Jamie McKenzie's Essential Question

In 1998 Jamie McKenzie wrote, "It is a foolish waste of technology, money, and information power to assign information-gathering, topical research projects... Student research should focus upon essential questions." The point is not that information-gathering is bad, but that this should not be the the assignment. In the workplace, technology tools help us find and analyze information, communicate and collaborate with colleagues, and synthesize and present our findings. Information-gathering is just step 1 in this process. Why do we so often ask students to only do this step? ...and we accept a PowerPoint or paper drawn from a few web sites as evidence of "learning." What about using a spreadsheet to analyze, graph, and compellingly display your information? ...or emailing experts to gather their opinions? ...or storing your information in a database for ease of manipulation and reporting? Our students are becoming adept at displaying a shallow veneer of learning. Don't get me wrong-- this is the same style of learning as 30 years ago when I was in elementary school with no computers. The point is that classroom information and communication technologies increase the chances that students may pursue a deeper level of learning.