If any teachers out there have had the experience (as I have) of getting back student assignments that are clearly a copy and paste from the web you have to stop and do an analysis. – a self-analysis. What did I ask them to do?
It’s too late to turn off the internet (that horse has bolted!) and time to look at the tasks you have set, the questions you asked and take on the mission to define “unGooglable” assignments and challenges.
This doesn’t mean ignoring the internet and has to be bit more interesting than “put the answer you found on the internet in your own words”
It’s a balance of taking the information or “facts as we know them” and doing something interesting, something creative, and even collaborative to get students to understand, connect and build on their knowledge.
For this post I went searching for some great source or “research guide”.
Looking at a world of offerings I remembered a quiet little resource tucked away in the State Library of Victoria, ERGO. Yes it’s local!
ERGO- State library Victoria
Developed for students this little treasure is a must for all teachers, in particular – English teachers. ERGO presents other resources to support students’ personal learning. The Research Skills resource and carefully thought through challenges set by teachers could be a powerful combination to eliminate question that are “Just waiting” for a Wikipedia response.
Check out http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/research-skills