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Research and Information Fluency: Grades 4-5

E-mailing for Homework Help

Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.

Read a Letter to Educators about Internet research and information fluency from CyberSmart!

Overview

Students visit sites where, with a parent or guardian, they can ask a homework question and receive an answer from an expert over the Internet. They find out that such personalized help takes time and is not suitable if they need an immediate answer.

Objectives

• Describe how to ask an expert for homework help via the Internet
• Explain how E-mail response time influences whether or not to use this strategy

National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007

Source: International Society for Technology in Education

2. Communication and Collaboration
   1. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
3. Research and Information Fluency
   3. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.

Home Connection

Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.

Site Preview

• Write to Dr. Math
• Pitsco's Ask an Expert!
• BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper
• Ask A Question. Kidspace @ Internet Public Library
• Mad Sci Network: Ask a Question

Materials

• Activity sheet (1)
• Online computer access

Introduce (offline)

• Review offline strategies for getting homework help. (use a textbook, ask a classmate, ask a parent, or ask an older student)
• Review online strategies for getting homework help. (search a homework help Web site)

Teach 1 (offline)

• Distribute the activity sheet. Read and discuss its contents.
• Emphasize that students should ask an adult to go online with them when seeking homework help.
• Point out that students may have to wait days for an answer to their E-mail questions. Therefore, this strategy will not work if their assignment is due the next day.

Teach 2 (online)

• Have students follow the directions on their activity sheet to go to www.becybersmart.org/students, click on the green triangle, and locate the links for this lesson. You can go to the same page as the students by clicking Student Links in the left navigation of this page.
• Have students, individually or in groups, visit one of the recommended sites and report to the class their first impressions.
• Point out that the features on these sites often change, that there are many more sites available than those listed here, and that new sites for homework help are constantly being developed. NOTE: The intent of this lesson is not to recommend sites to students, but to familiarize them with the general types of sites currently available.
• Remind students that, for safety and privacy reasons, they are not to use the E-mail features without permission from a parent, guardian, or teacher.

Teach 3 (online)

• As a class, submit a question to one of the recommended sites. Use your own E-mail address so that you will receive the reply.
• When it eventually arrives, share the reply with students.
• Tell students that when sending E-mail for homework help, they should use their parent's name and address or use a first name only or nickname.

Assess (offline)

The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.

• Ask: How can you find the answer to a question about homework on homework help sites? (Look on a bulletin board for a similar question or send an E-mail to an expert.)
• Ask: Why do you have to think about time when you send E-mail for homework help? (Because experts generally take up to two days to answer a question.)

Extend (online)

The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.

• Have students make a list of schoolwork-related questions they have. Select the best questions to submit to two or more homework help sites. Have students compare the E-mail response times and evaluate the answers received. Have students draw conclusions about which service worked best.

CyberSmart! Online Workshops

Find out about earning continuing education and graduate credits with facilitated CyberSmart! Online Workshops.

Free CyberSmart! Educator Toolbar

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