Blog post #2

As most of us in education may know.....the Internet can be a dynamic tool to use in the classroom & teaching students to use it in an efficient and effective manner can be a challenge.  Many times we train students to use it as a resource to look up information just in the same way we did encyclopedias many years ago.  In my classroom, I can say that I have instructed students to use the Internet in authentic learning. I had the students plan a family vacation where they had to decide on means of transportation, location of the vacation, place to stay, meals, and entertainment. Once the information was researched and gathered, they had to then write a persuasive speech to their parents to convince them of the vacation plan. I thought this was a good exercise because the skills learned to plan a trip is something that will stay with them beyond school and is very real in life.
I have not done very much with cooperative learning with the Internet for my students. I do see the use of cooperative learning through maybe some type of pen pal exchange where students create their own blogs regarding selected literature or a project given by a teacher where students from two different classrooms read & comment on each other's blog posts.
I think the challenge for educators is to create situations where students can experience both constructive and intentional learning with using the Internet.  I think once educators create assignments that are more authentic in nature where students have a choice, it will be much easier for students to experience aactive, intentional, and constructive learning in the classroom using the Internet. Students can create web pages, blogs, portfolios, and use social networking to collaborate with others......which can lead to students doing something they could not do before and/or doing something more effiecient by incorporating the internet.