When teachers first begin teaching with technology, they typically use it to do things they were already doing. However, fundamentally the design of the assignment is the same as it would have been without technology. A traditional assignment might ask students to gather information and prepare a report. Some teachers send students to preselected websites to find predetermined information for their report. A Knowledge Age assignment, however, leverages the wealth of dynamic information available on the Internet, and asks students to go further in their thinking.
Students work in small collaborative groups to synthesize their knowledge.
For example, students can study endangered species. The list of these species changes much more often than static information sources, such as textbooks, are updated. Collaborating with other students on solutions to the plight of endangered animals, and balancing conflicting human economic needs would move the assignment from the traditional to the Knowledge Age environment. Students might be asked to conduct a mock negotiation of an endangered species treaty, with different groups in the class being assigned to represent different interests in the negotiations. Collaboration can be done locally in the classroom, or a group of students could actually hook up via the Internet with students in Florida and study local views on endangered species from the Everglades.