Hi, my name is not Sir Timothy Berners-Lee. (Surprise!) My name is Nicole, and while I – like you – use the internet a lot, I find it can be a tricky thing to teach. While it can be manipulated (apps opened, searches conducted), it can’t really be touched, or grasped, or handled. So, I made a box. The Internet Box. A physical representation of the thing that dictates so much of what – and how – we teach. This post serves two purposes: it’s a “Look! I made a thing!” memory share, and a “How else can I use this?” brainstorm offering. (Honestly, this may sound like something published at the turn of this century, but golly it’s amazing the skills and terms I take for granted that our students know and understand.)
So, once upon a time (as in, maybe 2 years ago), I asked a class of 3rd & 4th graders (our grade 1-2 and 3-4 classes are a multiage mix) to “Look it up! Let’s google it!” I think we were discussing dog breeds, and I wanted them to compare what came up in our databases vs. results found via Google.
They looked at me like I had a Bichon Frisé on my head. The teacher explained that Google wasn’t something they used, and that if the students ever needed to access a specific website, the teachers made direct links or QR codes available for them. I’m sure I looked at her like she had a Shar-Pei on her head.
So. Many. Questions! (But. No. Judgements!) Getting to serve grades K-12 is a blast, but it does mean I don’t often have the time to deep-dive into the nitty-gritty of every possible path a lesson could follow. Maybe every student in one class wants to search their own favorite breed (see: 24 individual qr codes). Maybe the American Kennel Club’s website is undergoing maintenance later that same day (see: links to multiple dog-related websites). I might even decide to search dragons instead of dogs just before the class starts!
I want to have lessons about Google. I want to have lessons on internet skills, etiquette, etc. I want to offer a way to be prepared for the not-necessarily-random-but-still-unexpected things that come up. Sometimes, yes, I just want the kiddos to just get to the page so we can find the link to the author’s bio together. But sometimes “How do we find it” and “What keywords should we use” and “Let’s see where we end up” is the lesson itself, you know? How to make this – this abstract, intangible thing – accessible, considering I might be starting before square 1?
Cut to a brilliant montage of me scampering all over campus as I collect butcher paper, VHS cassettes (stay with me), newspapers, magazines, scraps of cardboard, screenshots of various search result lists and website homepages, and toys from my desk to complete …. The Internet Box:
On the outside of the box are the logos for different web browsers. (There’s a mini-lesson!)
On the inside of the lid are your search engines (another mini-lesson!) and search bar (and another one!)
Inside is a BUNCH of stuff. Email (ooh, a lesson on passwords … and maybe we practice writing an email to our teacher!) and well-known websites like YouTube (here, the students get to lead: what should we watch?). Image results (you mean … search filters?!) and silly stuff (cue my Pinkie Pie My Little Pony figurine … which seems to have disappeared). Weird, old stuff (here’s where we spend some time gawping over those cassettes I mentioned, and discuss the importance of publication dates), kinda boring but important stuff (cue: academic journals), and useful information (screenshots of recipes, movie showtimes, a map of Africa, etc.)
While I’ve shared this mostly with our ES classes, there have been a few opportune moments to drag out The Internet Box with our 6th graders and 10th graders, too … it gets some laughs, but has proven to be a fun and effective means of teaching the basics of something that can be difficult to grasp. (Literally. Because the internet isn’t tangible. But The Internet Box is!)
If you have any suggestions, I’d love to know: what else to include in The Internet Box? How might you cater this for middle and high school? Do you have The Internet Box too?