The Internet (the "Information Highway," the "Net," the "Web," etc.) is creating dramatic changes in the way people communicate,
learn, play, do business and solve problems.
The Web offers information treasures
The Web offers rich potential for accessing information treasures . . . anything which can be digitized . . . great paintings,
sculpture, photographs, and drawings from the museums of the world (National Gallery of Art) . . . great manuscripts and books from the leading libraries of the world (Library of Congress). . . fresh and accurate statistics from government agencies and international agencies (Bureau of Census) . . . as well as information of interest to the family . . . to guide the purchase of a car, the selection of a movie, the
choice of a vacation spot, the investment of family savings, the tracing of a family tree or the pursuit of a hobby. (e.g. Auto Buying Guide)
What does it take to prepare young people to enjoy the full benefits of the Internet?
What is the role of teachers in delivering such a program?
The Goal: Developing Information Literacy
Essential skills our students will be asked to bring to the workplace of the next century are reasoning, problem-solving
and decision-making. Teachers can use new technologies such as the Internet and databases to support the development of strong
research and thinking skills. Teachers need to show students how to navigate through vast databases to locate information,
information which is hot, fresh, current and rich. Teachers assist students in developing questioning skills. Questioning
drives technology. Questioning converts data into information and information into insight.
The Learning Strategy 1: Practicing Information Literacy
Students must learn at least three kinds of literacy (the ability to make meaning from data).
1) Text Literacy--Good teachers have always taught students to be critical readers, but the task of finding meaning
in thousands of pages of electronic text is a new challenge requiring new skills.
2) Numerical Literacy--Understanding the modern world requires some ability to think mathematically and analyze databases.
Once students have the databases of the US Census available on their desktops, they must know how to ask questions about relationships
and use a spreadsheet to find answers.
3) Visual Literacy--Most young people learn more than half of what they know about the world through visual information..
We're in the middle of a major communications shift from print to imagery. Teachers can show students how to look below the
surface to grasp the content of a photograph, the strategies of an advertisement or the emotions of a painting.
Learning Strategy 2: Launching student team investigations with new technologies
Real-time research is often project-based research which requires students to work in teams on problem solving or decision-making
questions. Students may utilize the Research Cycle:
Questioning | Planning | Gathering | Sorting and Sifting | Synthesizing | Evaluating | Reporting
Curricular Goal: Interpersonal and Cooperative Learning-Collaborating, Communicating and Problem-Solving in Groups
The workplace and society are becoming more dependent on telecommunications to carry on the daily business of the "global
neighborhood" with teams working to create answers to issues. Schools must prepare students for this world by involving them
in challenges which engage teams across local boundaries. Electronic publishing offers new possibilities for learning and
communicating.
The "global neighborhood" also offers teachers a chance to communicate with colleagues across town, across state lines and
across national boundaries on how to achieve the best results for students. Teachers may select a listserv from this
list of educational listservs which will engage them in an electronic community of educators exchanging ideas, questions, good strategies, fears, doubts,
etc. about teaching and learning.
Learning Strategy 1: Launching global problem-solving, investigations and exchanges with e-mail and Web sites. Judi
Harris, a professor at the University of Texas has collected and organized several hundred of the best Internet projects involving
students in global partnerships and investigations. She has grouped these projects into three major categories:
1) From Collaborative Problem-Solving Projects,
Save the Beaches as an example of a social action project.
2) From Information Collections,
Midlink Magazine as an example of Electronic Publishing.
3) From Interpersonal Exchanges,
Writers' Corner as an example of Electronic "Appearances".
Conclusion
The Internet presents schools and teachers a unique challenge. The challenge is in providing students with the skills to manage
rich information resources: investigating, researching and making meaning from data, developing the capacity to work effectively
on a team, and exploring information in order to find solutions or make decisions. Learning becomes a real-time exploration
of real-world issues.
Created by Dr. Jamie McKenzie and the Bellingham (Wa) School District.
