Esmerelda is having her students do a social studies project in which they do "virtual interviews" of experts on various periods in U.S. history. She schedules time in the computer lab and has them locate experts by searching Internet sites. She gives them an initial list of sites, but encourages them to branch out from there, looking for additional sites on their own. There is no lab manager and she has to go back to the classroom for periods of time as they work, but she knows they are competent Internet users and can be trusted not to leave the lab without permission. For their contacts with experts, she has them prepare a standard email with the school name; their names, ages, addresses, and personal email addresses, if they have one; and a description of what they would like to know.
1. Assuming she is correct that students will not leave the lab with permission, is Esmeralda's plan for having students use the Internet a good one? Why or why not?
2. Do you see any problems with the email she is having them send?
3. How would you change her plan to improve it?
It is a good thing that Esmeralda is having her class use the internet. The internet is a rich resource where the students can discover a lot of useful information. It's also good that she is giving them a list of sites as a guide and even though the students are encouraged to look for additional sites they should be warned that not all sites are reliable sources (e.g. wikipedia). I do see some problems with the email she is having her students send. I don't think they should put out to much personal information on such a public, vulnerable place like the internet where your information can be esaily accessed by strangers. Maybe it would be a better idea if Esmeralda limits the personal information in the email to the school name, school address, their name, and their grade. In order to improve her plan I would have them do the activity in small groups so that they can share opinions, give suggestions, and ideas and turn in a better project.
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I like your suggestion about Esmeralda turning the project into a group activity. In a small group not only could they share ideas and suggestions but it would also let them creating a bigger project by splitting up the work amongst each other. Each person could be assigned their own task such as searching for experts, sending email, and preparing questions. After all the tasks are completed they could group together and share all the knowledge found with each other.
ReplyDeleteI do think she should change the way students find the experts. Instead of having students find them online maybe the teacher could have a list of various prescreened experts the students can choose from.
Overall Esmeralda's lesson is a good idea I think it just needs a few changes.
Thank Catherine! I really like the idea that you added on about how the students can distribute the work amongst each other and I also like your idea about screening the experts because we never know what's out there these days and it is our responsibility as teachers to protect our students.
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