The internet is a powerful tool for teachers and students alike. In the school were I work I've seen it used in a number of ways. One social studies class was working on a project where they did research on a country of their choice, compiled their information into a slide presentation, and then presented their findings to the class. This was a long term assignment and I was lucky enough to see some of the presentations at the end of the whole thing and I have to say I was impressed. This got me thinking about what made this assignment work well and it certainly wasn't the students' innate sense of good research skills. What made this long term project such a positive experience was careful planning and scaffolding on the part of their teacher. These students were given instruction on how and where to conduct their research. They were given requirements to use print, web based text, and video, but most importantly they were given a specific framework and set of goals for their work. It is important to use technology and the internet in classrooms but it is just as important, if not even more so, to teach students how to use it effectively. Teachers are responsible for their content area but they are now becoming increasingly responsible for internet literacy skills as well. I think this is at the heart of what makes for seamless integration of technology into a lesson. The teacher must also be an expert on the technology and must structure the lesson so that students know what they are doing but are still challenged.
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