Prof. Robert E. Wood of Rutgers published an overview of teaching
possibilities for enhancing any course with Web resources in the
November/December, 1999, Syllabus magazine, and he maintains a website
with examples for each of his categories, which he introduced in a
presentation at the Syllabus conference last July.
 | The Web is a
vast archive, that includes newspapers from around the world, government
and industry documents, Library of Congress photos, and the University
of Pennsylvania's catalog of over 10,000 online books, as well as new
kinds of print materials, plus audio and video. |
| The Web provides many ways
for getting information and many interactive databases, such as maps and
demographic information, as well as databases on demographics, weather, and
more. |
| The Web has inspired new
ways to communicate. Email, listservs, bulletin boards, MUDs and
chats, teleconferencing, and websites are all introduced with examples and
explanations. |
| The Web has many
ways to search for information. In effect, a new way of organizing
knowledge is emerging in the Web. Search engines, directories,
authoritative webs, as well as filters, and sites on evaluation of websites
and citation formats provide ways to find and to block particular
information, as well as to reference it. |
| So, how are faculty and K-12 teachers getting
students to use the Internet to learn?
 | Students can acquire skills on the Web, such as by studying the sites
listed on the previous page. |
| Students can tour virtually many sites around the world and the
universe, as well as to find information in "treasure hunts"
or "scavenger hunts" or "virtual [or electronic] field
trips." |
| Students can search for specific information. |
| Students can do problem-solving activities, especially in set forms
called "webquests," as described by Bernie
Dodge and by Tom March. |
| Students can access databases online, change variables, and watch the
impact of such changes, such as for fly
propagation, visualizing
science, and even amusement
park physics. |
| Students can do research on the Web. |
| Students can publish information and research on the Web in
illustrated and hypertext formats. |
| Students can even study the Internet itself. |
|
|
1999