WEBSTER

Everyone is talking about improving education. WEBSTER is a way of actually improving education today by using the technology that's available. Every school has looked into computer technology. Technology generally means the Internet and world wide web. WEBSTER is a well thought out way of utilizing the Internet and modern multi-media technology. Best of all, WEBSTER is very low in cost or entirely free. We realize that there are other Internet control and lesson systems available. Often, these are complex and require extensive training to use and all are more expensive than WEBSTER. Often also, these fail to stop or simply ignore the commercialism, sleaze and pornography that pervades the web.

Many companies (and perhaps educators) are simply hypnotized by the razzle-dazzle of computers and multimedia. Most of them want to get the kids involved in creating web-sites, doing animations and creating computer art and above all, socializing. In and of itself, there's nothing wrong with that but it isn't whats needed. Yes, the kids can get together and throw around ideas to solve a math challenge and that's a fun socially useful thing to do but it has more to do with socializing than with math. Real understanding is something different and is individual. Games and and social activities can help but the real innovators of the future will be more than techo consumers. They will be individuals who think and study and achieve a deep level of personal understanding. We want kids to understand the basics of the subjects and understand them well. The transmission of ideas has always been a way to learn. Ideas can come from books or teachers and now they can also come from multimedia-presentations and the Internet. But let's not lose sight of the fact that it's the ideas that are important. Understanding the ideas of the innovators of the past and learning to use them is education. Web lessons are designed to transmit such ideas. Performing and being part of the group is currently very important and is 'in' but being an individual thinker and contributor is and always has been just as important.

WEBSTER is a multi-dimensioned tutor, not an entertainer even though web lessons can include gifs, YouTube videos and sounds which can make kids laugh. But reflect for a moment, the US Civil War cannot be rendered amusing by any system of cartoons and it's presented in the 8th grade. Some things just can't be amusing.

Education is our future and our kids' future. As thinker, philanthropist and industrialist Arnold Beckman so aptly said: "There is no satisifatory substitute for excellence". We want our kids to be excellent students not mediocre ones. Its time for K-12 improvement and this product can help. It can help your kids.

WEBSTER is unlimited in scope. Lessons produced with WEBSTER are just as suitable for a pre calculus class as for fourth grade elementary Algebra. This is a tool students can use without extensive training. They will be able to use it if they have even minimal training with computers The teachers who author web leesons will find the authoring tool easy to learn and use.

So what is a web lesson? First of all, like a textbook it is a set of known facts and ideas about a subject. Unlike a textbook, a web lesson is multi-dimensional. Ideas and facts can be expressed in words, images, sounds, animations, videos, slideshows, hypertext links and links to useful websites. A web lesson is much like a website except that web lessons are much easier to produce than websites and reside on the student's computer rather than on a web server. This means that images and animations appear instantly not after a long loading delay. Many websites are extremely 'busy', filled with Google ads, popups and other distractions. Very often the subject is badly obscured by the 'noise' of the website. Just as often, needed information, though available, is scattered across many pages of websites and hidden in a thicket of ads. Web lessons are clear, focused, easy to follow, have no ads or distractions, and, when they link to the Internet, use only relevant, clear, safe websites. Internet use is completely controlled. Web lessons bring together many explanations and demonstrations about a subject. The student does not have to search anything or contend with complicated and confusing instructions. Its all there in one place. We live in a 'noisy' world and that noise is just not conducive to learning. Web lessons are a quiet, focused haven in that noisy world. Often all that is needed to improve a child's understanding of a subject is a clear uncomplicated presentation of that subject.

A web lesson can be used whether the computer running it is connected to the Internet or not. This means that children of families too poor to afford a broadband connection will still be able to utilize web lessons at home. Much of the content of a web lesson doesn't require the Internet at all even though some of it may have come from the Internet. Web lessons are written by teachers, many of them with many years of teaching experience. For homeschoolers, web lessons can include references and links to religious information if they wish. The cost of laptop computers is coming down. Web lessons are a very affordable tutor.

Links to Internet websites in a web lesson are completely safe. Web lessons run in the WEBSTER browser. The browser enables students to visit sites which have been chosen by the lesson author. Students can get to the sites but cannot go beyond or elsewhere unless specifically allowed to do so. This accomplishes two very important goals:

Limiting web access provides focus. Students are offered access only to sites which are relevant. This saves a lot of time and internet frustration. At last count, there were over 110 million web sites. Surfing that vast ocean might be fun sometimes but it is always time consuming and often, just plain frustrating. Students' time is better spent thinking about the subject material of the lesson. The teacher who wrote the lesson did the surfing and provided only relevant, safe websites for use by the student. As the admin of WEBSTER you can add appropriate web links to any web lesson. Where possible, demonstrations such as Flash and Java applets have been included in the lesson and do not require Internet access.

Limiting web access provides safety. Un-supervised access to those 110 million sites always exposes the student to commercialism, to pornographic or pruient material and often to computer infecting viruses. Censorware software may help a little but is often out of date and easy for the kids to get around if they try. In a web lesson, the student cannot accidently or on purpose get to such undesirable websites. Censorware systems have proven themselves to be but marginally effective. WEBSTER isn't censorware.

It can be downloaded from this site . Web lessons generally cost less than an hour ot two of a tutor's time and a web lesson can be used again and again. Prices range from $20 to $50 per lesson. If you cannot afford to purchase a web lesson, you may apply for a free copy. How to do this is explained in the help file of the WEBSTER browser. If you can afford to pay for the lesson, please do so as the money helps to defray our cost of producing the lessons.

You can see a list of available lessons below. Parents, including homeschooling parents, can take web lessons also to brush up on their subject skills. All web lessons are written in strict conformance with California board of education standards.

The California Algebra I Success Initiative

Do you know about the initiative? It is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent proposal to require all eighth grade students be tested in Algebra I within three years, effectively requiring every eighth-grade student to learn Algebra I. This will be a massive challenge to the school system. How will the schools handle this? How will home schoolers handle it? We intend to help. We have a complete set of downloadable Algebra I web lessons available right now spanning grades 2 through 8. Every one is written in careful conformance to the California Algebra standards and every one covers every topic in its standard. All are grade appropriate and written to encourage learning and research. All have appropriate Internet links and videos. This initiative is tough and will need all the help it can get. Here is some help.

You can read more about the Algebra Initiative at http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr08/yr08rel108.asp. Our Algebra I lessons can be downloaded from this website.

Would you like to try some web lessons right here and now? There are three complete web lessons here on site and an interactive PowerPoint presentation of a 5th grade geometry lesson. Of course since they are running in your browser and not in WEBSTER's custom browser, the internet links cannot be limited and several features of our custom browser will not be available but you will get the idea and rest assured, in the actual program internet links are totally controlled. Please note that many websites 'pop up' new windows generally to advertise something. While running a web lesson within your browser, we can't prevent that but when running a web lesson in the WEBSTER browser, we can and do prevent it. When web lessons run in the WEBSTER browser, means is provided for the student to take notes, access an on-line dictionary and language translation website and take quizzes. There are samples to view from fifteen or so other lessons on the download page of this site. Download the PowerPoint presentation here.

The geometry web lesson shown here is intended to show just a few (by no means all) of the features available in web lessons. This web lesson offers Internet sites about geometry and also discusses geometry and uses images to stimulate the imagination. The geometry web lesson is not intended to be practical but it will serve to give you the concept of a web lesson.

Our WEBSTER web lesson authoring program offers a wide selection of multimedia tools and is easy to use. Web lessons can be as creative and motivating as their author wants them to be or as simple as a set of controlled Internet links. A web lesson like this could be written in about one hour by someone experienced in using the authoring tool. Click the blue link below to view the geometry web lesson.

Geometry web lesson

How about a look at a web lesson on a lighter side. Awhile back, we were asked to do a web lesson about a wonderful film called Microcosmos. Microcosmos was produced by a French director. It's about the life of insects and other small creatures living in fact in a 'micro cosmos', the garden just outside your door. The insect micro photography in the film is stunning. Click the link below to view the web lesson.

Microcosmos web lesson

Suppose kids had viewed the film Microcosmos and then were asked to research insects on the Internet what would they be facing? First of all an over abundance of richness akin to selecting an appropriate book from a huge library containing millions of volumes with no librarian or card catalog. A Google search on 'Insects' produces something like 38 million hits. Aside from the many dead links, predatory porn and commercial sites hiding behind innocent names, just wading through such a collection quickly causes young eyes to glaze over. A web lesson eliminates all that. Students are free to research the subject at hand and go directly to relevant (and safe) websites as they wish. The benefits are obvious. The internet becomes a vast research tool.

We have one more web lesson to show here, one of our California K-12 standard web lessons. This one is about 6th grade science, plate tectonics. Here is the California standard that this web lesson was designed to:

To view the web lesson. Click the blue link below:

6th grade science web lesson

Some web lessons such as Algebra I and II and Geometry are broad surveys. Their standards cover many topics. As each topic is presented, a quiz is offered. WEBSTER has a built in quiz generator. Such lessons are excellent reviews of sometimes troublesome subjects. They are carefully crafted to conform to their standards. To those who disagree with testing to standards, all we can say is that standatrds testing is the requirement in this country at this time and no-doubt will be for quite awhile. The California STAR program shows that standards help the kids to make progress. We agree. We see nothing wrong with a student demonstrating an achieved level of knowledge in a subject.

You can preview many of the lessons by going to the download page and trying them but no web demo is as good as actually using a web lesson in our browser on your own computer.

The Internet is a tremendous resource. Let's use it

Properly controlled and used, it can be of great benefit to all students. Best of all, other than the cost of the computer, the Internet is free. Many altruistic organizations and individuals have contributed millions of hours and dollars developing excellent websites about all subjects. As an example of this, visit the web site of the British Museum, for example, their section on ancient Greece. When excellent work like that is available free, we would be foolish not to make it safely available to our kids.

Dr. Isaac Asimov talked about planet wide knowledge libraries in his '40's and '50's science fiction. He called these libraries and access to them 'learning machines' . Now the learning machines are real!! WEBSTER gives the means of control, the teacher who writes the web lesson provides the direction , knowledge and judgement. The student benefits from it all.

You can download the WEBSTER browser from this website. Once the browser is installed, you can purchase web lessons with it or apply for a license for free. They are inexpensive and you risk very little by trying them. If your student benefits from a web lesson (and we are confident they will), you have made a very wise purchase.

Would you like to help build our library of web lessons? If you are an expert in some K-12 subject and know how to teach and would like to help, we will provide the authoring software for you to do so. We require conformance to CA standards and a well crafted lesson. Tutorials and extensive help files about writing web lessons are available. Your knowledge and help would be appreciated by many.

We also need money (who doesn't ?). Donations will be used to create more web lessons and pay expenses.

If you want to inquire about either of these, please contact Dick Debberthine.

AVAILABLE WEB LESSONS

WEB LESSON	STANDARD	GRADE	PRICE
G2-MATH-AandF-1	Algebra and Functions. Number relationships and problems	2	30
G2-MATH-MandG	Geometry, Measurement of length and time. Simple shapes	2	40
G3-MATH-AandF-1	Algebra and Functions. Number relationships	3	35
G3-MATH-MandG-1	Geometry, Measurement of length, volume, weight. Perimiters, Unit conversions	3	40
G3-MATH-MandG-2	Geometry, Polygon identification, triangle types, polyhedra	3	35
G4-MATH-AandF-1	Algebra and Functions. Numbers and variables	4	30
G4-MATH-MandG-1	Geometry, area and perimiter of rectangle and trapezoid	4	30
G4-MATH-MandG-2	Geometry, relationships and graphs	4	30
G4-MATH-MandG-3	Geometry, lines and circles	4	35
G4-PHYSCI-1	Science, electricity and magnetism. Circuits, motors and generators	4	45
G4-SC-2-LIFE-SCIENCES	Science, food chiains. Producers, consumers and decomposers	4	40
G5-MATH-AandF-1	Algebra and Functions. Variables and expressions	5	35
G5-MATH-MandG-1	Geometry, area of triangle proof, Nets, Volume, units of measurement and dimension	5	35
G5-MATH-MandG-2	Geometric construction. Sum of angles of polygon - projections	5	35
G5-SCIENCE-1	Science. Introduction to chemistry. Elements, molecules	5	45
G5-SCIENCE-2	Science. Cellular transport systems. Digestive, Circulatory, Urinary	5	40
G6-HISTG-6_2	History. Ancient civilizations. Egypt, Mesopotamia, Kush	6	75
G6-MATH-AandF-1	Algebra and Functions. Expressions and equations	6	35
G6-MATH-MandG	Geometry, volume of prisms and cylinders. Angles. Quadrilaterals	6	35
G6-SCIENCE-1	Science. Plate techtonics and earth's structure	6	35
G6-SCIENCE-2	Science. Shaping earth's surface. Earthquakes, volcanoes	6	30
G7-HIST-7-1	History. The Roman Empire	7	60
G7-MATH-AandF-1	Algebra and Functions. Expressions, equations, inequalities	7	40
G7-MATH-MandG-1	Geometry, measurement systems. Units as rates and products. Scaling	7	35
G7-MATH-MandG-2	Geometery, Perimiter and area. Irregular figures. Scaling and conversions	7	35
G7-MATH-MandG-3	Pythagorean theorem. Construction of figures	7	35
G7-SCIENCE-1	Science. Cell biology. Plant and animal cells	7	45
G8-12 ALGEBRA1	Complete review of Algebra I with quizzes	8-12	60
G8-12-GEOMETRY	Geometry, survey of all standard topics. Quizzes	9-12	80
G8-12-TRIGONOMETRY	Trigonometry, survey of all standard topics. Quizz	8-12	70
G8-HIST-8_10	History. The American Civil War. Extensive survey and website database	8	60
G8-SCIENCE-4	Science. The solar system, stars	8	50
G9-12-MUSIC-ADV-4.3	Performing arts. Music from many cultures and times	9-12	50
G9-12-SCIENCE-1	Science. Physics. Covers all standard and optional topics	9-12	60
G11-HIST-11-1	History. A comprehensive survey of the Enlightenment period	11	60

Please contact us at eldersft@yahoo.com to make comments or ask questions.

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