Internet in the Classroom

This chapter discussed the history of the internet at Ridgeview School. The school was granted access to use the internet and laptops, yet they encountered many problems they did not previously think of. The students were coming across inappropriate websites, disengaging themselves from the classroom, and losing focus of the important things. I can imagine how frustrating that would be as a teacher to get so excited over the opportunity to have internet use in the classroom, but it turns out to be extremely disappointing. When I teach, I do get frustrated when the students are off task- hence why we give out ALL instructions before giving students some exciting activity. This is why we need to allow students to use laptops and grant them internet access, but there need to be limits. The students need to be old enough to understand how/when to use the internet and where to draw the line. Students should become well versed in "internet rules" before they are given a key to free range on the internet. It is a dangerous place and I can understand where students may be lost in that abyss, but this is why we need to ensure that students are of the appropriate age and understand rules about using the internet. It is SUCH a wonderful tool and opens our eyes to so much, but they need to understand that it is a privilege and it can be taken away unless used properly!