Architecture

This site is organized hierarchically into rooms, sections, shelves and entries. The Lobby bookcase contains a number of rooms with various areas of interest...

Each room is represented by a different icon. Clicking on an page's room icon will return you to the index page for that room.

Individual topic entries may contain one, a few or many links or locators. As a throwback, some of the links may be an email address or telephone number and, therefore, are not hyperlinks. A few valuable offline resources have been included, too.

Navigation

Several aides will help you to navigate through the many entries in this Instructional Media Center.

1. First-time visitors will find a text-based description of the rooms' contents on the Welcome page and Rooms List.

2. A dynamically-generated outline of the rooms, sections, and shelves is available at the Lobby (home page) bookcase. The outline is is updated automatically as new entries are added. Moving your mouse over a room name will reveal sections and shelves.

3. A complete and current list of available entries can be found in the Site Maps section as an Outline or Alphabetical List.

4. The Search function, another site navigation aide, is accessible by clicking on the Search Icon or just filling in a search request (available at the top of every page). If you cannot locate a resource, send e-mail to the Librarian, librarian3@k12imc.org. We are here to help!

Like real instructional media centers, the scope of the entries is diverse. Strategies for incorporating them into your curriculum will vary. Some stand alone as units, such as the Passport to Knowledge explorations, GLOBE and volcanoes, for example, but they can be enriched by other IMC resources. The WhyFiles provides background for current events in science but the archives might fit into a particular unit which you have constructed. Museums exhibit particular topics--for a unit or as a touchstone for online research projects or a model for exhibiting your students' own work. Other references, Creating A Virtual Museum or online publications or community networks, can also serve as models for you to adapt in your own setting. Many entries specialize in enabling tools, networked communities, time-sensitive events or pointers to large databanks (e.g. English language development). Finally, some entries recommend other software environments for you to load onto your computers.

The seed collection, broad-based Environmental Studies, has been shelved separately from other topical and general resources in the Cool Projects, Student Stuff and Multimedia rooms. Since the instructional philosophy of this site, however, presumes an interdisciplinary, project-based approach to learning, sometimes this distinction does not hold up. Moreover, many of the referenced sites, such as the Lawrence Hall of Science projects, are also inherently cross-disciplinary.

Becoming a Contributor

One of the major goals of this environment is to encourage participant contributions and, thereby, stimulate communities of interests.

You can suggest a new URL link or suggest an area of interest by clicking on the Recommend A Site link found at the bottom of every page. You may suggest a URL/topic anonymously or include an e-mail address and we will e-mail you back with the results of your suggestion.

While we try to keep the links updated and relevant, the Internet is a dynamic beast that is contsantly changing. If you find a link that is dead or no longer appropriate, please take a moment to let us know by clicking on the Link Problem link next to Recommend A Site. Again, you can be anonymous if you wish.

Sign Up for Personal Updates

When you become a patron of this site, make sure you check the newsletter/updates e-mail list option. We send out an occasional e-mail newsletter with information on the latest K12IMC changes and news.

One of the best ways to stay informed on the latest changes and resources available at K12IMC is by subscribing to one of our RSS feeds.

Be Sure To Tell Your Colleagues About This Site

Building self-organizing communities is the heart of telecommunications networking activities.