Integrating Websites into the Classroom

The website I explored was called "Scholarpedia" (URL: http://www.scholarpedia.org/).

          Scholarpedia is designed for anyone who researches information on the internet and would like to know that the information they are reading is factual. This website is different from sites like wikipedia that can be edited by anyone, the information presented on this website is written by experts and it is then peer-reviewed, only the author has the ability to make changes to the website. This website offers information on a variety of topics, users simply need to search for their desired topic. A cool feature of the website is that you can do searches within certain encyclopedias such as physics and astrophysics.

          This website can be used in the classroom as a resource that is guaranteed to provide factual information. If a student asks a question that the teacher does not have the answer to then they could turn to Scholarpedia to find the answer. This website could also be used in a lesson to have students compare the accuracy of websites like Wikipedia to Scholarpedia. This could be done by having students research a topic on Wikipedia and then researching that same topic on Scholarpedia and then comparing the information. This would give students a first-hand look at how important it is to use reliable sources and to know that just because something is on the internet doesn't mean it's always 100% correct.

          This website could be used to extend learning opportunities outside of the classroom by being a key tool that students could have in their repertoire as a factual source of information.