This kind of simulation poses specific diagnosis or prediction problems and provides learners with meteorological data products from an actual historical weather event in the context of an operational forecast office. 3.3 Information Gathering and Exploration Teachers often call upon their students to conduct independent exploration and research on class-related topics and report the results in term papers, class presentations, or special projects. Students are challenged to apply intellectual skills and metacognitive strategies as they seek out, acquire, analyze, synthesize and verbalize new knowledge. For the teacher, these activities require monitoring, guidance, and evaluation at various stages of the process. Due to its vast scope and rich connectivity, WBL offers some innovative and exciting means of supporting these kinds of learning activities.
Students can use search engines to seek out web sites and information sources.
They can join newsgroups and trace discussion threads for topics of interest. They can also initiate discussions and solicit opinions from Internet talk groups. For their part, teachers can use e-mail to monitor student progress or provide guidance and feedback. The web can also be used as a platform for students to present their findings. Students can build their own web pages complete with hot links to references and related information sources.