The Internet

I love the internet, warts and all. It is a part of our modern lives, and it has amazing resources. I can’t wait to find imaginative ways to incorporate it more in my lesson plans. I currently either give kids one specific site to visit or turn them loose on the internet to research topics of interest (the school computers have a powerful filter) and let them explore without any real guidance. I really like the idea of providing my students with many pre-approved sites to choose from, and specific goals to reach at each location. This seems like a responsible way to use the internet. It doesn’t overwhelm students with irrelevant information or let them wander aimlessly. I believe in a good filter and a preview of relevant sites that I’m recommending. I also need to follow the links on these “approved” sites because sometimes they take you to unexpected locations. It is such a good idea to have a review of smart cyber rules before letting the kids work on the computer. I recently had a class I was teaching that was reading, writing, and drawing Japanese Manga. I had them research terms and types of Manga. Unfortunately I didn’t Google all the terms before I passed out the words and one student got very graphic descriptions of certain sites because of the Japanese phrase I had given him. Ooops! I still have a lot to learn!