I am constantly amazed
I pose questions to my online and on ground students that I would have had to work hard to find the answers. They come up with the answers in minutes from the internet, blogs and other sources.
Jim,
Yes, it actually helps in a classroom to have that level of immediacy in information discovery but it also must lead to some sort of critical application and use to help students see the value of the information they discover....otherwise they will just keep on searching and that leads to unnecessary information being discovered :)
Dr. Ruth Reynard
I give my students a list of difficult questions that require thought at the begging of the Mod/semester. Then, change the questions slightly and give a few at a time as essay questions on tests. So they have a chance to prepare, but also to have an opportunity to show what they understand based on class material and self-study.
Michelle,
Great! Many instructors see activities and assessments as uni-dimensional. There can be, however, as you suggest here, wonderful opportunities to develop critical thinking by adjusting criteria and specifics.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
Why are you amazed? The advantage of the internet is that it is a collective mind. I think that you may find it amazing because you do not understand that collective knowledge is far greater than expert knowledge. This is my opinion.
Donald L. Buresh
