Frequently Asked Questions about the Internet Hunts and other activities

Things are changing Classroom Strategies to Engender Student Questioning - I am reworking hunts with these issues in mind. I am adding math related questions using the outstanding web resource DailyBrains at MathMastery.com There are now questions they must look up using an online resource. In some hunts I have added a cumulative question at the end. The Question is the Answer - the secret to great research In some cases, I find a more interesting or current question/topic. I am also revising for the PA Academic standards. On a few occasions, the web site that the question was linked to is removed. If I cannot find a good new site, I remove the question.   I want to include your Internet hunt as a site link. May I have your permission ? Absolutely. Feel free to link to any hunt or the index pages. I suggest the index because I will do my best to preserve the links from the index even if I revise the site. You are prohibited from reposting the hunts in a personal web site, a school website or an intranet. ***** There is a broken link or two in a hunt or activity. What should I do? Let me know of any problems and I'll fix them ASAP. If you want to use one in a class, run the links before hand. I try to fix them within 24 hours of notice, but often accomplish it by the next morning. I have not linked this info to avoid being spammed. Alternatively, use the problem as a "teachable" moment. You could show the students how to delete parts of the url to find the page. OR direct the students to find the answer using their web searching skills. ***** "Would I be violating your copyright if I printed an Internet Search for use in my classroom, but omitted some of the questions because of time constraints?" actual email If you print the hunt, just as it appears, and then instruct the students to ignore/skip questions, no - you are not violating the copyright of the hunt. That is a perfectly legitimate use of the hunt. If you alter it by removing or changing certain questions, you are violating my copyright and terms of use. In that circumstance, you might consider making your own hunt. Do the research on the Net. Craft the questions in the number and on the subject you desire. Make the web page. Generate the answer sheet. Post your hunt in your account online. The more unique hunts about a subject, the better! ***** Public Domain: I have decided to release a few activities to public domain. This means people may use it freely with no copyright restrictions. This is noted at the bottom of the activity's webpage. Copy-Paste - On a few hunts designed for more experienced computer users, I have given the directions to make a word processing document on which the studnet enters their answers via the computer. This is noted in the directions. ***** Too many questions - too little time On occasion when I build a hunt, I uncover a multitude of great sites or super questions. Consequently, I just keep posing questions. You may feel that a specific hunt is too long to use in a class. Consider utilizing the "every other plan". Have the kids count off 1's and 2's. 1's can do the odd numbered questions, 2's can do the even numbered ones. Suddenly an eighteen question hunt is only nine questions long. This strategy also cuts down on "info sharing". OR Make your own answer sheet. Write the numbers of the questions you want them to follow from the hunt. ***** What's with the lines? The other day a teacher wrote telling me there was not enough space on the web page nor on the pdf file for her students to write the answers. I looked at both again with a critical eye. It occurred to me that they would be more "user friendly" if there were lines provided for the answers. I am working through them adding printer friendly answer sheets with lines in pdf. ***** I have found a typo, spelling slip, grammarical gaff, evident error, queer question... Consider it a teachable moment with your students. Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and send me an email pointing out the foible. Tread lightly. A self-appointed spell checker sent me a note. She corrected my spelling of Plimoth. She had not followed the link to see that that was the very spelling the organization used. I pointed out to her that she would be well advised to verify things BEFORE she corrected others. ***** Where are the answers? The answers are on the linked pages or in the site I linked. I do not provide the answer keys. Users must go to each web page and find them. TAI - "think about it" are questions the user should be able to answer based on the info already covered in the hunt. ***** I think you should add cutsie pictures to the hunts. An interesting suggestion. I certainly have been tempted. But if you understand how bandwidth and web pages are intertwined, then you know that with all the loading and reloading of the hunt pages there would be a terrible waste of bandwidth. So, though seriously tempted, I sternly resist adding superfluous images. ***** What are your terms of use? I am providing many of the hunts in pdf. You'll need a free pdf program to use them like Adobe Acrobat Reader. You are permitted to either print the pdf or the web page for an answer sheet. You MAY NOT take my web files off the site and repost it in a personal web site, a school web site, or in any intranet. Use of the materials here constitutes an agreement with these Terms of Use. Examples of copyright violations ***** What actions do you take for people who violate your copyright and/or terms of use? I may notify them to remove the hunt from their website. I do notify their ISP and request it be removed. In the case of educational institutions, I notify their superiors of the violation and their web master. I am also posting links to them on my copyright page. Ultimately, I will take legal action. ***** Where do you get the ideas for topics? I do accept suggestions and work collaboratively in person and via the Net. For example: the hunts about the Prairies, Colonial People, National Parks and Fever 1793 were all requested by teachers via email. Otherwise, I have a running "to make" list. In the case of the novels based ones, I have identified the ones I have done based on books my children read as a class in school or that are of interest to me. Several were selected from the reading list for the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award from the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association. ***** Do all the hunts go from one site to another? No, several are meant to provide a guided experience of an exceptional web site. Examples: Impressionist, Exploring Music and Prairie. ***** What are your goals with the hunts? I have a bunch. One is to build web skills. Most hunts use an online form like a dictionary or database to get an answer. I also vary the directions for returning to the hunt page to build web browser familiarity: Back button, hold on back button, Go menu etc. My article called Getting Back explores the many options for navigating on the web. I also regularly incorporate harnessing the Find feature to help users scan lengthy pages for info. Secondly, I strive to have them take students to exceptional informative web sites. I believe a critical skill for the future is the ability to find info. It is no longer what you know. It is "What can you find out?". These hunts challenge users to read carefully to get the right question and read just as skillfully to find the correct answer. I like to add a "controversial" subject on occasion to stir the pot. Examples: water flowing differently in northern or southern hemispheres and raindrops being teardrop shaped. Thirdly, I craft the literature based ones to give the user a picture of the setting, characters, and author. When historical facts are mentioned I take the hunt to a site to validate or debunk the fact. I believe they enrich the reading experience. For middle school or high school students it can be a great project related to literature or author they are studying. I have been adding a mathematics based question to many of the hunts in an effort to demonstrate to students - "when they could need to know this stuff". Some of these hunts gather online resources or outline a topic. My Environmental Hunt is an example. Finally, the months hunts are a bit of whimsy on my part. It began with March when I realized how many "march" things I could define. I received a lot of positive feedback about the March hunt from educators. One even wrote to ask when the April one would be up. So I continue to develop and maintain them for each month. ***** How long does it take you to make a hunt? That depends on several things. What do I know about the subject? Perhaps it involves reading a book. Some answers are elusive on the web. This is not usually due to the availability of the answer so much as the quality of the resource providing it. I make a habit of avoiding pages with pop ups whenever possible. I shun pages with a superfluous use of graphics because they waste bandwidth and slow the "hunt process". Some pages are nearly unreadable due to color schemes or harsh background graphics. UGH! It may take a few hours to several days to make a hunt. Once I have the links, I convert the page to a pdf answer sheet, too. ***** Filtering software blocking pages On occasion I hear from someone that their filtering software is blocking a site I have included in a hunt. You can allow access to a site or page using the filter's administrative privileges. Alternatively, you can skip that question or seek out the answer using any search engine. A teacher wrote to me because a museum site I had linked to had a drawing of a Native American woman with no shirt. She wanted me to change the link. I understand her problem. I looked for a few hours on the Net but could not find an equivalent resource that was age appropriate. I urged her to make an original hunt using resources she was comfortable using. I have objections to filtering software. Not on principle, but rather because it is done mindlessly at worst and poorly at best. As the web continues to grow exponentially, these tools will grow even more useless. They will offer either a false sense of security or grossly inhibit the free flow of valuable information. I ask you... Since there is a book with illustrations of Michelangelo's sculptures in the library shall we bar children from entering the library? the nonfiction section? the art area? Do not forget to include the geography and periodical sections where thousands of kids have gotten their "first peeks" in a National Geographic. Oh yes, lock up the science books and the psychology books, too.