Constructivist Websites for Students

1. NASA Kid's Club
This site is a great exploration site of space and our solar system. There are animated videos you can watch about space shuttle launches, astronauts, and other topics. There are also games you can play and lists of activities that you can do that are related to learning more about space. The games are not problem-based, but more of learning basic information. Another thing I really like about this site is that it is level based so kids of all ages can play.

2. Enchanted Learning
This site is great for kids and teachers to find fun projects to do and activities to go along with lessons, such as maps, flags, pictures to lable the different parts, and many more. It's one of my favorite sites to look around and see what new things they have.

3. National Geographic Kids
Students can go on the Lewis and Clark expedition and travel on their journey. They make important decisions as they go, such as navigating rivers and deciding what to bring on their journey. It asks questions about these decisions, and students click on the answer they chose.

4. Brain Pop
This site contains hundreds of animated shorts that explain content from all areas. Children take quizzes and perform various activities to apply what they have learned.

Websites With Links to Digital Books to be Used in the Elementary Classroom

1. Shutterfly.com
This website is just like iPhoto, but it can be used by anyone and you don't need to have a mac to make a digital book.

2. eReader.com
This website you can purchase the books, but there is a wide variety of books to choose from.

3. Aesop's Fables - Online
This site has all of Aesop's Fables, some of them you can listen to with Real Player. They are very short, though might be hard for younger chidren to read because the words are not very big. There are also other interesting things around that children can learn about, such as the history of Aesop and the history of Fables.

4. The Cranky Librarian
This website has lots of books that are broken up into chapters when you click on the book or poem or fable that you would like to read. The one bad and good thing about this site is that all the titles are on the left and some of them are hard to read fully.

5. International Children's Digital Library
The website is put out by the University of Maryland. What is nice about this site is you can search around and see what it is all about before signing up for an account, which is free to do. Kids can also have an accout, so this is a nice little library you can have right on your computer, and you don't have to worry about having overdue books or loosing a book.

Websites That Cover or Discuss Legal and Ethical Issues on Using Technology in the Elementary Classroom

1. Legal Issues in Educational Technology: Implications for School Leaders
Abtract description from site: "New technologies have the potential to revolutionize the educational system. Advancements in educational technology are taking place so swiftly that statutory and case law are continually developing and striving to keep the pace. Repercussions for school leaders are significant and include technology-related issues involving freedom of speech, harassment, privacy, special education, plagiarism, and copyright concerns. School leaders need to be mindful of these emerging legal conditions and understand the importance of professional development training for educators on technology and the law. With this in mind, the school law researcher and professor’s role should be to communicate frequently with educators about new statutes and how to apply legal concepts and frameworks to these developing situations."

2. Infusing Technology Skills into a Teacher Education Program: Change in Students' Knowledge about and Use of Technology.
A research study supports the work of teacher educators who took a critical and systematic look at how their early childhood/elementary program prepares its teachers to meet current technology standards

3. Teachers' Beliefs About Using Educational Technology in The Science Classroom
Part of abstract from site: "Teachers' beliefs about curriculum and instruction may play an important role in the implementation of reforms. In this study, we sought to examine the influence of K-12 teachers' beliefs on their intent to use educational technology in their classrooms."

4. The Role Of Technology In Preparing Youth With Disabilities For Postsecondary
Education And Employment
This study covers how students with a wide range of disabilities can use technology and how it can maximize their independce, productivity, and participation in academic programs, and also employment.