Network science, a decade later: The internet and classroom learning

This book is the result of National Science Foundation-funded research that looked at the experiences of a set of science projects which use the Internet and offers an understanding of how the Internet can be used effectively by science teachers and students to support inquiry-based teaching and learning. The book emphasizes theoretical and critical perspectives, and is intended to raise questions about the goals of education and the ways that technology helps reach those goals and ways that it cannot. The theoretical perspective of inquiry-based teaching and learning in which the book is grounded is consistent with the current discipline-based curriculum standards and frameworks. The book begins by detailing the history and current practice of network science and extends the inquiry by examining discourse and data in depth. The second section examines the broader question of how the Internet should be used or not used to assist student learning. The author concludes that technology will not replace teachers; rather, the technology will provide teachers and students an overwhelming access to resources and an opportunity to pursue their own questions.