While designing my Instructional Design Plan, I ran into a bit of a challenge. To begin their project my students needed research information on the Palace of Versailles during the time of the French Revolution- not your typical elementary fare.This proved quite challenging for a number of reasons. The Internet presents an ideal opportunity to conduct in-depth investigations on a variety of topics that extend learning beyond the traditional classroom and provide authentic learning experiences. The Internet is an ideal venue to promote understanding. However,  the challenge I face is when the learning activity requires students to research, using the Internet can be difficult to navigate.  Often because of time constraints, the primary objective is one other than navigating the Internet. Although it is  literacy skills that students need to acquire, often other goals, such as encouraging the role of Web2.0 as a problem-solving, collaborative tool, take precedence.  Therefore, when I present a project  I will often provide a designated list of links. This task is time consuming, but necessary when working with young students. Educators need to evaluate Web sites for quality, content, accuracy, appropriateness, and purpose.  Fortunately, I have just discovered there are some excellent resources available to help educators evaluate Web sites. I feel like I hit the jackpot finding Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.html Also,the link from Cornell  University looks useful.

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.html

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