Like a spider catches a fly, it is all too easy for children to become captured by the World Wide Web.
This has rapidly become a valuable teaching and learning tool within the classroom (and even outside the classroom!) The concerns are raised when a child types in their research task into a search engine and receives 100,000 results. There is sometimes too much information, and not all of it is reliable. Many students are unable to evaluate a website to see it’s worth or point of view and thus can get caught in the net of lies.
Child protection is also a major concern, there are many campaigns to create awareness but can one teacher effectively monitor 30 children’s online actions at one time? While the internet is a fabulous tool, a wonderful library and mentor, there are some causes for concern that must be considered before allowing the children online, and never unmonitored!
I have seen some fabulous utilisations of the internet for learning, from students composing e-mails to contact businesses for specific information right through to teachers making the weekly homework available online for students who are sick or overseas. For teachers too there is a wealth of resources that can assist with this occupation, the trick is finding the information that you need, then utilising it correctly!
One idea is the Think Quests – http://www.thinkquest.org/en/projects/index.html. A fabulous website that allows you to create online projects, communicate with other members of the group, monitor the project, give students responsibility as well as communicate with people all over the world.
