So after pondering my last post, and reading some great suggestions from Pam and Thomas, I realized that starting with the "basics" may not actually be "basic" for some students. I guess I take for granted that students will come in with knowledge of how to access information online, an assumption that can be erroneous.
Pam and Thomas suggested a baseline assessment might be a useful tool, and why not, since we use pre-assessments, whether they be formal or informal, quite a bit in education. I then realized that at the end of chapter 1 in the book, there is a short "quiz" over information presented in the chapter, and that quiz would actually be a quick way to determine students' familiarity with internet basics. It is only 13 questions, most of which are multiple choice, and tests knowledge of things like: links, URLs, domain names, and truncating a web address (which I hadn't done before reading this chapter). While I initially thought the information in the chapter was perhaps a bit too basic, I have since reconsidered, and realize that I cannot assume students know this information. Furthermore, knowing these terms is part of being web "literate." If students are able to use google, bing, or other more advanced search engines to find information, that is great, but then knowing how to assess the validity of the information is perhaps the "next step" and we can help students begin to think critically about the information they find, through steps such as truncating a web address.
In addition, this chapter (and all of the chapters in the book) have boxes titled "Try This." These boxes have quick activities the students can complete to put the information put forward into practice. For example, the section titled "Truncating a URL" (pg. 12), teaches how to truncate, which "... is done by clicking at the end of a Web address and deleting all characters up to the previous left slash. Each time you delete to the previous slash, you move up a level in the organization of the site. You can delete right to left until you finally end up with just the domain name - which is generally the home page of a site." (pg. 13) The "Try This" box then gives students a URL to practice this technique. I didn't include the URL because, unfortunately, that particular URL is no longer valid, testament to how quickly the internet changes! But, after doing some searching of my own, I found some URLs which could be used in class to teach students this concept.
All in all, I guess I realized that I should not make assumptions about what students will know upon entering my classroom. And, maybe starting from the basics, if needed based on students' previous experiences, is not so bad after all.
Like the idea of "Try This"...when I am trying to learn tech, I need to "do it" not just read about it. Very cool....
ReplyDeleteIt is always difficult to know what students know as they enter your classroom. we may think that some information is basic, but some students do not even know that. It is always important to use assessment to figure out where our students are, so everyone can move ahead. I look forward to reading more on your blog.
ReplyDeleteYour point about validity of information is one that sometimes students overlook. As long as some of these digital natives have been alive, the internet has been THE place to go to get information. Therefore, if it's on the web it must be true. Right? I think that early on in schools we should be teaching our students to be critical of the information they are exposed to. Making them more accountable for the information they use with promote ownership in their own learning. It's really neat that you're practicing what you're reading. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteThat's neat that your book has "try this" activities. It sounds like it would actually be a great digital book? Did you get a hardcopy book or an e-book? (You may have explained this in your last post - Sorry I can't remember.) Yesterday, I tried out blogs with my class of adults. What I imagined would take about 30 minutes at most - setting up a blog - took about an hour. Some of my students were able to set up their blogs very quickly, but others needed a lot of help. I'm realizing that I am going to have to make a set of instructions for those who are familiar with websites so that they can move ahead quickly and then go on to an assignment. With others, I will need to go step-by-step. It was interesting to me that none of my college students in this class had ever heard of a blog before.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be interesting for you to try out that quiz to see what your students are and are not familiar with. I definitely agree with you and Thomas, that being able to assess a website's content is very important. That's something I want to do with my class as well.