Chapter 7

When examining the best ways to use the Internet as a research tool it struck me just how many students do not follow through synthesizing or evaluating their work. The "Big 6" demonstrates how a student needs to look at each of the stages when evaluating their work. Too many times students jump right into the material without ever sifting through he information is relevant, or valid. Many times a student will look to see if the information found fits into what they have to research, or write about, and assume that it is good to go. As someone who is going to be using a lot more technology in my classroom this is going to pose a significant challenge. Along with the traditional history the students will need to learn, following the researching steps will be equally important for my students. I do not want them to fall into the trap that plagues many students when researching on the Internet: bad information.

The authentic assessment described in the chapter also presents a challenge for me going forward into a technology classroom. As a chalk and board teacher, many of the assessments discussed in the chapter like PowerPoint's, and in class presentations of worthwhile material have been difficult. Not having access to a computer lab which would benefit every student made this very difficult. Now with more computers at my disposal, something like the "Short Investigations" is something that would be very worthwhile in the classroom. It would give students a chance to investigate an current class issue out of the traditional classroom setting and give their brain a chance to engage into another activity. Very cool.