Weekly Reflection (Wk 4)

In today's lesson, I learned about the following:
1) Recap of last week's lesson

2) Students as Researchers (Research-based Learning)
3) How to create a jump page (Hands-on Activity)
4) What is scaffolding
5) Limitations and Pitfalls of Web Searching (Class Discussion)

From point no.2, we learned that in a knowledge-based economy, the shelf-life of knowledge is getting shorter with time. Knowledge are becoming obsolete very fast, and as teachers, we cannot just teach students knowledge; we must make them learn knowledge by themselves as well (to enable them to learn just-in-time). When we ask students to do research on the web, we should assist them by giving them some guidelines. This can be done by creating a jump page or issue them with worksheets which contain guiding questions and important instructions. When we ask students to do a project, we must not present all the necessary information to them. On the contrary, they should be asked to look for the information by themselves and make good use of it. Knowledge can only be acquired when students connect the information they discovered to their own understanding.

From point no.4, we learned that as teachers, we should scaffold our students to become independent learners, gradually reducing the amount of help until they become capable researchers. The jump page is also a form of effective scaffolding as teachers can narrow down the scope of search for students, provide them with the relevance and making the Web safer for students to surf. The Web is a good tool in teaching students to teach themselves. Students learn fast nowadays and open-ended topics e.g. Can lies be told? Can people keep tigers as pets should be given to them. We must not give students a topic which they can get answers directly from the Web, as it will be no different from asking them to read and find answers from a book.

From point no.5, we learned that because of the 'free' nature of the Web, people can abuse it for their personal benefits. Students can be exposed to harmful threats while they engage in their internet search e.g. by going to websites such as http://www.chinese88.com whose contents had already been changed and become inappropriate for young children. Students can also go to the wrong website if they type the wrong URL e.g. http://www.geocity.com. These two examples are just some of the many traps used by unscrupulous web venders. Students must be shown and make aware of such practices when they are searching for information on the Web. We were also asked to reflect on some questions, and we concluded with the following in a discussion:

1. How can we prevent unwanted sites from popping up?

(We can use freewares such as pop-up killers, or run a home server for students to exclude unwanted websites. However, as the server would be run 24x7, there is a danger that it may be targeted by hackers)

2. How much control we have?

(We have very little control over the Internet; however we can minimize the dangers and threats with close supervision)

3. Is there a way that we can prevent or at least limit such a threat when our children search the Internet?

(We can use the Jump Page to regulate their search, or use software like Cyber Nanny to block out inappropriate websites, or use digital certificates)

What I learned most from this lesson: We cannot control what students surf, however we can minimise the dangers by teaching them how to search for information 'smartly'. They should be make aware of the dangers of the Web and scaffolding should be provided for their research.