Alan November Workshop: Part 2 of ?

Hi all!  Happy Saturday!  I hope everyone is enjoying their weekends so far. 

I can't believe the positive response I got to my 1st Alan November post (both comments and emails, too!).  I'm so excited that there are others out there that get excited about technology, just like me!  (Actually makes me feel like less of a nerd!)

Today IS Saturday, though, so my "Part 2" post will be short and sweet (for both of us).  It goes along with part of my post yesterday: teaching students to think critically online. 

Have you ever been online and come to a "dead" link?  Click on it and you get "page not found" or "page no longer exists"?  I'm sure we ALL have had that happen!  And sometimes it can be quite maddening! 

Well let it frustrate you NO LONGER!  Mr. November introduced me to the "Way Back Machine" over at archive.org.  All you have to do is enter the web address of the site you would like, and it will go find it for you.  It has recorded almost all sites since the beginning of time (not really, but maybe the beginning of the internet?).  It will show you when the site was created, when ANY changes were made, and even when it was taken down (if it had been).  It will also show you screen shots of the page on any/all of those days!  So you can see what it looked like the last time you visited the page!  How neat is that!

(Screenshot of TpT on Way Back Machine.  Shows when it was created, then I can click on any blue date to see what TpT looked like then!  Also shows the "activity" on the timeline up top!)

You might ask, "What does this have to do with teaching our students to think critically about the internet?"  And to that, I will reply, "We're building our detective skills!"  Yes, by using a site like this, it helps us add a bit more information when trying to determine if a link is legit or not!  It also helps us find things that no long "exist" online (even though they may be quite helpful)! 

So, I know it's a short post, but go play around when/if you have time and see what you think.  I thought it was a super neat site!  I can't wait to use it and/or explain it to my kiddos next year.  Even though they're 2nd graders, the more exposure they get earlier on, the more likely it is to "sink in" during the later years!  (Right?!)  :)

Keep coming back tomorrow (and next week!).  I've got more info to share from my November Learning Workshop and many tidbits for you to use in the classroom!  (Can't wait and need some "sneak peeks"?  Well, how do you feel about Google Apps/Tools, teacher AND student created online tutorials, student blogging, and other helpful links & online tools?)