Frequently asked questions

1. We only go to the computer lab once a week!
   1. ...and the lab is not online!!!
   2. ...and each station has Internet access
2. I only have one computer in my classroom!
3. I have young students who can type but not very much
4. I have very young students with perhaps no typing skills
5. May I print the activities and questions for my students to have from the beginning of the semester?
6. May I choose whatever modules I think workbetter for me, and skip the others?
7. More Kidlink Frequently Asked Questions

...and the lab is not online!!!

Students who are able to come to a computer lab to type messages at least once a week have an opportunity to participate more on an individual basis. In addition to any group response your class might wish to compose your students will also be able to type their own replies. During the week you will talk to the students about the messages that have arrived for the project. Students will become familiar with the discussions and will prepare their replies. When they go to the computer lab they can type their messages as files to be sent later from a computer that is online.

...and each station has Internet access

If students have their own e-mail account they will need to subscribe to the listserv from their own account. Then they can send their own replies to the discussion questions and search the WWW from each station. It is not necessary for each student to have an individual account in order to participate in the project. One school or teacher account is sufficient. All project mail can go out and come in through one account.

See the Response workshop for more ideas:

• Students aged 8-10 who may not have time to finish the 4 questions at one time on the web form.

• Answering the questions in a computer lab setting

I only have one computer in my classroom!

If you have only one computer in your classroom can you participate? Absolutely! This will mean some clever organizing and planning but it can be done. Even if your computer is not online in your classroom you can still do online projects. It will be necessary for you to be online either from a computer at your school or at your home. Here are some tips to help you manage a project with only one computer in your classroom:

• Read all about the project and summarize it for the kids.
• Make a display in your classroom for the project.
• Have a place where you can put printed messages so that all the kids can see them.
• Each day new messages replace those from the day before.
• Make a special binder (book) for project mail that can be perused when students have time.
• Students might want to make a banner with the project name on it.
• Check your e-mail daily and read the discussion questions and resulting replies to the class.
• Discuss these together as a class.
• Brainstorm answers as a group.
• Together write one reply from your class that contains ideas from all of your children who have shared in the discussion.
• Have a student type your answer (or you type it, if you prefer) and save it in a word-processing file to a diskette. Of course you can always have more than one reply depending on the time available for typing on your one computer.
• Take the diskette to the computer in your school that is online or to your computer that is online at home. Import the file on the disk into an e-mail composition window and send the message to the listserv.
• As replies to your students' mail arrives distribute several copies for all to see and post one on your bulletin board display.

May I print the activities and questions for my students to have from the beginning of the semester?

Please, go ahead. Others find this needed to be able to follow the schedule in their classes.

May I choose whatever modules I think work better for me, and skip the others?

No teacher is supposed to do them all!

If you want to do a module and there are no other students there at the moment, you can still send the messages (with the subject line pointing out the module they are running). Maybe some of the students doing the other modules get interested and join the discussion. Also, when the students publish their works, the other students can go and see them and post their comments if they want.

Back to the Practical tips page

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