EME 2040 Blog 4

         Using the internet to support student research is more useful than it is not. The internet helps students find useful, reliable and current sources. It’s also a big help when citations are involved. Website like EasyBib and Purdue Owl make MLA, APA and Chicago 7 citation styles easy to understand and follow. The internet supports student research by providing a place that makes learning more approachable. A google search is less daunting than going through a weighty encyclopedia. I would say that the only time using the internet isn’t useful is when it’s used for plagiarism and cheating.

         I’ve used the internet mainly to find reliable sources for research papers. Sometimes I’ll use it to find videos that better explain things that were explained in class. So far it’s worked out well for me. I’ve never encountered a problem, if I did, it was nothing that printed materials could fix. My method is I google everything, or I use YouTube for extra-help with things like math tutorials. A method a friend told me about which I haven’t thought of is using the cited works on Wikipedia pages, because those are reliable nine times out of ten.  

The Web Hunt assignment was amusing. I was surprised to be able to access a Ukrainian newspaper with the help of advanced search. The ELA standards were something new. The coolest thing was seeing the virtual tour of Cape Town. I thought virtual tours were only viewable with technology from the Sandbox. The web hunt assignment has taught me that teachers can access anything if they use the right keywords.