Think Again: Internet Lessons From the Global Economy Rudnac, Michael J.; March 2000, Electronic School: The School Technology Authority, http://www.electronic-school.com/2000/03/0300f4.html

This article discusses preparing students to succeed in the “Information Age” by incorporating technology into schools. Now is the time to begin to use technology to improve the students’ learning and our teaching skills. To keep our educational system from becoming obsolete, the author believes that we must “learn, create, and improve or disappear.”

There are three principles from the business world that we can adapt to our teaching methods. These principles will help to insure that schools offer students what they need to succeed. Rudnac’s first principle is “Begin by examining your mental models.”  We need to “redefine what constitutes good teaching.”  Students have to be taught the procedures of getting to the answer. It is no longer enough to teach students what to think, we need to teach them how to think. This is best accomplished by providing students with real-world scenarios.

“Think of a Different Way to Think” is the second principle. It stresses the importance of encouraging students to go beyond just accomplishing the task. Students need opportunities to discover why they think the way they do. Rudnac describes an Internet lesson he constructed. Through this lesson he allowed his students to access a great deal of information to research and support their opinions.

The final principle is to “Continuously improve and refine the role of technology”. Using the Internet allows us to continuously adapt lessons for many different scenarios. The Internet allows us to involve parents and others in the learning process by posting assignments. This also gives students a way to continue the education process outside of the traditional classroom

The Internet has become an integral part of our day-to-day life. Students have access to enormous amounts of information through the use of the computer. With IM and email, students can waste a lot of time chatting instead of researching. As educators, we need to help students learn how to use these resources responsibly, properly and to realize that there are other valuable resources in PRINT that should be used to assist in these searches. Students should have some basics in searching and working with programs prior to being left on their own. With a good framework, the student will learn to use the computer and be more capable to reach higher levels of thinking. The computer is well and good but it is not the know all and end all to education. It is a nice compliment to our education process.