Tech Class Blog

The internet is a huge resource: other teachers and I often talk about how different “researching” was for us just 15 years ago. Books were our sources, and though they allowed us to access information, there were limitations. Now, it seems that all the information in the world is available online, which is a wonderful but challenging feature. There’s a lot out there, and students know it, but they are not necessarily motivated to make sure they’re finding all the information, or the right sources. Often, even if there are better search engines or resources available, students will Google a topic, take the first 4 articles that appear, and call it research.

Part of the problem is that students have trouble navigating websites; this problem especially noticeable when they have to do source citations. It has become very clear to me that the students don’t understand that organizations often host sites, and that Google images pulls images from other sources…that it’s important to go to the source to really understand the image. A lot of the web is context, and the students often miss context, which can skew their understanding of the information they’re getting.

The article “It’s all in the discussion,” about Wikipedia, posed some really interesting questions regarding the “openness” of information. Wikipedia shows how much information and learning can still evolve. We want to encourage our students to be life-long learners, so something like Wikipedia, which can show how knowledge and understanding can continue to develop after “publication,” is important. To contribute to a Wiki requires caring about the topic, about learning and researching, and about communicating clearly and effectively. There’s so much information out there, and more is constantly being learned and shared. Students need to realize the opportunities that the internet provides, and be willing to put the time into using the resources effectively.

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