Internet research training

Brief Description:
Training to empower students to locate useful knowledge efficiently through the Internet while avoiding useless information.

Main Curriculum Area: Computer

Grade Level: 5

Approximate Time Required: 1 hour 30 minutes

Primary Goal and Objective: 3.2

Other Goals & Objectives from the NC Standard Course of Study:
Information skills:
2.1 The learner will explore research processes that meet
information needs.
2.2 The learner will engage in a research process to meet
information needs.

Other Subjects Covered: Information

Teacher's Lesson Goals/Objectives:
Students will locate information effectively from a variety of sources.
Students will access the Internet.
Students will be able to discriminate between important knowledge and unimportant information.
Student will be able to decide which resources are most likely to provide valuable knowledge on a topic.

Materials/Resources Needed:
A well-stocked media center

Technology Resources Needed (computer hardware, software, etc.):
An Internet connected computer with a recent web browser.

Pre-Activities:
Role playing of a client needing knowledge on a topic. Also students should be familiar with several Internet search engines. Students should have the ability to access text reference materials.

Activities:
Give each student a topic to research. Ask the students to collect information from both text resources and the Internet. When students have collected the information, ask the group to critique the worth of the information. Additionally students should evaluate text resources vs. Internet resources based on the topics used.

Assessment:
Assign each student a topic to research. The teacher will evaluate the quality of information collected (students should place comments on their view of the quality of the information). The teacher will also compare the actual quality of the information to the student's perception of the quality.

Relevant Web Sites:
Excite
http://www.excite.com
SWAT Homepage
http://www.ncat.edu/~schofed/swat

About the Author:
Originally used with Lucy Miller's SWAT Team.
revised by Christopher I. Cobitz (NCA&T State University)