Unfortunately, it is necessary for teachers to have a back-up plan in case the technology fails.  For situations involving the use of the Internet, teachers should make sure they know if an alternative site is available and they should have this information written down in a convenient location.  Teachers can also make print-outs of specific images or data ahead of time to have on hand, or they can save these images and web pages to the hard drive of their computer. Alternatively, teachers can devise a plan for switching to an optional or non-technological part of the project, such as watching an educational video or journal writing, if a technical problem arises.

Consider these questions as you review your project.

• What activities in the project you have selected will require a back-up plan in case the technology fails?

• Are there alternative web sites that can be used if the primary sites are down?

• Do you have a back-up class activity that you can use if the technology is not working?

Online Resources

• When All Else Fails: The Back-up Plan - Provides some good reasons for having a back-up plan but some of the ideas are specific to one particular university

• Backup Plans by Bill Bateman - Good article about using Web Whacker to create a back up plan.  Keep in mind that Web Whacker cannot save some types of Internet content such as forms, interactive components, or real time data.

• Techniques for Saving Internet Information - List of techniques for saving information and data gathered from the Internet so that it can then be used on other non-Internet computers.

Stevens Developed Content

• Backup Plans: Why You Need Them

• Backup Plan #1: Videos

• Backup Plan #2: Archived Data

• Backup Plan #3: Research

• Backup Plan #4: Class Debate

Potential Back-up Lesson Plans

• Experiments and Activities from Yahooligans - Long list of interesting activities.

• Exploratorium's "Science Snacks" - Comprehensive list of demonstration ideas based on the museum's exhibits. 
• Lessons from Teachnet.com - Limited list but there are some good science demonstration activities.
• Lesson Bank - Searchable database of lessons including many hands-on activities for all grade levels.
• AskERIC Lesson Plans - Another searchable database
• Lightspan - Lightspan has a searchable database of lesson plans.  Many focus on hands-on or demonstration activities.
  Fee-Based

Presentation Hardware and Software Sites
Note: The following sites are not endorsed by the project partners, developers or funding agencies.

• Web Whacker - Software that allows you to save web sites for future viewing offline. You can download demo software for free!