We must have informed students, but they must be able to apply that information to make good decisions for themselves and society. Webquests are probably the way to go in this process. I have a webquest at this site on careers. The teacher will have to spend a lot of time preparing a webquest, but I feel the students will be more motivated to do the quest on the Net then in textbooks. Every so often the teacher will have to update the information and tasks, but it will be worthwhile.
Students like to be independent during the middle school years.
They also like to have ownership of a project done by themselves or with a group. Then Internet will be a great tool for educators to use to motivate students to acquire and apply knowledge. I feel the key for educators to remember is that the computer labs, tech. They should not replace kids interacting together and with the teachers. We shouldn't take the personality out of the classrooms.