Module teaching and integrating language skills lesson 1

Evaluating Online Sources Lesson Plan
This kind of scenario has many educators concerned about using of the Internet as a reliable resource for academic information. The fact is that almost anyone can now publish on the Internet, while only a few years ago, nearly everything that you read was filtered by editors and presented based at least on its economic value if not for its scholarly worth. Today, anyone with an axe to grind can do so over the Internet and with a look of authority. At the same time the Internet is increasingly becoming the first and preferred source of information for many of us.
In response to this concern and the scenario above, I believe that the presence of inaccurate and biased information on the Internet is not our primary problem. The information and points of view have not really changed; it is the tools that have changed. Today, our students use professional and sophisticated information tools and global electronic networks to complete their assignments while most of us used pencil and paper and the information resources that existed in our school library.
The real problem with the scenario above is the assignment. The problem is that we are still, by and large, giving Lincoln Log assignments -- "Write a report about the Holocaust." These advanced and powerful capabilities that are increasingly available to our students beg for a different kind of assignment. Writing a report about something has as its goal the demonstration of gained knowledge. Yet gaining knowledge becomes only a small part of what students should be learning to prepare them for a world where knowledge changes and information grows at dizzying speeds.
In fact, in the information world, their jobs will be to help in growing knowledge by becoming information builders.
From the perspective of the builder, our students have aisles of information processing tools to choose from and an Internet warehouse from which to choose building materials. The difference is that the builder, in the middle of Builder's Supply, has a task or project in mind, something that he or she plans to build for the enjoyment and convenience of others. Our builder has a goal behind his or her selections of tools, lumber, and nails.
Likewise, as students browse through the Internet, looking for information raw materials, they should have goals for their work. The difference between "Lincoln Log" assignments and what students should be doing today, is that our young high school junior should have had a goal for her report beyond that of just earning a grade. Because she can produce such impressive work and it can potentially be published for others to see and use, her goal should be behavioral. Students should be building their information products to affect impressions, decisions, beliefs, support or defeat positions, or create new knowledge.