Reflections on Internet-based Instruction
I gain important insights into Internet-based instruction from the four articles. We always can find “links” to dig out more information in reading. That’s the Web --- it’s rich.
Though “3 Myths about the Web” was written in 1998 and revised in 1999, 7 years ago, what the article tries to elaborate is not outdated. The 3 myths are still prone to mislead many people on the Internet. What’s more, the more popular the Internet is, the more people are blind to the facts overshadowed by the myths. Indeed, the 3 myths exposed in this article are not hard to understand. It seems that they are more like three “blind spots” for people using the Internet. The truth is that we need to be aware of the myths may mislead us rather than understand the myths per se. Reading this article is a process full of self-reflections. As a leaner using the Internet to search information, I take it for granted that I can get everything I want on line. When I come across a word, a term or anything I don’t know, my first reaction, if there’s a computer at hand, would be “searching” on line. Truly, I am swamped with a lot of information after I put “keywords” in search box. I seldom think of the source of the information. The Web, in my mind, has more updated information and is living. However, encyclopedia seems old and “dead.” Or I feel it’s used by “gerund-grinders.”
“Myth 1” in this article reminds me of the Web “is passionately posted and full of opinions and rarely hidden agendas.” It’s true that everyone can edit his/her own Webpage, whereas encyclopedia is edited by professionals and scholars. Considering my future use of the Internet in class, I believe it’s essential to make it clear to the students who turn to the Web for information that the Web IS NOT an encyclopedia. It’s necessary to think what the information they search is for. If they use the Web to search popular and updated information for knowledge, maybe using the Internet is a shortcut. If the information is used for academic research, authentic and accurate information is highly demanded. Well, the information on the Web may be questionable before it is investigated. As I know, Wikipedia is a very popular encyclopedia on line. I use it often and never think of who edit it. After reading this article, I go to the page of Wikipedia and read “Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written collaboratively by many of its readers. Lots of people are constantly improving Wikipedia, making thousands of changes an hour, all of which are recorded on article histories and recent changes. Inappropriate changes are usually removed quickly” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction). It is also pointed out: “Unlike other encyclopedias, the volunteer writers of articles in Wikipedia don't have to be experts or scholars (though some of them certainly are)” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Who_writes_Wikipedia). Undoubtedly, I can get many useful and renewed definitions in Wikipedia. However, if all the information is reliable to be included in academic research may be a question after I read the “myth.”
Another myth that “the Web is full of useless junk” reminds me of that article we read last week, “Teaching Zack to Think.” There are not only useless junk but much false and biased information. Indeed, the Web provides all of us with an effective way to air our opinions. We say what we want. Thus, it is to be sure that there are many subjective and personal opinions. When a teacher involves students in learning using the Web, he/she is responsible to help students be aware of the positive and the negative of the Web to make them scrutinize the information and make good use of the Internet.
The last three articles elaborate the theory and practice of integrating the Internet for teaching and learning. The second article compares the traditional instructions with the Web-based instructions to highlight the benefits of the Web. Though “riches” is one of the distinctive benefits of the Web, March indicates that “the Internet is an embarrassment of riches that's next to worthless without an educator” (http://www.ozline.com/learning/theory.html). That’s a reason why teachers are still indispensable though students may have access to tremendous information on line. So, it’s educators’ mission to assist students to “dig the golden mountain” in the Internet. Activity formats of Web-based learning in this article make the fuzzy idea of Internet instruction seem to be three-dimensional and specific. March gives me the new lens to view the Web-based instruction instead of simply asking students to search information on line.
I’m well impressed by the formats of “Topic Hotlist, Multimedia Scrapbook, Treasure Hunt, Subject Sampler, WebQuest.” Actually, I have found some WebPages contained many links on different subtopics but I had no idea of so called “topic hotlist.” In my future instruction using Internet, I absolutely will try “topic hotlist.” It’s a time-saving for students and a good way to share useful information with them. With examples of each format, I can well understand the formats’ designs and functions. Based on the second article, “Insight Reflector” and “Concept Builder” are developed to involve students in higher level thinking.
In the second article, it mentions: “With today's Web browsers, this Internet harvesting can be done through bookmarking your favorite sites with a simple pull down on the menu. This is fine for the machine you're using, but it's a bit of a hassle to get those bookmarks transferred to all the computers in a lab” (http://www.ozline.com/learning/theory.html). Definitely, it is a hassle before “social bookmarking” is used. (So, social bookmarking is also a way as “Top Hotlist” to collect useful links on one topic.) I myself also asked if there was such a tool on line that could help to use my favorite links without being limited in one computer. After sharing Dr. Dawson’s links in “iKeepBookmarks.com” last week and trying by myself in de.licio.us, the social bookmarking helps me a lot in daily Web use.
Indeed, the four articles have added new dimensions to my knowledge of using the Internet in instruction. The activity formats also provide me with good examples for my future Web-based instruction design. From notion of the Internet (“What’s on the Web”) to the practical use of the Intent in instruction, I feel very glad to be fed with new knowledge. My exposure to the new knowledge in the Internet instruction and exploration on the Web will contribute to my future Web-based instruction.
Though “3 Myths about the Web” was written in 1998 and revised in 1999, 7 years ago, what the article tries to elaborate is not outdated. The 3 myths are still prone to mislead many people on the Internet. What’s more, the more popular the Internet is, the more people are blind to the facts overshadowed by the myths. Indeed, the 3 myths exposed in this article are not hard to understand. It seems that they are more like three “blind spots” for people using the Internet. The truth is that we need to be aware of the myths may mislead us rather than understand the myths per se. Reading this article is a process full of self-reflections. As a leaner using the Internet to search information, I take it for granted that I can get everything I want on line. When I come across a word, a term or anything I don’t know, my first reaction, if there’s a computer at hand, would be “searching” on line. Truly, I am swamped with a lot of information after I put “keywords” in search box. I seldom think of the source of the information. The Web, in my mind, has more updated information and is living. However, encyclopedia seems old and “dead.” Or I feel it’s used by “gerund-grinders.”
“Myth 1” in this article reminds me of the Web “is passionately posted and full of opinions and rarely hidden agendas.” It’s true that everyone can edit his/her own Webpage, whereas encyclopedia is edited by professionals and scholars. Considering my future use of the Internet in class, I believe it’s essential to make it clear to the students who turn to the Web for information that the Web IS NOT an encyclopedia. It’s necessary to think what the information they search is for. If they use the Web to search popular and updated information for knowledge, maybe using the Internet is a shortcut. If the information is used for academic research, authentic and accurate information is highly demanded. Well, the information on the Web may be questionable before it is investigated. As I know, Wikipedia is a very popular encyclopedia on line. I use it often and never think of who edit it. After reading this article, I go to the page of Wikipedia and read “Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written collaboratively by many of its readers. Lots of people are constantly improving Wikipedia, making thousands of changes an hour, all of which are recorded on article histories and recent changes. Inappropriate changes are usually removed quickly” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction). It is also pointed out: “Unlike other encyclopedias, the volunteer writers of articles in Wikipedia don't have to be experts or scholars (though some of them certainly are)” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Who_writes_Wikipedia). Undoubtedly, I can get many useful and renewed definitions in Wikipedia. However, if all the information is reliable to be included in academic research may be a question after I read the “myth.”
Another myth that “the Web is full of useless junk” reminds me of that article we read last week, “Teaching Zack to Think.” There are not only useless junk but much false and biased information. Indeed, the Web provides all of us with an effective way to air our opinions. We say what we want. Thus, it is to be sure that there are many subjective and personal opinions. When a teacher involves students in learning using the Web, he/she is responsible to help students be aware of the positive and the negative of the Web to make them scrutinize the information and make good use of the Internet.
The last three articles elaborate the theory and practice of integrating the Internet for teaching and learning. The second article compares the traditional instructions with the Web-based instructions to highlight the benefits of the Web. Though “riches” is one of the distinctive benefits of the Web, March indicates that “the Internet is an embarrassment of riches that's next to worthless without an educator” (http://www.ozline.com/learning/theory.html). That’s a reason why teachers are still indispensable though students may have access to tremendous information on line. So, it’s educators’ mission to assist students to “dig the golden mountain” in the Internet. Activity formats of Web-based learning in this article make the fuzzy idea of Internet instruction seem to be three-dimensional and specific. March gives me the new lens to view the Web-based instruction instead of simply asking students to search information on line.
I’m well impressed by the formats of “Topic Hotlist, Multimedia Scrapbook, Treasure Hunt, Subject Sampler, WebQuest.” Actually, I have found some WebPages contained many links on different subtopics but I had no idea of so called “topic hotlist.” In my future instruction using Internet, I absolutely will try “topic hotlist.” It’s a time-saving for students and a good way to share useful information with them. With examples of each format, I can well understand the formats’ designs and functions. Based on the second article, “Insight Reflector” and “Concept Builder” are developed to involve students in higher level thinking.
In the second article, it mentions: “With today's Web browsers, this Internet harvesting can be done through bookmarking your favorite sites with a simple pull down on the menu. This is fine for the machine you're using, but it's a bit of a hassle to get those bookmarks transferred to all the computers in a lab” (http://www.ozline.com/learning/theory.html). Definitely, it is a hassle before “social bookmarking” is used. (So, social bookmarking is also a way as “Top Hotlist” to collect useful links on one topic.) I myself also asked if there was such a tool on line that could help to use my favorite links without being limited in one computer. After sharing Dr. Dawson’s links in “iKeepBookmarks.com” last week and trying by myself in de.licio.us, the social bookmarking helps me a lot in daily Web use.
Indeed, the four articles have added new dimensions to my knowledge of using the Internet in instruction. The activity formats also provide me with good examples for my future Web-based instruction design. From notion of the Internet (“What’s on the Web”) to the practical use of the Intent in instruction, I feel very glad to be fed with new knowledge. My exposure to the new knowledge in the Internet instruction and exploration on the Web will contribute to my future Web-based instruction.
posted by Zhuo(Joel) Li at
9:04 PM
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