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Join the 'Information Age'… buy a book??

Not long ago, I received a book in the mail.  Receiving a book in the mail at work isn’t altogether uncommon for me, but this one was a real head-scratcher.

The book in question, “Mastering the Internet” from Jarrett Publishing Company is what I would characterize as a textbook… or something closely resembling a textbook.  According to it’s website:

The Internet is changing the way people communicate information more rapidly than any other innovation since the invention of the telephone. Help your students improve their reading, writing, research and information technology skills as they join the Information Age. Mastering the Internet is a unique book that introduces elementary-school students to computer and Internet use while also improving their skills in several disciplines.

Maybe I just don’t get it, but the prospect of using a text book as a strategy to help my students “join the Information Age” seems so… yesterday.  Thinking of the number of educators that might grasp onto this “resource” or one like it in the face of the growing expectation that teachers “integrate technology” into their teaching is just plain frightening.

But it begs the question, if not a textbook, then what?  I’m interested in hearing some concrete examples of alternatives to another textbook that will help kids “join the Information Age.”

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