Technology is continuous advancement in today’s society.  Educators need to expose students to the technological advancement in schools by providing students with opportunities to engage in web-based learning activities.  An activity that is web-based is an application granting access to a network such as the internet.  Interactive websites are an example of a web-based activity. Integrating web-based learning activities into instruction increases student motivation to learn, enhances critical thinking skills, and allows students access to multiple resources that they may not otherwise have in a classroom.

            Before integrating a web-based activity, educators should evaluate the sites.  The teacher is the gatekeeper whose responsibility is to filter out the garbage and use only what is effective (Wishnietsky).  The website should be checked to make sure it functions properly, its links function properly, enhances the curriculum, supports the goals and standards of the subject being taught, and is engaging.  A web-based activity that does not engage students will not enhance learning.             

            According to Melissa Burgess, Journal of College Reading and Learning, a study was done in a college developmental reading course to examine the effects of web-based activities in the classroom in 2007.  The results reported that interacting with websites which promoted comprehension skills, increased students’ success rates.  The autonomy of this particular learning environment supported students’ motivation to learn. (Burgess, 2009).  Due to the fact that the interactive reading web sites were utilized by students and increased their reading skills, the students wanted to participate in the activities and wanted to learn.  Interest has been demonstrated in online environments that are interactive-where students actively engage with technology (Burgess, 2009).  When students are actively involved, they are able to understand and apply what they have learned in real world situations. This understanding and application ultimately provides authentic reasons for learning, thereby creating student motivation and excitement to learn (Burgess, 2009). Students are motivated to participate in their own learning when they are interested in how they will be learning.

            In addition to increasing student motivation, integrating web-based activities into instruction promotes critical thinking among students.  When students are interested in a topic, they are likely to process information in a meaningful, organized fashion by relating it to what they already know, forming visual images, generating their own examples, and identifying potential applications (Burgess, 2009).  This higher level thinking develops critical thinking skills.  When students are asked to apply and reflect on what they learn, they retain more content.  Web-based activities are text-based and intellectually challenging which elicits deeper thinking on the part of the students (Burgess, 2009).  When educators incorporate these technological activities into the classroom, they are encouraging students to become more independent thinkers, and students learn to develop those higher level thinking skills such as analyzing and drawing conclusions.

            Web-based instruction allows students access to resources they may not have in the classroom.  Interactive web sites have links that students can go to for additional information on a subject.  For example, an interactive math site has a home page with links to more than a dozen types of calculators.  By clicking the “graphing” icon, the user is connected to a graphing calculators (Wishnietsky, 2004).  Students can perform multiple functions at a time on these calculators that may not be available at their school.  On this math website, students follow the directions, print the results from the website, and use a word processor to write their observations and conclusions.  So not only does this site provide tools that students may not otherwise have access to, but it also allows them to print off their results and receive immediate feedback.  An interactive social studies website provides another example of how web-based activities give access to resources that may not be provided in the classroom.  “Inside the White House” allows a student to select choices about being in office that are later analyzed through a newspaper article and shows the student what type of president he or she would be.  Schools may not have resources, such as graphing calculators, to enhance learning and web-based instruction can provide students with these resources. Web sites with links to numerous materials provide opportunities for students to create multimedia resources that they can incorporate into their learning (Hatch, 2004).

            As technological developments accelerate in educational settings, integrating web-based activities into academic learning aims to help students gain more opportunity and interest in exploring learning concepts (ChanLin, 2007).  Teachers must be willing and able to use technology effectively in their teaching in order to realize the benefits it can have.  As teachers prepare students to flourish in an ever-changing technological society, web-based instruction is an effective tool to increase motivation to learn, enhance critical thinking skills, and engage students in the classroom. 

Bibliography

Burgess, M.  (2009). Using WebCT as a Supplemental Tool to Enhance Critical Thinking and Engagement Among Developmental Reading Students.  Journal of College Reading and Learning, 39(2), 25-34.

ChanLin, L.  (2007, February).  Perceived Importance and Manageability of Teachers toward the Factors of Integrating Computer Technology into Classrooms.  Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 44(1), 45-56.

Hatch, T.  (2004, September).  BUILDING Knowledge for Teaching and Learning.  Change, 36(5), 42-49.

Wishnietsky, D.  (2004). Using Interactive Internet Sites in Teaching.  Phi Delta Kappa Fastbacks, (525), 3, 7-46.