BP#3_2010011_Web 2.0 Tools

Being a teacher who is interested in the potential of e-learning as a component of the public education class room, I immediately was drawn to the e-learning tag on the Go2Web20 application index. http://www.go2web20.net/#tag:e-learning I found a site called e-learning for kids which has a series of games that reinforce basic skills in a wide range of subjects. Most of the games or lessons are targeted at the 5- 12 year old student and although as a special ed teacher I saw the potential for use in a high school resource setting, there is little that is of use for older students.

Randomly, I clicked on computer skills and found a section on Google searches at the Boost E-learning web page. http://www.boostelearning.com/

This is a subscription site but E-learning for kids provides a user name and pass word so that you can access the search lessons. I have seen students struggle with Google when doing research for class projects. Often they are overwhelmed with the amount of information that is given and if they are already struggling with reading they simply give up because it is too hard to find what is relevant to their research. Giving student the tools to refine their searches and use search engines more effectively might relieve some of their frustration. I clicked on the site and was surprised to find that it was a course that was designed for adult learners who wanted to optimize their searches for business research. The courses were concise and easy to follow with a nice one-page .pdf file at the end of each that covered the concepts of the lessons. The lessons are grouped into 3 categories, Skills development, Skills review and Skills application, which contains several short videos that encourage the refinement of research skills to become a “…highly effective knowledge worker.”
Although I initially went to the e-learning for kids site to find applications suitable for younger students I was impressed with the simplicity and directness of the lessons and feel that they could easily be used in the upper middle grades and high school level to increase the effectiveness of students’ research. The lessons could be presented in a computer class or as a module introducing research skills in preparation for any class project that requires research on the web. I even learned some thing that will improve my research. I definitely suggest checking these lessons out.