While there may be a wide array of information out there for students to access, I believe modern search engines efficiently display that information in ways that won't make it overwhelming, especially when you compare it to the use of encyclopedias and other print sources that was necessary just a few short years ago. Besides the ever-present big "G," there are a variety more scholarly of search engines out there for students to make use of; i.e. EBSCOEhost, Google Scholar and our very own OHIOLink.
However, we as teachers need to make sure we are assigning search topics that are clear and concise, so as to avoid vague or unrelated search results for our students. We must teach our students how to sift through hoards of search results to find something credible and worth their (and ultimately our) time. Verifying credible sources on internet articles is one of the most quintessential lessons we must teach our students, because while there is scores and scores of information at our fingertips available on the world wide web, not all of it can possibly be true. Students need to look at author's names, author's credentials, publications and so on to determine if a piece of information is O.K. to be used.
The Internet offers thousands of opportunities for learning, and so long as we as students and teachers use it responsibly and intelligently it won't be too overwhelming.
