EDCI 5825 - Critically Evaluating the Web

The feedback from my group members on the Internet Workshop that I created was generally positive. We agreed that the workshop that I created was fairly basic in nature but that it would serve the purpose of generating conversation with students about the veracity of what can be found on the web using an interesting example. Where I could have improved this lesson the most, was in the lesson plan. The feedback was that while they could have followed what I intended, that was probably due to being in the same class and that it could use a bit more detail to ensure that someone else reproduce what I intended.

I also missed the intention of two parts of the lesson plan. For the differentiated instruction section, I was thinking about how the students would be assessed when I should have discussed how any special learning situations would be handled. I should have included that the Internet Workshop should be able to be completed by most High School students but that any special situations could be handled by the formation of the partners that would complete the project together.

The other part of the lesson plan that I didn't complete correctly was in the "Content Area and Technological Standards". I should have included the appropriate National and State standards that are covered in the workshop. The National Standards are found at:

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf

The standard that would be covered include:

Research and Information Fluency and Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making.

The Connecticut State Standards are found at:

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Curriculum/Curriculum_Root_Web_Folder/ccltec~1.pdf

The applicable portions include:

As a result of education in Grades k-12, students will safely and effectively use the resources, processes, concepts and tools of technology.

I would like to use this Internet Workshop in the classroom. I think that it would be early in the year before we used the internet for more involved research projects. That way we could learn and discuss the pitfalls before we dove in to using the internet.

"Students will become victims of the expansive dark side os the Internet unless we teach the critical thinking necessary to make meaning out of the overwhelming and potentially manipulative amount of information that is now available and growing every day"

Our group discussion of this topic was centered around the fact that we all agreed with it. We realize that high school students for the most part will not just learn by themselves that not everything on the internet is true. They also will not just realize how to discriminate even among valid sources since there is so much data on the Web. Teachers need to help students sort it all out.