Mediating students experiences with technology

Turning students lose on the Web (or even within specific collections) is a recipe for trouble. Most students do not have the experience and sophistication needed to navigate the mazes that often comprise online collections. More importantly, teachers rarely have the time to allow students to spend extended periods of time searching for information. Teachers must prepare activities that will clearly describe the task for students. Consider the following questions when designing the directions.

1. What is the ultimate objective for this activity?
2. How involved would you like your students to be the research process?
3. What is the nature of the Web resource being used?
4. How should students use the information that are provided?
5. What are the potential pitfalls of this activity?

ONLINE ACTIVITY - Go through the steps above with a content example from your class.

NEXT - Review of existing online instructional resources

Web address http://msit.gsu.edu/socialstudies/culver/teaching_mediating.htm
Maintained and operated by John K. Lee jklee@gsu.edu
Last Modified: 06/06/02