Five Ways Internet Explorer Can Make You a Better Teacher

By Andy Jones

Coordinator, Computer-Aided Instruction Program
The Department of English, U.C. Davis
Prepared for the Summer Institute on Technology in Teaching
July 23, 2001

1) Use New Search Engines to Do Research for Your Classes            

•Google

Google now allows users to search for images, and to restrict searches to particular languages, domains, and even individual sites. See http://www.google.com/advanced_search.html.  Google now also offers a Directory of its contents at http://directory.google.com/, and allows users to search only UCD sites at http://www.google.com/ucdavis.  

•Oingo

The home of meaning-based searching. According to the Oingo home page, "Once a query is submitted, our interpretive algorithm parses it and the output is filtered to derive the optimal result."  Presented with a search for the word "teaching," for instance, Oingo allows the reader to choose among teaching-as-pedagogy and teaching-as-doctrine.

•AllExperts

The oldest web-based collection of experts on almost any topic. Perfect if you can describe a problem or challenge, but can"t describe it with the sort of key words that are recognized by search engines.  The volunteer experts promise to respond within three days.  The few queries I sent were answered within a day.

For something even more dependable, and a better place to send your students, see Reference Services at Shields Library (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/refserv.html).

2) Download sites for future offline browsing

Sites that collect crucial information can be downloaded for future offline browsing.  Some instructors download large sites onto their laptops to browse at home, or while commuting to campus by train.  Some keep a collection of oft-visited sites for easy URL-grabbing while creating web sites.  Some keep their course web pages on their laptops the way I keep family pictures in my wallet.

For articles on offline browsing, see http://www.ciol.com/content/home/techie/100122801.asp, http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2395480,00.html, and http://windows.about.com/compute/windows/library/tips/bltip136.htm.

3) Create a Simple Link Farm Using Internet Explorer

1)    Organize your Bookmarks/Favorites with Folders and Dividers. (Help with bookmarks)
2)    Place an Alias of the Bookmarks/Favorites file on your desktop. (Help with creating a bookmark alias)
3)    In Internet Explorer, under the "File" menu, choose "Open File."
4)    Select the Alias of the Bookmarks/Favorites folder.
5)    This is perhaps the easiest way to create and view a web page.
6)    To see the URLs beneath your files' names, under the "View" menu, choose "View Source."

4) Take Advantage of Interactive Tutorials

See http://www.learnthat.com/courses/viewlets/dreamweaver/index.shtml for an example of Dreamweaver tutorials.  You will have the opportunity to learn some of the tools for enhancing your web sites with animation and interactivity during this week"s SITT.

5) Visit the Web Site of the English Department's Computer-Aided Instruction Program

You"ll find workshop handouts, links to online writing labs, and examples of course web pages: http://cai.ucdavis.edu. Of particular interest might be the unfinished "Teaching Resources Center Writing Project," and the handout to a talk I gave last week to high school History teachers on "Effective Searching, Substantive Content, and Innovative Teaching."

E-mail any questions to Andy Jones at aojones@ucdavis.edu.