This site has been carefully designed with the help of experienced classroom teachers so that it will work effectively as a flexible classroom resource. The site provides a wide range of activities to choose from. You'll be able to extract resources from the site that let you create a learning experience consistent with the needs of your students, your teaching style and the curriculum learning outcomes in your jurisdiction.

The site has also been designed so it can be used regardless of how sophisticated your computers and Internet access are. For example, in advance of the class, you can download and print out some of the activities to use as print-based resources. Just click on the icon and the file will automatically open in your word processor. There are also activities that take students out into the community or that bring invited guests into the classroom for learners who have a more "visual" learning style. Role-plays are suggested to better meet the needs of students who prefer not to read extensive paper or computer-based text.

What follows are some things to consider Before Class and During Class. Please check out the Teachers' section for details specific to each unit.

BEFORE CLASS

Go to the site and decide what learning objectives you wish to accomplish in your next class and which activities in the site will best accomplish those objectives given the needs and characteristics of your students.

If the activities you choose involve student use of the site, book the appropriate computer facilities in your school. In case of unexpected technical difficulties or if your school's Internet access is slow, download and print the activity from the site and make enough copies to use in the class.

If the activities you choose do not depend on student use of the site during class time, assemble whatever resources are needed. For example, you may want to invite a guest speaker, stage a mock trial or assemble examples of alcohol advertising in magazines.

DURING CLASS

If this is the first time you are taking the students to the site, review with them the Guided Tour and Site Map sections. It is very important to take time for this step so that students know how the site works.

Activities in this site use computers. However, the intensity of student computer use varies depending on the learning objectives. This range of use also takes into account that different schools have different types of computer facilities, that unexpected technical problems may arise in even the best equipped schools and that learners have different levels of reading skills and computer literacy. Every unit therefore contains suggestions about how you can work with some activities in a "completely online" mode, and how you can work with these or other activities in a "completely offline" mode. And some activities involve a mixture of both!

Many activities give you the option of asking the students to create something using the blackboard or hand-written materials. On the other hand, you could ask students to use computer programs to create these materials; the Tools section was created to support this approach. Choose whatever works for you and your students.

The Gallery was created as a place where teachers could post student role-plays, advertisements and other materials that students create as a result of their use of this site. Canada's SchoolNet GrassRoots program funds Activity Projects that may support any costs involved in creating materials (see www.schoolnet.ca/grassroots/). It is also a place where teachers, students and parents can share ideas about how they have used the site. If you have material that you would like to post to the Gallery, please contact Judy Roberts at jubyrobe@istar.ca

All of these activities are designed so that you, as a teacher, can facilitate a variety of student learning approaches. They can range from an independent student learning process where they explore the site with minimal direction from a teacher to a structured process where a teacher leads students in a focused discussion about alcohol advertising.

In all matters regarding use of the computers or adoption of a particular teaching strategy, take these suggestions as a starting point and tailor them to the needs of your students and the technical facilities in your school!