are controlling the mouse – i.e.,
you will lead them to the places where they can find the answers
and information they need.
Lab settings: If your students have regular access to a lab setting,
link the computers to the Minnesota-China Connection website before
class begins (it’s always good to know that the links work
before you have a room full of kids). In a lab setting, students
can browse the site at their own pace. If, however, you have specific
activities you want to accomplish, prepare a list of areas you want
them to visit on the website during the time allotted. Set a task
for students to complete so that they get the job done. Discuss it
with them before you let them loose on the site to browse. Let the
students know how much time they have to get the task accomplished.
Small groups: In both the classroom and lab setting, it is often
more efficient to group students in small groups (3-4 students in
a group) to view the site and accomplish a task. You can either give
all the groups the same task to accomplish and compare the results
at the end of class, or you can give each group a different task,
allowing them to share their research and discovery in presentation
or oral form. WebQuests are particularly effective ways to use the
Internet in small groups. Check out the Web Quests that appear on
this site, or make up some of your own.
Assigning research outside of class: You can stretch your Internet
time by assigning students to access the computer outside of class.
Schedule time in the lab or library for your students during recess
and after school (it’s amazing how often they’re willing
to give up time when they’re deeply engaged). Encourage those
with computers at home to bring in extra information to share with
others. Be sure that students have the URL of the Minnesota-China
Connection project website so they can access the site away from
the classroom.
In a classroom with only one computer, give the groups a rotating
schedule for access to the computer, and be very clear about areas
you want them to explore. While one group is working on the computer,
the other groups can be using other resources to do their work, and/or
they can be organizing the information they have gathered in the
time allotted.
Helpful hints: Here are some additional pointers to help you successfully
share the Web site with your class:
- If you have the means, use all of the above methods to explore
the Minnesota-China Connection project website. Some of the
material (such as the video, weblog, and some of the learning
resources) can be viewed by the class together, and then students
can be broken into groups to dig into the site more deeply.
- With all of these methods, it is important to be prepared so
you can save time and avoid frustration.
- Log on to the site before class begins. Be sure the connection
is live.
- Check for new material so you know what will be available
and useful to your class.
- Visit the Web pages you plan to use with your students
so they are “cached” (stored) temporarily in
your browser. Once they’re in your browser, they’ll
load much faster and allow you to get more done.
How do I print pictures or text I want to use?
Hopefully, you and your students will find plenty of material to
use in the classroom. Teachers will probably want to print out some
of the teaching activities, WebQuests, and printable materials. Students
may want to use some of the background material and pictures for
their own reports. You are welcome to print and use any and all of
the material on the Minnesota-China Connection project website for
classroom use.
This is, however, an excellent time to be sure your students understand
about citing Internet sources and about copyright and the Internet
(especially if they use material from other web sites). Your school
librarian/media specialist is an excellent source for guidance on
these requirements.
You can print text and pictures directly from a web page. Use your
browser’s print function to print out a web page.
If you find that the text is bleeding off the edges of your paper,
look in the preference area of your browser to change the “default” text
size. This will change how your browser and printer read the text
on the page. In some computers, you can instruct your printer to
print the page at less than 100% to ensure that the entire page fits
on the paper. Experiment until you know what works in your case.
How do I change font size so I can
print a web page?
If you are using Internet Explorer, go to the "View" menu
and select Text size. You then can select from largest, large, medium,
small, smallest. Note that some web sites are designed in ways that
will not allow this feature to work. If you are using Netscape, go
to the View menu and select "decrease font size" or "increase
font size". Again, some web sites will not allow the viewing
to change the font size.
How do I save pictures and text from the Internet?
Sometimes you don’t want to print the Web material, you want
to save it on your computer.
To save text excerpts: If text is part of a web icon, there’s
no good way to save it (as websites get more sophisticated, this
happens more and more often). Most text, however, can be saved the
same way you save text in any document. Select the text you want
and “copy” it to “paste” into a text document.
To save pictures: Photos, too, can be saved in a file on your hard
drive or simply lifted to be placed directly into a Word document.
To save a photo in a file, hold down the mouse or “right click” on
the picture. Choose “save as” and save the photo into
a file where you’ll be able to use it later. To paste a picture
directly into a document, hold down the mouse or “right click” on
the picture. Choose “copy” and then paste the picture
into your document. Photo formats on the Web (called “jpg”)
will transfer directly into a Word document.
What are the rules for copyright and citing
Internet sources?
There are three issues to consider when using information directly
from the Internet. They apply to both teacher and student use.
- How much do you want your students to “copy” directly
from a source, and how much do you want them to synthesize
the information?
This is a partly a pedagogical decision and partly a legal one.
Talk to your students about copyright issues (see below), or have
your school librarian/media specialist talk to your class about them.
Help your students understand why they learn more when they process
information rather than simply copying it.
- What is legal to copy from a Web site?
Copyright laws for the Internet are similar to copyright laws for
print material: there are allowances made for educational use. Teachers
and students have leeway to copy a reasonable amount of material
if it will be used in the classroom for teaching purposes or used
by students to create reports, etc. Check out the following websites
for more information about copyright and the Internet or work with
your school librarian/media specialist to gain an understanding of
copyright.
- How should students treat copied text and photos?
Regardless of the legality of using material from a Web site for
educational purposes, it’s important that students learn how
to cite Internet material. Showing respect for the work of others
becomes increasingly important in a world as rich with readily available
sources of information as the one we live in today.
Work with your school librarian/media specialist to build understanding
and knowledge of copyright issues. The following websites have more
information regarding citing Internet sources:
U.S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/
American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/copyright.htm
University of Minnesota Libraries: http://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/
Citation Style Guides – College of St. Catherine: http://www.stkate.edu/library/guides/style.html
How do I use the interactive features on the Minnesota-China
Connection project website?
There are several places in which you and your students are invited
to interact on the website. Each of these places has a form which
can be filled out online.
The following are interactive areas on the site:
Sign up for regular e-mail updates. Use the form on the front page
of the site or send us an e-mail to sign up for regular updates that
will tell you of new features on the site and will publish comments
and suggestions from participating teachers.
Send your questions to the weblog. Students and teachers are invited
to pose questions about China to our delegates. Create and answer
daily challenges on the weblog.
Teachers, send in teaching ideas and comments. By e-mail, you are
welcome to submit your comments about the learning activities, or
to share activities that you create for your classroom. We will share
your comments in the regular e-mail updates.
Send in personal stories. If you are a Minnesotan with personal
experience in China, send us your story on the weblog.
What if I want to do more research on
the web?
The Minnesota-China Connection website provides many web links for
each piece of background. We also provide a master list of websites
for a wealth of resources on a variety of topics.
To do a web search for even more information, use your browser to
select a search engine such as Google. Choose a few key words for
your search (the word “China” alone will overwhelm you),
such as “China Great Wall.”
Visit your school library media center and ask your school librarian
for help in searching the resources of the Electronic Library of
Minnesota (ELM) for full print, on-line articles about China and
topics related to the Trade Mission.
How do I use technology in the activities I choose?
Obviously, by using the Minnesota-China Connections website you
are introducing technology skills in the classroom. Design your activities
so that all your students get at least a few minutes of hands-on
access to the computer and the mouse.
For more directed help, note that most learning activities contain
suggestions for integrating technology. Check out those suggestions
for individual ideas.
Make your specific project outcome a technology-generated “product.” Types
of products and technologies you can use:
Word processing
Database
Multimedia
PowerPoint
Video
Student-created websites
Concept mapping (such as Inspiration
or Kidspiration)
On-line information sources such as ELM
Use the WebQuests on the site or assign your own online research
projects.
Show your students how to use the interactive features on the site.
How can I keep using the Minnesota-China
Connection project website after the China trip is finished?
The Minnesota-China Connection web pages will remain on the Minnesota-China
Connections project site in an archived format. You can re-use
many of the activities as well as the background material and
student reports.
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