Using Technology to Enhance Student Inquiry

While reading Debbie Abilock’s article Using Technology to Enhance Students Inquiry one key point that was mentioned was that fact that teachers, librarians, and other educators should work together to help students to engage in their learning through enhancing their inquiry skills. A way this can be done is through the use of technology in the classroom. Enhancing inquiry skills can help students become information-literate by being able to find and use information (Abilock, 2001). It is important that students know what they are learning about, how to find more information about the topic, and how to apply the new information.

The second key point brought about through this article is how students’ research can be used to construct knowledge through the use of technology. Abilock used the global warming and history project as examples of this concept. Within these research projects, students were using their inquiry skills through experiments, simulations, and readings. The students were then able to draw conclusions and better understand different points of views on the particular topic. Many times, especially in history classes, students are just given one side of the story or event and are not given a chance to explore other opinions.

A third point is how students can use information that they have learned through inquiry and apply it to real world situations. For these project students used problem-based learning strategy which means that students a presented with ill-structured problems that mirror an authentic situation (Abilock, 2001). Through this process, students are better able to related and understand complex issues, developed informed positions, locate data to support their positions, and evaluate the authority of sources (Abilock, 2001).

ReferencesAbilock, D. (2001).Using technology to enhance student inquiry. In LeBaron,J.F. & Collier C. (eds.). Technology in its place: Successful technology infusion in schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.