Empowering Students with Technology

 The Danger of Ignorance.
     After reading about Zack's story in Empowering Students with Technology by Alan November, I was both surprised and not surprised. My first reaction was, "how on earth can a student think that death camps were medical clinics?". But then I remember back when I was in high school, there were foolish things I would have in papers or PowerPoint presentations because I received my information through unreliable sources-just as Zack did. I remember the school librarians always guiding us through our research and helping us to choose databases to drive our research.

Mapping the Internet.

• Meta-web information: Understanding and knowing the structure of the Internet. The Internet has a massive amount of reliable and unreliable information. It is important to know how to navigate through it because there is so much information out there. Knowing which search engines to use, which links to click on, etc. 

• Author: On my blog, I can post just about any nonsense I would like to. ANYONE can post ANYTHING they choose to. Our students need to know this because even though they will come across unreliable websites, at least when they do come across those sites-they will know what and WHO to look out for as far as what information is on the site. Simply because the author is a Dr. or Professor at a college, does not mean the information is correct or accurate. It could simply be ones opinion.      

• Purpose: There is a purpose behind every website. Having a keen eye and be aware of what that purpose might entail whether they be selling products, youtubing, social networking, etc. 

     Skype in the classroom is an awesome tool to incorporate and use with the students. I can only imagine of all the various ways Skype can be used in the classroom. Alan November mentions several ways Skype could be used as a teaching tool: 

• Collaborating with other students from another state and even country! Students can work on a classroom project together and tune into Skype about what they are working on. 

• After-school help: Letting students know about virtual after school hours in case they are having difficulty with a homework assignment. 

Students were reading a book whose main character was a truck driver and students were able to Skype with the teacher's father who is also a truck driver. Students were able to ask many questions they had. 

Students in a middle school Spanish classroom are Skyping with students in Venezuela. The students were given the opportunity to practice their Spanish by having a conversation with students in Venezuela.