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SITE RATIONALE - This is my rough draft of the site rational. Am I right? Is this what are aims are, and please feel free to add or change.

Welcome to the Educator's Lounge!!

We, the Portal People, have created a Portal for educators which is both informative and participatory in nature. The theoretical basis for the creation of this site is the necessity for provision of support for educators in their use of the internet and online tools. This focus is of increasing importance in our technology driven society where students need to be guided in developing 21st century skills, such as information literacy, media literacy and Information Computer Technology (ICT) literacy (Lee&Finger,2010).

The CyberPD (Professional Development) section of this site provides links to a variety of online Professional Development opportunities on a multitude of topics, including internet research skills and the various uses of technology for teaching and learning, as well as Professional readings on such topics. While these links provide you with a way to improve your technological skills and knowledge, they will also contribute to your continuing professional education (CPE) hours (McCrea, 2011).

More specifically, the CyberClassroom section of this site aims to provide links to practical and user friendly tools for use with primary and secondary students. Duncan-Howell (2010) asserts that the content contained within Professional Learning sites should be authentic and related to teachers concerns. With this in mind, it is notable that this site is created by teachers and feedback is welcomed via our blog.

Salmon states that the nature of online learning requires facilitators to provide participants with a space for ‘bar’ or ‘café’ area for further discussion of topics (2004). The Educators Armchair blog linked to this site provides educators with a space to highlight the pits and falls of their online experiences, creating a supportive environment for peer interaction and learning.

Finally, our CyberLaugh section will make you smile! For those of us who are frustrated by the pace at which technology has spread through every aspect of our lives, a giggle over this may help relieve the tension!

I found this today - possibly an engine for our Portal [|www.protopage.com] It has the ability to take a lot of RSS feeds. I just created one for my class this morning. Please keep in mind -- work in progres!!! [|www.protopage.com/wilsonyear6] Cheers Jenny

**__Searching/Researching – helpful tools, sites and strategies to support teachers __**
 * //__Assignment One – Sarah’s Brainstorming so far… 28/3/11 __//**

[] Choose the best search engine for your information need – clear and concise information about how to use other search engines apart from Google to gain the information required.

[] How to search for Internet resources to use in a lesson – online/interactive resources for all year levels – includes ready to use lessons with an IWB, as well as information for teachers to teach effective lessons.

**__Beyond the phrase – ‘Google It!’ __** A section for – ‘All things Google’ Including effective search strategies using Boolean Terms, Google Wonder Wheel, Google Timeline, Advanced searching, Google Scholar

**__Boolify – a great one for teachers! __** Teaching students how to use ‘Boolean Terms,’ with coloured bricks that house key terms and connect together on the screen. Students are able to manipulate their searching in order to quickly refine what they are searching for and see these searched clearly in a coloured graphic organiser.