Chapter 2 Reflection

Ch 2 talks about the different trends in technology. One topic was Internet researching and how it is a common thing these days. The only problem with searching the web is how to trust the information as being a fact. Simply searching the web for information is not learning. For students to learn, they need to have a purpose for searching particular information and use it to solve a problem. There are steps for this intentional information searching: 1. Plan, 2. Use strategies to search the Web, 3. Evaluate, and 4. Triangulate sources (pg. 15). All of these will help students decide if the information is true and believable.
First, when teaching students to evaluate sites they need to be taught to ask themselves questions like, Does the information pertain to what I am looking for?, Can this information help me construct new knowledge? Second, evaluate the credibility of the information. Questions such as, Who provided this information and why?, Is the site created by an organization that you have heard of? I like the one mentioned in the book, Is this site trying to sell me something? I know that my son is 11 and he use to believe that every commercial that he seen on TV was real. Now he will tell me that they are just trying to sell stuff and things are not always real that they say on TV. I never actually told him this; he came to the conclusion on his own. Third, you should triangulate the information with other sources to see if you get the same information across the board. All of these steps can help students but I feel that many of them figure out ways on their own as to how they are go about trusting the information they read. I know that I check other sources if I think the information is not believable in my mind.
This chapter also discusses social book marking sites. I absolutely love my delicious account that we created. I have been bookmarking sites that we have used for other classes like math and science so I will have them at a later date. I will share this information with my students when I become a teacher. I think it will help them manage the information that they get from the internet and keep the sites that they know are valuable saved for easy access at a later date.
WISE seemed interesting to me. I need to check it out. It is an interactive approach to teaching in the classroom. That incorporates science learning at a different level. It is recommended for students in grades 5-12. This chapter has taught me that technology is very useful and needed in the classroom. Student’s tend to be more involved when teacher’s motivate them with new and exciting gadgets that they can use. After reading this chapter I want to keep myself informed about the new technology that is available for students. Also I will try to think of ways that this technology can be used to benefit students learning in my classroom.