Webbing

You can find anything on the Internet, or at least, that is what I have been told! The 12 and 13 year olds who I see every day in my classroom seem to think that the Internet is the end-all of researching. Why go anywhere else?

Does the Internet really have everything that I need? This question came to mind as I began the webbing phase of my personal inquiry project. As the Internet grows larger and larger every day, the massive amount of information becomes even more all inclusive. According to Garner and Gillingham, there are four issues which lead classroom teachers to use the Internet rather than textbooks. These reasons are: “currency”, “flexibility”, “multiple interpretations” and “teacher authority”. Garner and Gillingham go on to explain this movement away from textbooks. “Textbooks are not current.” How many million times a day do you think the Internet is updated? “Textbooks are seldom read selectively. They dictate the material that the students have to learn and the teachers have to teach without any reference to the real-life situation of the class…The Internet serves as a flexible library…” While textbooks give one interpretation of the facts, “students can hardly avoid the multiple perspectives the Internet affords.” Lastly, with textbooks, teachers become the “experts” on the topic, while with the Internet, teachers “cannot necessarily control the information or the perspectives that the students find available.” (http://www.ncrel.literacy.smartlibrary.info/NewInterface/segment.cfm?segment=2328&table_of_contents=1654)


So do we give up the textbooks all together? No way! The Internet may be an easy, quick answer, but our students, and ourselves, still need the skills of researching the library’s catalog and digging in the stacks to find the elusive magazine article or book which may open the secrets to a given topic!

I have to tell you that the first place I look to find the answers to my burning questions is the Internet. With my laptop and wireless network, it can take less than a millisecond to find that certain something. When beginning the research for this project, my first stop was the Google search engine. http://www.google.com/ There are a plethora of search engines on the World Wide Web (Yahoo, DogPile, AltaVista, etc.), but I find the unobtrusive, clean interface of Google to be inviting. There is nothing to distract me from my task like flashing lights or pop-up ads.

Using Google, I hoped to find not only on-line resources but also print and other resources. The following are the search parameters I used: African tribe, history Africa, religion Africa tribe, African tribal history. These four parameters kept me busy for hours. Thankfully, on-line experience has helped me to be able to quickly weed out the “fluff” websites which may look promising on the surface but in the end, give you little output. Academic and museum websites are always safe bets for bountiful amounts of information. With my search parameters, these are the websites which caught my eye as valuable keys to the puzzle:
· African Voices – Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History website dedicated to the history and people of Africa.
· World History Archives - The History of Africa as a Whole – Website with great links to articles on African history.
· http://www.pbs.org/wonders/ - PBS website which explores African history and culture.
· African Art Museum – “On-line reference to the artistic styles of Africa.”
· Rebirth African Tribal Mask Collection – This is actually a catalog website where users can view and purchase authentic African masks (not cheap!).
· African Traditional Religion – Interesting website with articles and information on African religions.


I have also found the value in on-line encyclopedias. Two which I used in this search were: Word IQ, and Grolier. Word IQ is a free encyclopedia for all to use. Grolier is an online encyclopedia for subscriber use only. My school corporation has purchased rights to use this encyclopedia for students, staff and parents for the past three years. Grolier is an amazing site with three different encyclopedias, each with a different reading level. It is a useful tool for all my students, and I have used it often myself.

After searching my school library catalog, I did not have much luck finding any print resources to help in my inquiry. Using my Google search, I came across a great site which gave citations for print resources which I thought might give me a place to begin a library search. (http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/atr_bibliography.htm) This site turned out to be a gold mine with hundreds of possibilities.

One last avenue I wanted to go down was the interview or discussion with an expert. I hoped to reach someone in the African Studies Program at IU Bloomington. I was lucky to find an outreach program where I could request to receive, on loan, slides, videos and artifacts. I was also directed to a K-12 newsletter which I could subscribe to.

With all the information available, I think I may have myself overwhelmed again. The Wiggling stage will be interesting as I sift through everything. I will be adding to my concept map begun in the Wondering stage and will repost it as I begin to wiggle!