Linking

I thought that the reading on linking was very interesting. Linking is a computer term, but it is also very much a reading term as well. In my reading class I do not say linking, but connecting. Having students make connections to their life, other readings, and the world is an important part in the reading process. All too often I find that students make what can be referred to as "thin" connections (she has red hair and so do I) versus thick connections (I have felt bad when a friend betrayed me, so I understand how that character feels). I spend a good bit of time in class helping them push past these think connections and look for emotioanlly thick connections.

So the question is, how does computer linking relate to the classroom. I think a neat idea would be to ask students which sites they think should be linked to certain text. For example the students could read a web page and then I would ask which web page appropriately links to the current web page. At a higher age level having students search for appropriate pages to link together would also be a good way of utilizing "linking."

I am trying to think where I learned what computer linking was.. Did I learn it in school, or was it something that I learned simply from the use of the computer? I feel that I am a generation that had to learn how to use the computer on its won, as it was gaining popularity as I grew up, but the need to know how to use computers was not nearly as imperative