Books entitled such things as "Explore the Unleashed World Wide Web in 7 Days for Dummies/Educators" list tens of thousands of "Killer Web sites," implicitly suggesting that once you get a handle on these you'll have "done" the Web. But this is akin to getting access to the Library of Congress and being handed a piece of paper listing someone's Top Ten Favorite Books. Oh yes, and the library's collection doubles in size every three months. So, it's not the titles that are needed, it's the structure, the organization, the forest for the trees.
I like this quote. It strikes me that this is an issue with using the web in the class as a foundation for the curriculum. Too many teachers I know are only interested in the web for the "neat stuff" they can find and use out there. And this is a valid use of the web for teachers. But if that is all it is, if they only use it with students as a resource to send them to specific sites, then the use of the web in the class loses much of its power, I think. The real power with a web-based class is that it allows the students to have a voice.
I also think it is important to teach the students ways to navigate on the web and make it work for them. I need to do more of that. But if they can't learn how to organize their own little webworlds, they are going to be at a disadvantage.
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