The Internet and other technological applications offer a vast array of benefits to teachers and students. Classrooms have virtual worlds at their fingertips, and the potential to interact with those virtual worlds in unique and powerful ways. It's important that teachers model the many uses of multi-media resources in their classrooms and try to keep up to date with new products and tools. But it's also important that we incorporate technological bells and whistles into our lesson plans without letting the bells and whistles take over and take the focus off the content of the curriculum. There is no "one-size-fits-all" method for creating media-rich lesson plans - teachers' unique styles and sensibilities are what make them special - but there are some basic principles that should be of use to everyone who is committed to making media-rich lessons that are challenging, innovative, and relevant. Before you begin: Look at your existing stock of lesson plans. Can you infuse them with online and other technological resources? Does a lesson involve a written report that could be presented with visual aids or using software such as PowerPoint? Are there any elements of your lesson that could be done collaboratively, perhaps via e-mail with students in another room, grade, school, or country? Does a lesson involve research that could be done on the Internet? Look at your technological resources and determine what you can realistically accomplish. What kind of access do you and your students have to computers and other technological hardware such as digital cameras and videos? Do you have the time, inclination, and necessary computer access to create a class Web site, learn a new software program, or master the use of a digital camera? Do you have a technology or media specialist who can assist you and your students? Preparing a media-rich lesson: As with any other lesson plan, the goals and objectives for a media-rich lesson must be clear. Select only those multimedia resources that fully support and enhance your curriculum goals and standards. Be sure that you can explain to your students why you are using these multimedia resources and provide a clear focus for the use of the resources (for example, asking for specific information to be identified while using a Web site). Know approximately what amount of time you expect your students to take to use the multimedia resources you've selected. Factor in - or discover - your students' facility with the resource in question, and make sure they are able to use the resource sufficiently well to complete the task. Prepare your multimedia resources. Make sure every computer has the required software, and that every Web site is bookmarked - and still in existence! Have a backup plan for when things go wrong, because occasionally they will - servers will go down, hard drives will freeze and technology will fail! Assessing a media-rich lesson: How will the inclusion of multimedia elements affect your assessment of the lesson or project? If you choose to use a rubric for assessment, what criteria will you use to develop your rubric? The NTTI Web site Resources section http://www.thirteen.org/wnetschool/ntti/resources/index.html - has many more tips and strategies for incorporating the use of video and the Internet in your lesson plans. In addition, many other web sites have guidelines, strategies, and templates for creating media-rich lessons, as well as databases of existing lesson plans that may fit your curriculum goals. Check out: Link2Learn's guidelines for Internet-izing a lesson plan http://205.146.39.13/linktuts/inteplan.htm Part of Link2Learn's Technology Tutorials http://205.146.39.13/teach.html