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Frequently-Asked QuestionsGeneral Questions:
What is Spellbee.org? Spellbee.org is home to a new educational technology which lets kids become each other's teachers across the internet. The first activity is a spelling game, where students choose words for each other to spell. More activities are availalbe through the BEEweb site, including PatternBEE. Does it cost anything? No. Spellbee is entirely free. Enjoy! Who created this? It is a project of the DEMO laboratory at Brandeis University, directed by Professor Jordan Pollack. DEMO is famous for robots which are designed automatically by computer programs organized according to the principles of evolution. At the heart of the Spellbee is an insight about the relationship between species which, if correct, provides that every learner will be continuously challenged. Spellbee was written by DEMO lab member Ari Bader-Natal. What agency funded it? The National Science Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation are current sponsors. Should I have concerns about safety and privacy for children? Spellbee is a non-commercial research project. Data is collected about each player's performance and choices in order to refine and improve the system. For human-subject approval, there is a consent form. For internet privacy, we don't even collect the names and email addresses of children; they choose a nickname for themselves. For safety in an "open" internet environment there is no "chat" or email contact through the site. Players communicate by the choices they make in a game, sort of like "chess by mail." However, when a child provides their teacher's "nickname" or their parent's email address, those adults will be able to request information about the student record. I'm having a problem with the site. You can send us questions, problems, and feedback. Can I use my own vocabulary list in the Spellbee game? Currently the vocabulary available in the game is fixed. This includes approximately 3,000 words of varying difficulties. We may change this at a later point, allowing teachers to customize Spellbee with a specific list of words. Lost my password! You can now retrieve lost passwords. What hardware do I need? A browser, keyboard, and sound card. It works on both PCs and Macs. We recommend using headphones in a classroom or laboratory. What software do I need? Spellbee runs in most modern web browsers that have Java installed and enabled. How do I know if my browser has Java enabled? If you use Netscape, Mozilla, or Firefox:
I have a firewall and can't access the game. If you are running a firewall and cannot successfully play the Spellbee applet, you may need to modify your firewall settings. Spellbee uses ports 80, 8080, and 4450 on aeaea.cs-i.brandeis.edu. I'm a teacher. Where do I enter my students' names? Welcome! The first step is to create a teacher account for yourself. Once you've done that, you can log into the site and scroll down the page to find a link to your personalized "Student Instruction Sheet" (a PDF). This includes a set of eight sign-up forms for your students (so you might need to print out several copies). Give each student a slip, and they can use it to create their own accounts. Once they have done this, re-collect the slips and then re-log into your account. All of your students will now appear in your TeacherTools box at the top of each page! I'm having a problem with the site. You can send us questions, problems, and feedback. |
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