With the increased use of the Internet, it is important for students to become familiar with the unique characteristics of electronic texts and learn techniques to navigate them effectively and efficiently. This lesson supports middle school students' exploration of an online educational website that incorporates a variety of electronic features including graphics, digitized speech, and video. During this lesson, students compare and contrast the characteristics of electronic text with the those of traditionally printed textbooks, gaining a deeper understanding of how to navigate and comprehend information found online. (author/ncl)

Teachers in Communications/Broadcasting and filmmaking classes could use this resource to show students how different media utilize unique writing styles. Note: this is designed to encourage students to develop higher level thinking skills. With the Internet, text messaging and other forms of electronic communication, students need to know what is appropriate why communicating by the various media. This lesson could be used to show students how to write news or other scripts in a conversational tone while written news stories must be done in a more formalized fashion. Every industry has its own unique jargon and this lesson could be used to help students see the need to learn the language of their field of studies. Also, students would benefit by learning how to comprehend the messages being sent through various forms of communication.