 LESSON
PLANNING AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB
Written by: Martha
Beagle (bio)
The World Wide Web has a plethora of
lesson plan sites. The challenge that
comes with the “wealth”
of sites is being able to identify those
sites that provide high quality and
reliable lesson plans. It is relatively
easy to perform a search and find lesson
plans covering a wide range of topics
and for all grade levels, including
college and university. I recently did
a simple Google
search for lesson plans and 13,800,000
lesson plan websites popped up. It would
be a fair assumption to believe that
some of these lesson plans do not meet
standards for effective planning and
teaching. So how does one go about sorting
through these sites, and finding lesson
plans that are credible and worthy of
our time?
The Internet can provide some great
teaching ideas. It is definitely easy
to use the Internet to provide lesson
plans because of the ease in searching,
and the small amount of time it takes
to complete a search.  Because
it takes time and effort to create numerous
lesson plans, the readymade lesson plans
that can be found on the Web are appealing.
As educators we should be cautious in
the lesson plans we find; we should
develop a practice of evaluating lesson
plan websites with a resolute eye and
only select those that meet criterion
of merit.
It cannot be accepted that all websites,
lesson plan websites specifically, are
evaluated for excellence and soundness
just because they are posted on the
World Wide Web. Websites do not have
to meet the standards of book or journal
publishing, nor is there a set of standards
that all websites must meet before anything
is posted. In fact, there is nowhere
to go to find a rating or critique of
a website – no guarantees except
“user beware.”
Kathy
Schrock (2002) developed the Five
W’s for web site evaluation
which may help in sorting and simplifying
the task of identifying credible websites.
Here are the W’s further explained
to provide direction in evaluating general
websites that can be applied to lesson
plan websites:
- Who wrote the
pages, and are they an expert in the
field?
- Try to determine who the website's
authority is. Try to determine
the author's credibility. If an
author is not expressly written,
you should be able to find the
sponsor and then evaluate the
sponsor. Try to determine if there
is a place on the website to contact
the author or sponsor.
-
What is the purpose of the
site?
- This is linked to the objectivity
- is this a site that is truly
a lesson plan site, or is it an
advertising site disguising itself
as information?
-
Where does the information
come from?
- This is linked to the accuracy
of the information provided on
the website. It is important to
be wary of websites that do not
link to other websites that support
or substantiate what they have
posted. Credible websites are
without spelling and grammatical
errors.
-
When was the site created
or updated?
- This is linked to the currency
of the website. A credible website
should have the date posted when
it was created as well as the
date that it was last updated.
-
Why is the information valuable?
- This is linked to evaluating
what exposure this information
has across the wider Internet.
It is important to look for information
that is confirmed by other sources.
Are there other sources that confirm
the lesson plans on this website?
Frequently used domain names are .com,
.edu, .gov, .net, and .org. A domain
preceded by a tilde (~) means an individual
created the make-up of the site. If
that is the case, the web author’s
credentials should be provided to help
determine the integrity of the website
and its contents. Lesson plan sites
that are offered by specialized professional
organizations, university libraries
and departments of education, school
systems, and foundations generally are
credible sources, but there still is
no assurance of excellence and consistency.
 When
breaking down the individual lesson
plan, the plan should be detailed with
many distinctive types of activities
that engage students of various aptitudes;
should follow a highly ordered, rational
progression; should read easily and
be simple to comprehend; and should
provide countless unique follow-up activities
to carry on with the lesson. Creativity
and innovation should be evident within
the lesson plan that makes use of novel,
practical experiences and an eagerness
to take a chance to try something new.
Sites to further help in understanding
website evaluation:
Credible lesson plan
sites for physical education:
In conclusion, the Internet is definitely
a bonus for all teachers, but it should
be used with prudence. Undoubtedly,
the magnitude of lesson plans will continue
to increase. Being lesson plan savvy
and working with the best websites makes
finding the best lesson plans easy and
helpful for teachers who are always
busy.
References
Kathy Schrock’s Internet Curriculum
(2002). http://kathyschrock.net/eval/index.htm
Clickers, Be Aware (2006). http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/edwards_mccardle.htm
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