Software Review: Learning.com

Web Browsing: Research and Citing Sources Grades 6-8

Browsing Basics:
K-12 [5]. Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:
K-12 [5a]. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
K-12 [6]. Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
K-12 [6a]. understand and use technology systems.
K-12 [6b]. select and use applications effectively and productively.

URL's
K-12 [1]. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:
K-12 [1a]. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
K-12 [2]. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
K-12 [2a]. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
K-12 [6]. Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
K-12 [6a]. understand and use technology systems.
K-12 [6b]. select and use applications effectively and productively.

Web Searches
K-12 [3]. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
K-12 [3b]. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
K-12 [3c]. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
K-12 [4]. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:
K-12 [4c]. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.
K-12 [5]. Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:
K-12 [5a]. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.


Validity and Sourcing
K-12 [1]. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:
K-12 [1a]. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
K-12 [2]. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
K-12 [2a]. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
K-12 [2b]. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
K-12 [5]. Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:
K-12 [5a]. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
K-12 [5b]. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration,
learning, and productivity.


Review
This series of mini tutorials helped me learn a few things that I did not know before. I learned how to effectively use keywords and phrases to better my search results instead of long sentences like I was using before. It also helped me determine which listings would be most beneficial to me and which ones wouldn't. Before this exercise I didn't know much about the copyright laws and and what information you could legally use but after the tutorial on validity and sourcing, I understood it much better. I already knew a lot about browsing and URL's so I learned the most from validity and web searches.
The barriers that you could face using this program in a classroom is time constraints. These lessons took a really long time and for children to be able to sit that long and concentrate would be a huge task. Also, there aren't enough hours in the school day to go through an entire lesson and do this lesson on the side. It just takes too long and therefore would inhibit the success of the students.
I didn't really have too many problems other than paying attention. I felt that it would be better off used with younger students because of the cartoon character and the language. I felt bored and the audio was extremely slow so I was getting impatient. Other than that, I did not have any problems.

(2007) Learning.com. Retrieved March 2, 2009, from http://www.learning.com/index.htm

(2007) www.iste.org. Retrieved March 2, 2009, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm