More 4

"The link: command is one of many strategies for revealing this information. When you are on a website, you can click on its outgoing links to see what other sites it links to. Unless you use the link: command, however, you cannot see which websites are linking into the website you are visiting."
 (p. 57)

I never knew you could do this!  What a useful tool.

Also...   in reading about creating your own search engine through Google, I thought we might want to use that as a "Pro Tip" in one of the upcoming Ed Tech News issues.  I bet teachers would love to be able to specify a group of sites when their students are researching for a project.  I can see how that would be very useful in terms of letting them do their own research, but making sure it's coming from sites you deem reputable.


"If we only teach one skill to prepare our students to survive in a web-based world, it should be that of critical thinking in the analysis of online information."  (p. 62)

I completely agree with this.  SUCH an important skill.  I actually worked with a fourth grade class a few weeks ago, showing them how to analyze Google search results and eliminate the ones that aren't going to be helpful in regards to what they're looking for.

Chapter 4, cont'd

"We cannot anticipate every hidden message our students might encounter online, so we have to make sure they understand how to examine all information in order to determine its purpose." (p. 56)

I think this skill is so crucial, and so hard to teach to elementary school children.  I tried to teach this to my class every single year.  Some students get it, but it's an abstract skill that just eludes so many of them.

Chapter 4

This time, I'm going to remember to quote the passages that stand out to me, and add my thoughts....

"One of the most astonishing gaps in many students' educations is their inability to validate information on the Internet. And this is the generation many refer to as “digital natives”? Well, they may have been born after the web was invented, but that has nothing to do with their understanding of the architecture of information on the Internet. In fact, many students who use the Internet on a daily basis remain web-illiterate." (p. 51)

I notice this every day in working with classes at all three sites.  It doesn't matter if it's socio-economically challenged students with little or no tech at home, or students from affluent families that have their own laptops...   the playing field in terms of web literacy is pretty level.  They know some basics, but they don't really know how to do (or more importantly, how to figure out how to do) much beyond.

Who Owns The Learning?

We will be reading Who Owns the Learning by Alan November for the 1st trimester for 2015-2016.