This bill, which was passed overwhelmingly by the Congress with bipartisan support, prevents illegals from receiving medical assistance and public education and denies government assistance, such as food stamps or welfare, to illegal immigrants. The Internet provides a virtually unlimited resource for locating corroborating evidence to help one's case. When two students cited an article in a professional medical newsletter describing the ethical dilemmas such a bill would cause physicians, for example, another countered with a news story about a federal court that struck down the bill as unconstitutional. The lesson elicited spirited responses on both sides of the issue, and the discussion continues this school year. Internet lessons like this not only stretch students' thinking, they also provide a nonthreatening and direct way for teachers to study successful techniques used by fellow teachers, observe the results online, and adapt and improve the ideas for use in their own classrooms.
Technology can play a similar role in education.
The lesson, which follows the study of the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf Wars, describes a world that, in the spring of 2004, is faced with unprecedented food shortages and skyrocketing demand for oil. Technology makes it possible to include such learning activities as constructing models of population growth, graphing the aging of the population, and collecting climate data. On the basis of their responses, I can manipulate the scenario and provide additional resources. For example, I inserted a map into the lesson that requires students to analyze climate data while considering the effects of the seasons and topography on food production. Bringing about meaningful educational change with technology has been a major hurdle for schools.