Interactive Websites provide standards-based cross curricular web-based resources designed to engage students, strengthen concepts and skills, and provide alternative learning opportunities online. Many interactive websites supplement what has been learned in the classroom and can offer students different ways to learn and give examples of a concept or a skill. Interactive websites are media-rich, and enhance the learning experience by giving students visual and auditory stimulation. They appeal to different learning styles of students. Websites such as these allow students to interact with the web-based computer applications. Examples of popular web resources integrated into the curriculum include: Videos, Virtual Science Labs, Learning Activities, Learning Games, Animations and Cartoons, and virtual models and simulations.
Interactive websites offer students a variety of benefits.
They motivate and engage and students to learn.
They give students instant feedback and rewards.
They are media-rich and appeal to different learning styles such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
Students can learn at their own pace.
Many websites have a variety of resources posted on them. Websites may include video, animation, sound, games, activities, images, diagrams, models, etc...
Websites may or may not include virtual lessons or activities such as a frog dissection that may be accessed by students in leu of the real thing or an experience that is not commonplace such as traveling through the solar system or following a rain drop through its journey in the water cycle.
Quality web resources can be found on the web for free! Why not use them to your advantage!
Many websites exist that are essentially collections of free web resources to be used by students for interactive learning. I have included a few quality websites below:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/