There鈥檚 a myth out there that goes something like this: When it comes to technology, children need no teachers. Show them any high-tech gadget and they seem instinctively to know how it works, even if they鈥檝e never seen it before. This instant familiarity has convinced many educators that, when the topic is computer instruction, we teachers should simply provide the hardware and get out of the way. But if we did that, our students would learn very little.
Like most myths, this one is grounded in reality, or it wouldn鈥檛 have taken root. There鈥檚 no question that kids are comfortable with new gizmos, including PCs, cell phones, and video games. Many adults see that fearlessness and take it for across-the-board technological fluency, but there鈥檚 a big difference between the two.
I got my first look at that gulf about three years ago, when I brought a class of 6th graders into the computer lab to research ancient Egypt. My group of instant-messaging Yahooligans rolled into the computer lab eagerly enough, but soon after they began working, they were begging for help. It became clear that many of these 鈥渄igital natives鈥� didn鈥檛 know the difference between Google鈥檚 search field and the browser鈥檚 URL bar, up where the 鈥渉ttp鈥� and 鈥渨ww鈥� go.Rather than utilizing Google鈥檚 searching power, students were trying out shot-in-the-dark URLs such as 鈥渆gypt.com.鈥� The experience convinced me that mastery of 鈥渇un鈥� technology doesn鈥檛 automatically translate into Internet competence.
Even when they know which text field to use for searches, untrained students often find themselves overloaded with information, only some of which is relevant. Teachers who want to help inexperienced Web researchers dispense with this haystack can simplify the search in a couple of different ways. They can preview suitable Web sites ahead of time, limiting students鈥� searches to those URLs. Or teachers might consider using a free webquest, such as those available on The Webquest Page (webquest.sdsu.edu). 鈥淜ing Tutankhamun: Was It Murder?鈥� is one of the available guided-inquiry projects that help facilitate learning about history, science, math, and other subjects through role-playing and problem-solving. By focusing on this prepackaged information rather than trolling all over the Web, students spend their computer time learning, not hunting.
Older students may know how to type a Google query, but many don鈥檛 know how to use keywords and critical analysis to make their online time productive. My middle school daughter, for example, chose veterinarians as her topic for a career-research assignment. She quickly found general information about what vets do, but she was frustrated by her inability to locate certain details. With a little help, Abby learned to limit her searches by carefully choosing a few keywords. Once she had a manageable set of results, she read through the URLs. Paying attention to the suffixes each carried, she soon learned that .gov, .edu, and .org sites were often useful sources of authoritative, impartial information.
If the job of a teacher is to help students orient themselves to the world, then that responsibility has to include the world of computers. Proficiency on a video football game doesn鈥檛 make kids Web-savvy any more than it qualifies them for the NFL. Even though students dive right into technology, they still need to be taught how to swim.
