When working with the WWW, the instructor must first become familiar with the technology prior to assisting students in reaching their learning goals. Like beginning the year with a new textbook, instructors need to have a general idea of what information is available and how to access it. The time needed to feel comfortable varies greatly among instructors. The instructor can require that students who are assigned a report on a foreign country use the Net to access newspapers from that country. Students should include in their report current affairs from the native perspective.
Students sense their instructor's assurance and respond with a similar positive attitude.
Step two is establishing a comfort zone for the students. This phase will vary with the technology competency level of the students. It is important that students clearly understand what the assignment is, how long they have to complete it, and exactly what their topic for the project will be. In addition, clear goals will help keep them on task and working in a timely fashion when traveling in cyberspace. Although the task design can be similar to the instructor's prior designs, some modifications will exist.