Wednesday, January 30, 2008

What Do Students Know About the Internet?

I am using the web site Welcome to the Web with students in grades seven and eight. This web site leads students through 5 main topics: 1) the internet, 2) guestbooks, 3) web browsers, 4) searching the net, and 5) researching on the net.The information is presented at a very elementary level. I find the graphics used to be very child like, for example one of the graphics used is a clown.After working though the first section I find that students need to be slowed down to read the information on the page, there is a lot of print on the pages. It seems that they are not used to reading all the print, but just want to find the link that leads them to the next page. As I listened to the students talk, they used each other to support their learning, as not all students knew what a hyperlink was.At the present time I think students know how to use parts of the internet but may not understand its structure and format. Then again, do I?

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