The Study

Assistant Professor Raven Wallace and colleagues from the University of Michigan, Jeff Kupperman, Joseph Krajcik and Elliot Solloway, explore sixth-grade students' activities as they carry out an assignment on the Web. The researchers look for evidence of how students interpret and carry out the assignment, how they go about finding and using information, and how they use Web technologies.

Findings

The research project began as an effort to gather data about middle school students' use of the Web as a first step in designing a new interface for a digital library. Students in the study were enrolled in sixth-grade classrooms at a middle school in a medium-sized Midwestern town. Data for the study were collected during an online activity focused on ecology. The researchers found evidence that students use Web technologies easily but simplistically. Close analysis of their patterns of use showed " that many students may not have progressed beyond a very basic ability to use these tools. The ease of entry to use of a Web browser and search engine may have actually prevented development of more complex use of the tools." Wallace and her colleagues also found that information seeking was a complex and difficult process for the students, who sought to reduce the task to finding an obvious answer or finding a good Web site. The researchers conclude that developing students' understanding of content through use of the Web is a challenge for students and teachers. "This research confirms observations from library science that information seeking is a complex process that is difficult for students, it confirms research on task that tells us that a complex task in and of itself does not cause activity in hypermedia environments for learning. In short, the Web is not a magic bullet: It mattes what students are asked to do and how tools and techniques to accomplish these tasks are provided."

What It Means To You

As the researchers point out, the Web is not a magic bullet. The students did not become engaged and thoughtful as the researchers would have liked merely by being online. To what degree do teachers in your district help students learn skills that enable them to navigate the complex world of information? Does your district help teachers develop methods and strategies for teaching with and about these skills?.

For More Information

Wallace, R.M., Kupperman, J., Krajcik, J. & Solloway, E. (2000). Science on the Web: Students online in a sixth-grade classroom. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 9(1), 75-104.

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