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Participate 2 - Collecting Reputable Digital Resources

Collecting Reputable Digital Resources

https://www.diigo.com/user/alynelson4

The walkabout took me back to some digital resources that I used in my classroom years ago, and introduced me to some new resources that I was not aware of. I enjoy incorporating current research into my classroom and found a couple of resources containing science research that is more simplified for students to understand. I enjoy reading about incorporating technology into traditional classrooms, as well as the use of technology in virtual education, since I studied this during my Masters program. I found some new articles that I enjoyed reading on these topics. One thing I noticed is that some of the resources and articles were from fellow teachers. These particular resources would require more evaluation to ensure the content was accurate, or would need to be used with extreme care.

Top 3 Tools/Resources:
1. https://www.khanacademy.org/science - Khan Academy is an amazing resource for videos and tutorials. I spent a long time looking through the resources for Biology and found resources that would enhance learning and provide extra help for students who were struggling and needed additional instruction.

2. http://www.discoveryeducation.com/Events/virtual-field-trips/explore/by-subject/science-and-engineering.cfm - What a cool idea! Virtual field trips, especially for students in an online learning environment, allows them to explore areas they would normally not go. Instead of going to the local zoo, you can visit animals in the tundra or watch researchers in Antarctica.

3. https://www.emerginginvestigators.org/ - The Journal of Emerging Investigators site is a great resource for exposing students to research that they can understand. The research articles are written with the help of a university and are reviewed before publishing.

It is important to teach students how to identify good sources. Primarily, they should evaluate the organization that has put forth the information, the audience the information is written for, and whether the information is current or out-of-date. Modeling this at the beginning of a course by introducing both reliable and unreliable sources to students is a great way to show them the types of resources they should use. Having students practice in identifying good sources before researching for an assignment, using a similar checklist as the one provided, is a great way to have them evaluate sources. Annotated bibliographies are also a useful tool in having students evaluate research and the sources they are using and to identify the ways they will use a particular source in an assignment.

Procedures need to be set forth at the beginning of a course, as mentioned. There may need to be a requirement that students only use resources from sites ending in .gov or .org. Students may need to be limited to searching using specific databases as well to direct them to particular sources. Helping students understand the importance of these procedures is key to having them perform meaningful research.


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