As valuable as you make it.

That question reminds me of how television and movies were used in the classroom.  When I was in school, teachers would try to find a movie on the topic of a subject we were studying in class.  They would play the movie during class time, uninterrupted and encourage us to take notes (which we never did) to talk about at the end of the movie (which was usually three days later).  This was not the best use of time, or technology. It would have been more valuable if you start and stop the movie for thoughtful discussions, and not have a video babysit the students.

Even back then, educators saw potential in new media, but weren't educated on how to best use the technology.

Same goes for the current use of websites in our curriculum. Providing students a web address to go to without any purspose or directions is similarly a waste of time and technology.  At best, poor website integration becomes a newer version of media babysitting our students.  At worst, our students become confused and frustrated and navigate to a less educational site like disney.com.

Internet resources are valuable when educators put in the legwork necessary for students to gain understanding from the materials. Below are a bulleted list of things a teacher will need to do before introducing a website to her or his students:

- First, thoroughly research the appropriate site. Look for appropriate content of the material. Questions to consider: Is this reinforcing what we are studying in class? What new perspective does this have to add?

-Also, consider the ability levels of your students. And the website should have something to offer for all reading abilities in your classroom. If not, an alternate needs to be found for your exceeding and below achieving students.

-Additionally, teachers must develop accountability measures to ensure students are learning what needs to be learned. Questions to consider: How am I sure students are using their time wisely? Should I create graphic organizers for students to complete? Will I grade those? Will I have students orally share to their peers what they learned from the website?

And finally, as always, teachers should use NETS standards when evaluating the reason they are introducing a new website to begin with.  NETS are still so new, and there are relatively so few, I sometimes think we should blow it up to poster-size and either keep in common teacher-resource areas or in classrooms near the computers.

Bottom line, the internet can be a "babysitter" or a truly valuable educational resource. It is what the teacher makes it.