Chapter 2: Investigating with Technologies

1. The way I evaluated the web sites was by reviewing the information presented, looking for copyrights and updated information, organization names, and answering various questions presented in the text. I looked at who provided the information. After evaluating the sites, I triangulated them to confirm accuracy or inaccuracy.
o Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus- At first, this site seems to be accurate in the information it presents. After reviewing and doing a little more research about Zapato Productions, the site proves itself wrong. At the bottom of the page, it is stated that the site is not associated with any school or educational organization. Demonstrations links are provided and there is a copyright on the site but they are not true. After reviewing the site, I looked up Zapatopi on google and there is a Zapato Productions website which concerns “conspiracies & other diversions.” I then looked up information on google about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and information about its endangerment and it is not real.
o Martin Luther King Jr. - A True Historical Examination- I first looked at the bottom of the page to find the source of who provided the information. The site is hosted by Stormfront and a link to the Stormfront.org site is posted. The information on both sites seemed confusing to me. I am not really sure what Stormfront really is. Just from the impression I got from the site, it does not seem like a good source to find information because it is bias and seems racist and prejudice. I would not recommend it for student research use.
o Dog Island Free Forever- this is a “.com” web site and seems to be accurate and credible. Right away I notices a statement that has been familiar to me, “ads by google.” This led me to believe that the site has some affiliation to a credible, well-known site. The site also gives background information about “Dog Island” along with contact information, photos, directions, and a copyright. After clicking on more information about the site, it reads that it was made just for fun.
o All About Explorers- This site also seems credible because it is well-organized and there are many clues to why the site is accurate. First of all, at the bottom of the site there is contact information, information about the copyright, a privacy policy, a link for teachers, a link for more information about the site, and the date of the last time the site was updated which was this year. The site was developed by teachers with the intention of teaching students about the internet and various explorers through history. There is also an “all about the authors” link which tells about the teachers who designed the site. To see if the information about explorers was accurate, I clicked into a few explorers and compared information to what I already knew. After reading, some of the dates and information did not match up. Although the site seems reliable, I am not really sure.
o History of Robots in the Victorian Era- this site was developed by a man named Paul Guinan. The first statement in bold at the top of the site made me question the accuracy of the site. The statement is “Here is the most extensive collection of images and information on Victorian-era robots to be found in the whole World Wide Web.” This statement seems extreme and not factual. There is no information on the site that I believe proves to me that it is accurate.
o Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division- The first characteristic about this web site that stood out to me was that it is a non-profitable organization. At first, I believed the site gave accurate information because it is affiliated with the U.S. environmental assessment center, there is a copyright, and it was last updated today. After looking up this center, it was fake.
o The First Human Male Pregnancy- Although it is impossible for a man to be pregnant, the information from the site seems accurate from first impression because its claim comes from the RYT Hospital Dwayne Medical Center. The site provides contact information and a link to the various news releases, photographs of the pregnant man, patient care, and innovative new scientific research, and interviews. After doing a little more research and reading more about the site, I found out that the site is a hoax and is entirely made up. Two men formed the site as a form of art and the possibility of future medical advances.
o Which of these is the true World Trade Organization website? I think the true site for the World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org. Although both sites are very similar, the second site provides specific contact information and also includes information about copyright and trademark. Also, for the second site, there are drop downs for each tap that provide further information. Overall, the second site is much more detailed and contains more resources than the first site.

2. For the area of science for 2nd graders, I found 2 sites that provided internet scavenger hunts for students. One scavenger hunt is from the site educationworld.com. I do not think this site promotes meaningful leaning because it tells students exactly where to find the information and to write the answers word for word. The second scavenger hunt is from the site mrsohouse.com and seems to be a good internet hunt for students because it does not tell students directly where to look for answers. This can promote meaningful learning because students are browsing the internet for answers and information.

3. For my WebQuest, I selected Westward Expansion which is a 5th grade social studies WebQuest. This WebQuest is more than just an 'electronic worksheet' because it provides students with an interactive, collaborative task in which groups are made up of characters that work together to complete the process on in the directions. This WebQuest is well-designed according to Jonassen’s criteria because it is open-ended and because it is student-directed. It is also well designed because it incorporates cooperative learning as students work in a group to complete the task. There was a synthesis of information at the end of the activity and an analysis of what students learned. It also incorporated the creation of original products that demonstrate knowledge gained throughout the process as a whole and when students create their PowerPoint presentations. It is not as well designed because from what I noticed, it did not incorporate consideration of multiple learning perspectives.

4. The 5th grade teachers at Willard East Elementary school have recently integrated handheld devices into their curriculum. The students use the handhelds as date and address book organizers and to complete assignments using word processor, spreadsheets, graphs, research, quizzes, and concept maps. They also do things as they normally would but in a different way. For example, instead of doing a paper assignments, they will submit assignments electronically. The handheld device allows for the teacher and students to do the same tasks that they could on a “normal” computer but better and more efficiently. Handheld usage improves homework completion and is beneficial as an instructional tool.