Free Technology for Teacher's post today was about a new tool called a Weblist
This application allows you to make a visual list of a group of URL's that can then be offered as a resource for browsing the web but in a contained way. This can help a teacher to limit a student's research to specific sites and/or topics, or keep them from becoming distracted or lost on the internet. The visual thumbnails display the sites and help students to make a choice of site visually. Once in the Weblist application you can navigate and link to one of the sites and then back to a visual of them all yet your original URL is maintained and will keep the student within the Weblist. Just think of all the Weblist topics you could create right now.
I have seen kids get frustrated trying to figure out which site to try based on a search. This type of presort of information I believe will eliminate this problem and allow students to focus and collect information quickly. I also see that a teacher must keep the lists current and do the research to find a diversity of sites to list.
Searching is a sophisticated process that we have to scaffold for our students. Weblist sounds like a good way to start this process.
ReplyDeleteLast semester I was looser on the blogging assignment than this semester: I tightened up the specifications. This is similar to the searching issue that you discuss. I want to scaffold everyone and make sure that you all find rich sources that pique your curiosity.