McDermott, Irene E. [Jul/Aug 2000]. Internet Instruction: Spreading the Web. Searcher, Vol 8, Issue 7, p72.

A Review of

Internet Instruction: Spreading the Web

by Mindy Lawson

            The Internet is a great resource when teaching using an active learning technique. By choosing three main points for each session, you can avoid information overload. Critical thinking skills are important for every internet user. Teaching students not only how best to search the web, but also how to decipher the information they retrieve. Students need to know how to find out who is the one behind the website. Is it an opinion of a person or company, or is it backed by real facts? Students need to know the accuracy of the information. How old is the information? Purpose is another valid point to ponder. How in depth is the information, and how well did it answer your question? By evaluating Authority, Currency, Accuracy or Bias, Purpose, and Scope, students can learn to use the information retrieved resulting in an appropriate answer. Students can learn from sharing information also. They can write down something they want answered, and then switch questions with another student. Often students are more diligent in searching for answers when they are helping someone else. The article also lists web sites which give tutorials and guides to the internet. You can still teach students how to use the internet without having classroom computer access. Once the students determine a topic, you can identify keywords. You can develop appropriate searching methods based on the topic. Students can also come up with possible sources for the topic to use at a later time. Students should leave the class with an internet starting point and keywords to start them on their way.

            The article was relevant because it gave specific ideas on how to teach students to use the internet. The author gave references on how to keep more experienced internet users interested while helping beginners get started. I also appreciated the critical thinking points. These points are a good basis on how to sort through and clarify the information. By “following the money” as the author stated, you can use several criteria to determine if the information is valid and comes from a credible source. The internet can provide students with valuable information. The interesting part of this article was how to teach students to sort through all the information retrieved. Some of the sites given as references were good starting points, but many were state-related or mere glossaries of internet terms. Overall, the article was good for breaking down the basics for teaching the internet.