Though we've condensed all of our instruction on research into this one part of the book, we'd encourage you to incorporate research into several projects throughout the semester. If you introduce students to Web browsing and basic research as early as you can, and require them to provide sources on even their earliest writing assignments, you can develop their research skills and their ability to incorporate multiple perspectives into their own compositions. On effective method of encouraging research is to structure your assignments so that they build upon earlier work. You can have more extended projects developed from earlier compositions, and you can make purely "research" assignments lead directly into students' own writing. One helpful step is having students create annotated bibliographies on the Web, or "issue overviews" that discuss how different sources approach a problem.
Use the Library!
Though our emphasis in this part of the textbook has been on finding Internet resources, we want to stress the necessity of pairing the Internet with library resources. Make sure you provide information on the book and periodical catalogs at your institution. Since in many cases these will also be on-line catalogs, your presentation of keyword searches should dovetail nicely. Library research skills are the backbone of study in most disciplines, and your students will not only benefit from learning the basics of library research, they are likely to understand the complications posed by the Internet better if they work first hand with more traditional resources.
Teach Copyright Early
It's important that students understand copyright issues when working in electronic environments. If you are going to have your students compose and research on-line, we recommend that you teach copyright issues (covered in Appendix Two and on the Connections Web site) early in the semester just as you would concerns of plagiarism and scholastic honesty. Because students will quickly learn to reproduce Internet materials, they should know the impact of their actions as they begin to create their compositions, particularly when building Web pages. If you cover copyright early in the semester, you can make your expectations for students' academic work clear and highlight rhetorical concerns that accompany decisions about how to use resources.
Use Class Time to Teach Technology
While it's probably clear that our model for a classroom is more of a workshop than a lecture hall, we want to stress giving class time for students to learn Internet activities. Though almost every course requires some lectures, we think hands-on work with the Internet in a supportive environment can propel the learning process. Having their classmates and instructor around while they begin to explore the Net helps students get accustomed to their new environment. Invariably there will be Net-savvy students who can help classmates who feel less comfortable. In addition, this type of practice and learning with the technology gives students a chance to see early on the nature of the Internet, what types of materials are available on-line and "what's in it for them."