Internet+Research

=Internet Research - A Journey into the Twilight Zone= The following was originally published December 31, 2007 at http://technologicalconundrum.blogspot.com/2007/12/internet-research-journey-into-twilight.html Aaahhh darn it! Not again! This assignment is taking too long and my students are using Internet sites that are simply junk! How am I supposed to cover these standards if I have to somehow teach my students how to sift through the junk on the Internet too!

How many of you have felt like this? It really isn't as bad as it seems; you //can// avoid the feeling that you are in the Twilight Zone. I give students a form that helps them to identify good Internet sites, go through the form with them, and have them practise giving consideration to sites I have pre-selected. I select a good site, a bad site and a so-so site and have them fill out the form on each site so that I can monitor how well they are interpreting the information. This lesson doesn't take too long and will go a long way in helping your students to select information that is relevant, appropriate and accurate for their research. Best of all, it is not time consuming, its easy and for you Internet novists - you can learn right along with your students!

Here are some sites that may help you:

For high school: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/evalhigh.html

For grades K to 8: http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans/#k1

Informational Sites:

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.html#eval

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

What are your thoughts?