This book can be purchased from:
http://landmark-project.com/rmfm/

During the first wave of educational technology, computers brought sophisticated drill and practice software, multimedia, and word processing into schools. The second wave of educational technology now is occurring with networking of comput-ers and Internet resources. Will the second wave affect the way students learn and teachers teach? Warlick thinks this potential can be achieved if educators under-stand and use three unique qualities of technology. Learning opportunities need to be designed that integrate collaboration and self expression into the rich information resources available.

Warlick's observations about the opportunities for educational change through technology are both thought provoking and inspirational. However, what I feel is unique about Warlick's presentation in his book is his ability to move his readers from a broad conceptual framework of the evolving digital world to concrete examples of project-based learning with specific suggestions of ways to integrate software and the Internet. Warlick breaks down technology-based projects into three stages: researching and downloading information; processing the information using software that enhances understanding; and creating and publishing the final results. For each of these steps, Warlick provides a "big picture" overview, concrete direc-tions for resources and tools currently available, and then project examples.

In the section about researching and downloading information, Warlick clearly explains why the problem of information overload will continue and gives sugges-tions on how to teach students to work as detectives to deduce the best resources for their needs. Anyone who has tried to explain or teach searching on the Net will appreciate Warlick's SEARCH model. SEARCH clearly lays out steps to find, analyze, refine, and evaluate search results from the Internet. Within the logical steps of the process is a reiterative loop which emphasizes the concept of winnow-ing resources by editing search terms on a text processor after analyzing results. Additionally, the chapter contains directions on how to develop and use Boolean logic-based search inquiries in conjunction with analysis of search results.

Warlick recommends teaching students to evaluate web sites in the context of what the student wants to accomplish and what the project needs. Taking the standard concerns of reliability, credibility, and perspective and purpose, he has developed a goals-based Internet evaluation form. the "Internet Information Evaluation & Colelction Form" is another example of Warlick's ability to analyze and synthesize a complex issue and transform it into an effective teaching tool. His suggestions for using the form with students integrate both cretical thinking skill sand multiprocessing computer skills. Since he recommends teaching students to copy and paste information that addresses specific evaluation prompts on the form, he has made a form available at his web site: ftp://landmark-project.com/TLP/Desktop Folder/landmark/workshops/evaluation.zip (Yes, there is a space between Desktop and Folder.)

In another section of the book, Warlick provides examples and clear instructions to download information and rebuild it through software processing tools. A strength of this section is Warlick's approach which combines information processing tools to customize and enhance understanding of degital resources on the Internet. In one of his examples, he demonstrates a search strategy for finding information on earthquakes. After finding the raw data at the National Earthquake Information Center from the US Geographic Survey, he copies and pastes the numerica data into an Excel file. Now that the ra numeric data is organized into a spreadsheet, it can be used acording to the projects' goals. Warlick show how to highlight the latitude and longitude columns, click Excel's graph wizard, and produce a scatter plot graph. The resulting graph presents the raw data in a wisual form that clearly demonstrates the relationship between earthquakes and tectonic plates. This is a dramatic demonstration of the potential enrichment of information in a digital format with processing tools.

having covered search and use of Internet raw materials, the book explores building and publishing projects. Warlick suggest that the end product utilize curriculum standards, require organization and decision making, and at minimum have value to the student. Further, he stresses the importance of feedback and evaluation of both the process and end result. Although he suggests that the final student project can be published in a variety of formats, he devotes the final section of his book to publishing on the World Wide Web. This section helps to demystify the difficulty of Web publishing and is filled with Web addresses for additional information. For any educator starting or redesigning a school or district web page, Warlick's advice on the goal setting and information collection phase of web design is valuable.

For the novice technology-using educator, this book might present a challenge. However, the conceptual overviews and systematic instructions would quickly move the novice into using technology in a more integrated and rewarding manner. In reading and reviewing this book, I found myself moving between the book's text, trying out ideas in my own classroom, looking at recommended Internet resources, and exploring Warlick's own web pages at http://www.landmark-project.com. I am left thinking that this book represents a state of the development of David Warlick, both as a learning and teacher. This book is one way that he can share, teach, and encourage collaboration and creation of learning communities through the combination of sound teaching principles and emerging technology.