Are your students quick to accept information they find online without critical review and validation? There are some wonderful websites you can integrate into lessons that teach students how to be critical information consumers. Here are some great examples:

• Learn about the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide (If you can't figure out what this is, email me and I'll give you a hint!)
• Consider investing in a revolutionary new biotechnology defense system
• Find fascinating facts about explorers
• Watch a video about the evolution of beauty
• Discover the technology behind Google's powerful search engine

As a teacher, you should also be aware of the spoof videos and misinformation found on popular websites such as YouTube and Unclycopedia (a spoof site of Wikipedia that lets anyone say anything, unfortunately often with rude language).

Be sure to visit CyberSMART's lesson plans on research and information fluency. These grade level lessons (grades K-12) provide ready-made worksheets and vetted websites to teach students how to use the internet efficiently, appropriately, and critically.

When you show a PowerPoint presentation, do your students give you the "that's so 90's" look? That's because it is! PowerPoint was initially developed in 1987 to replace the old slide projector (remember those?). PowerPoint lends itself well to a teacher-directed approach to instruction that is linear and pre-determined, such as lectures. (That's not to say you can't make a non-linear PowerPoint; it's just that the format and typical use of PowerPoint encourages a linear approach to information.)
 
Prezi is a FREE online presentation tool that can challenge your approach to visually communicating information. With the Zooming User Interface (ZUI), this tool allows you to create a visual map of your information so you can...

• show the big picture
• show the connections from one thing to the next
• zoom in to show details
• click wherever you want to go next, making the order of information responsive to your audience.

To see how this works, view my first Prezi: (Once you open the site, use the arrows at the bottom-right to step through it the first time, then discover the non-linear options by clicking on any item to move where you want to go. See if you can find the hidden picture of me!)

 
Did that shake up your whole concept of how to present information? Compare that to the slide below from my good ole PowerPoint presentation on research. (This is a screenshot of the slide - when I present, I have each item fly in one at a time in the typical fashion of PowerPoint animation.)

What do you think? Consider the diverse learning styles in your classroom. Which would they prefer to learn from? Which would they prefer to use when communicating their learning? What benefits does each format offer the learner? Think about the content you present. Which topics would best be presented in a visual map? Think about depth and complexity - how does this tool lend itself to these aspects of your content and instruction?
 
I don't know about you, but my head was spinning after seeing this tool, and not from the visual motion of the presentation! Learn more at www.prezi.com. It's free! You can even download your presentations so you don't have to rely on Internet access when presenting.
 
Share your thoughts and your own Prezi by adding a comment to this blog!

Today's learners must access, evaluate, and apply information from a wide variety of resources. Use these pencasts to learn about the research process and a notetaking strategy that supports each step of the process.

Research Grid
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