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"For example, in a middle school life science class, students are learning about food webs and the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors in the environment. It isn't enough to just understand what food webs are and learn the terms biotic and abiotic. Rather, it is critical that students are able to apply that knowledge to real-world situations. So instead of simply practicing how to identify the energy transfer among organisms in a food web, students may be challenged to research a particular environment (i.e., rainforest in Peru - http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/Peru), identify unique flora and fauna to that region, and pinpoint threats that could upset the balance of that food web. Additionally, students can use social networking sites, such as Facebook (if over the age of 13), to investigate organizations with environmental concerns and compare their own ideas with those of practicing organizations (i.e., Rainforest Alliance). Instructional rigor is achieved by extending the activity and engaging students in finding potential solutions that would prevent an environmental upset. These types of highly cognitive learning opportunities immediately increase rigor and require students to apply and negotiate their academic knowledge in a solutions-driven environment. The tablet becomes a learner tool as students research the web and collect data that would contribute to the solution-driven activity. In completing the activity, the learner must have or acquire sufficient knowledge of: (1) what food webs are; (2) in what ways food webs are significant to an environment; (3) what abiotic and biotic factors are; (4) which biotic factors contribute to a food web; and (5) how abiotic factors contribute to or affect the success of a food web. Engaging in solution-driven activities with the iPad, etc., goes beyond superficial and lower-level tasks by requiring students to expand their knowledge in context and through active engagement with others."

This blog allows readers to write a letter to a fictional character and then publish it!  It is a fantastic way to engage students in the text at a unique level!  I want students to do this with a character of their choice from one of our summer reading novels.

I found many useful resources here for parents and students. I'll be revisiting and directing students to the site in the future. Thanks

Based on what your information needs are, NoodleTools provides a directory of search engines suggestions. An excellent place to help students interpret their information needs.

Super3 is the little brother to Big6 for very young students.

ThinkTank is an electronic performance support system to help students narrow down research topics and create keyworks and searches to move the research process forward.

A search engine for children and students using Google SafeSearch. Includes ads.

This is a great video to show students about Wikipedia. It does not discredit the site entirely but explains that people can revise information. Also, it is a good general video for navigating Internet information.

The best presentation on plagiarism I have found to date- accurate, to-the-point, and still engaging for students... I will add this to our research unit!

This is the PERFECT presentation I have been wanting for three years now!  Students often wonder if Google is a valid source.  This presentation explains when Google is and is not good.

A FANTASTIC resource for students (and teachers!), Wordnik allows you to search for a word and then shows its definition, example sentences/uses, etymology, pronunciation, tweets with the word, and photos from Flickr that are related... wonderful for all learning styles.