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More and more teachers are using the Internet with their students to conduct research. The Internet offers unparalleled opportunities to research a topic in depth; locate additional sources of information; develop students' technology, critical thinking, and research skills; and communicate with experts at a distance. This section contains information and resources to aid in teachers' overall understanding of Internet research and why Internet research skills are so important for adolescent learners. We also describe online research process models, offer tips for teaching online research, and provide instructional approaches. What
is Internet Research? | Online Research Process Internet research is the ability to access, comprehend, and apply electronic information. It is a critical skill that all students must acquire in order to compete in today's society, a society that relies heavily on the Internet for the acquisition and dissemination of information. Internet research, like all research techniques before it (using a card catalogue, searching through microfiche, picking books off of a shelf at the library), brings with it a new set of proficiencies that must be taught and learned. Below we have provided recommended resources that describe Internet research. Sites That Matter Grazing
the Net: Raising a Generation of Free Range Students Conducting
Research on the Internet Online
Searching versus Research CyberSmart!
Curriculum Before teachers begin teaching students the Internet research skills they need to compete in the 21st century, students must develop a thorough knowledge of the research process in general. Below we describe several research models to help teachers get started. 1. The Research Cycle Because students now have access to such a huge array of electronic information, Jamie McKenzie, a leading educational technologist for the past decade, insists that schools must reinvent "the way they engage students in both questioning and research." McKenzie's Research Cycle Model takes into account the necessary skills needed before, during, and after beginning research on the Internet. It includes the following key elements: Questioning (BeforeNet), Planning (BeforeNet), Gathering (On the Net), Sorting and Sifting (AfterNet), Synthesizing (AfterNet), Evaluating (AfterNet), and Reporting (AfterNet). Initially
published in Multimedia Schools, May/June 1995, McKenzie updated
his original research process, adapting it for the new millenium.
Now found in chapter eight of his book, Beyond Technology: Questioning,
Research and the Information Literate School, teachers can download
"The Research Cycle" at: 2. 10 Essential Research Skills Rich Thome, district superintendent for the Cardiff School District in California, has developed "10 Essential Research Skills" that all students need to acquire in order to use the Internet to its maximum research potential. In his article, "The Fourth R is Research" (Electronic Learning, October 1996), Thome describes each of the 10 essential research skills, from defining and narrowing search topics and using search engines, to reviewing, evaluating, and organizing resources. To
access "The Fourth R is Research: It's time to recognize information
skills as crucial for our students," go to: 3. The I-Search Curriculum Unit The I-Search is one type of inquiry-based research process frequently used in middle and high school classrooms. The term "I-Search" was coined by Ken Macrorie in his book The I-Search Paper (Heinemann, 1988). The overall goal of the I-Search is to actively engage students in the research process as they pursue questions of importance that they care about. In Ken Macrorie's words, through the I-Search a student can satisfy "a genuine itch" that needs to be scratched "until you've quieted it." Sometimes an individual teacher engages students in the I-Search, while other times a unit is carried out by an interdisciplinary team. A version of the I-Search Curriculum Unit was developed by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). After developing and testing a unit with four phases of instruction, EDC helped schools across the country to design, implement, and evaluate I-Search units. In addition, within the ScienceQuest Project, EDC translated the basic process into a curriculum for after-school programs. To learn more, see Literacy Matters' section on the I-Search Curriculum Unit. 4. The Big6™ Skills Approach The Big6™ approach to teaching information and technology skills is the most widely used online research approach in the world. It is taught in thousands of K-12 schools, institutes of higher education, and adult training programs. Big6™ specifically focuses on developing the necessary problem-solving, search, evaluation, and utilization skills possible through the use of technology tools. The Big6™ model follows a six-step approach to processing the huge amount of information found on the Internet: defining the task; establishing strategies for finding information and locating resources; and accessing, using, evaluating, and synthesizing the information found. For more information about the Big6™ Skills Approach, visit the web sites below. The
Big6™ Skills Approach Learning
and Teaching Information Technology Computer Skills in Context Nuts
& Bolts of the Big6™: In Search of Information Literacy There are four important reasons why adolescents must develop Internet research skills: 1. Students need to be prepared for the new media generation. Simply put, because the Internet is the fastest growing communications medium in history (Gilster, 1997), teachers need to teach students how to use it. Teachers must be able to translate the same information-gathering, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills they are teaching offline, plus methods for becoming media literate for this new online learning environment. For further reading, see: Information
Literacy: An Overview of Design, Process and Outcomes 2. Research skills will help students deal with the overwhelming complexities of the Internet. The Internet is complex. As with all media, students must be taught processes for seeking information from multiple wells, methods for discerning fact from opinion, ways of judging and analyzing information, strategies for combining information to support opinions, and systems for recognizing bias. Unless students are taught the necessary skills to construct and deconstruct meaning from the Internet, they will likely skim the Web without rhyme or reason, delivering pages of printable information to the teacher without any understanding of the content. For further reading, see: Learning
in a Digital Age: Insights into the Issues—The Skills Students
Need for Technological Fluency 3. Students can build related expertise. As students learn valuable online research skills, they will also be developing and improving a secondary, equally important set of competencies. These include, for example, word processing, telecommunications, multimedia, writing, editing, organization, annotation, collaboration, independence, creative thinking, and individualized expression. These are fundamental, literacy-focused, digital competencies that students need to compete in the 21st century. For further reading, see: Beyond
Classroom Boundaries: Constructivist Teaching with the Internet 4. Internet research supports critical thinking skills. Internet research is an authentic learning activity that motivates students to use their critical thinking skills in order to locate information online. Internet research also encourages individual and collaborative inquiry, actively engages students in acquiring knowledge, and offers pathways for teachers to structure learning around solving specific problems and exploring new ideas. For further reading, see: WEB
LITERACY and Critical Thinking: A Teacher's Tool Kit In addition, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), funded by the U.S. Department of Education, has developed the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project. Forty-four states have already adopted, tailored, or reviewed NETS for implementation with students, teachers, and administrators. Internet research falls within all six of NETS' Technology Foundation Standards for Students. For more information about NETS, go to cnets.iste.org/ Lastly, for a comprehensive chart that compares the Big6™ Information Literacy Skills to the National Information Literacy Standards (developed by the American Association of School Librarians {AASL}, the Association for Educational and Communications Technology {AECT}, and NETS), go to: www.surfline.ne.jp/janetm/big6info.htm Arguably the most important skill students need to learn when conducting research is how to take another person's idea and translate it into their own words. The process of paraphrasing requires careful instruction, one that all students must be taught as they learn how to cite original sources in their work. Listed below are web sites containing information and strategies to help students learn how to paraphrase. Sites That Matter Writing-Plagiarism
Advice for Lessons: Grades 1-12 Paraphrase:
Write it in Your Own Words Paraphrasing
Steps and Examples On
Plagiarism Anti-Plagiarism
Strategies for Research Papers The
New Plagiarism: Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in an
Electronic Age Also see our sections on tracking and citing information and graphic organizers. When developing a lesson that incorporates the Internet, teachers should take into account both the benefits and potential risks associated with this new medium. Developed by Literacy Matters, below are 10 Tips for Teaching Internet Research Skills that should be incorporated into every lesson plan.
Sites That Matter There are a variety of ways that teachers can use the Internet with their students to conduct research. Below we have provided a few of our favorite sites. Filamentality:
Helping you add your Filament to the web of learning Module
Maker Using
the Internet to Promote Inquiry-based Learning: An epaper about
a structured approach for effective student Web research Tales
from the Electronic Frontier Inspiration Kidspiration
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