The Internet now is the number one source used by students in research. We no longer have to go to the library to check out tons of books and read through massive amounts of text to find the information we are searching for. Unlimited information is now available with just a few keystrokes. However, all of this information still has to be filtered due to the overwhelming amount of fictitious information available on the web. The filters at school stop some sites from being accessed, but students access it all at home. So even though the information comes to us in a much faster speed, it still takes some time to analyze each site to determine its validity. Students need to realize this now—before they get into college and in their careers. It is our responsibility as educators to teach these skills to our students. If not, they could be led far away from the truth without even knowing it.
Information Literacy
I really thought that I had more knowledge about information literacy, especially since I teach students how to analyze websites. I was obviously wrong. My score on the Information Literacy Quiz was 6, which was only “moderately savy”. I have always warned my students to look closely at information on the web because anyone can put information out there, and I have warned them over and over again that just because it is on the web doesn’t mean that it is true. I teach students to analyze websites by analyzing the URL, looking at the author information, looking for update information, finding out who is affiliated with the site (usually in the copyright information), and by really looking at the content of the site for validity and bias. I always give an assignment at the first of the year for students to analyze at least two sites. I was not aware of http://www.easywhois.com/, http://www.archive.org/, or how to use the Link: in AltaVista to find all the web sites that were linked to a page. These are excellent tools, and I plan to incorporate these methods of analyzing sites as well as using the November Learning site next year in my lesson.
MAPping Activity
For the MAPping information activity, I went to “California’s Velcro Crop under Challenge” site. This site was pretty easy to analyze. The name of the author in the URL (http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html) gave away the fact that it was a personal site. The only other link on the page was for the author’s name. When you go there, you see “Who is Ken Umbach?” as the title, and the subtitle reads, “A Totally Bogus Biography." Another link takes you to a sound clip that I think says, “Enjoy this.” This to me was the author's way of saying, "Gotcha!" When I used the easywhois site to find the publisher, there was no match found--another bad sign. The history of the site, according to the Wayback Machine shows that the site was created in April of 2001. I looked at the other years for the site’s history and found it had not changed since first created. The links proved the site to be even more unreliable. The first linked site was to “Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators” to use for critical evaluation of web sites, and the second link was for “Hoax Websites”—which listed this site among the hoaxes. When I used different search engines to look up the subject velcro crops, this was the first site listed on each (Google, Yahoo, and AltaVista). I was always under the assumption that relevance was what drove the order of the listed results for a search from a search engine. I only now realize, after reading the articles for this class, that some search engines display results by the number of hits to the site. I am so guilty of almost always using the first few sites listed instead of filtering through more. After analyzing this site, I really don’t understand why this site was created. Why would someone even take the time to create this is beyond me. It really makes me wonder, how many more thousands of sites are there out there just like this?
When I was in undergraduate school, I really mainly used books, magazines, and periodicals from the library (the old fashioned way) to research. I really didn’t start using the Internet for research until after I started teaching, and I never really analyzed my sources the way I should have until I started teaching BCIS in 1999. Even though I thought I was doing a good job, I realize now after completing this assignment that I really was not.
Delicious and Google Reader
This was my first experience with using Delicious and Google Reader. After creating my own Delicious account (jarledge.sshs) and accessing my Google Reader, I see definite advantages of using each. Delicious bookmarks are exciting! I have a long list of Favorites on my computer at school. I do organize them in folders, but it still takes a little time to find what I am looking for. If I was on my home computer, I didn’t have access to my Favorites from school so I would have to look them up again at home. Delicious is so easy to use and since organization is one of my necessities, this is great for me. Google Reader is also a great organizational tool that allows you to access updates to sites that you follow. I like using this to see the blog updates for my fellow classmates rather than using the Dashboard in Blogger.
For the future, I plan on letting my students use Delicious to create bookmarks when we research topics throughout the year. Every six weeks, I change seating charts so students get to know other students. One downside for the student is that they lose their Favorites list when they move to a different computer. Now they won’t.
Wikis: Advantages and Disadvantages
Education seized the concept of cooperative learning a long time ago. Ever since I started teaching, cooperative learning was a vital component in instruction. Teachers had to implement group work throughout the year to develop skills in teamwork, critical thinking, brainstorming, problem-solving, and the list went on. The problem rose in the implementation of the cooperative learning activity. If not formed correctly, some students would end up doing most of the work. We had to monitor the activity closely to ensure that everyone did “their part.” Students were afraid to voice their opinions, and some were afraid to give constructive criticism. A lot of time was spent in the activity because of the time it took for everyone to get their part of the project together to create the whole.
I believe that by utilizing wikis, cooperative learning has taken on a whole new dimension for the digital native. Since wikis allow you to see who edited the page, you can see exactly who contributed to the project, how much was contributed, and the quality of their contribution. I think that those students who were afraid to voice their opinions orally in a group, would feel more comfortable to voice their opinions on a wiki. Time is saved because information is automatically being seamed together by the group as the work is being done. This real-time work would allow the students more time to improve the finished product rather that spending the majority of time just getting it all together. By allowing the use of this tool, teachers are allowing the students to multi-task between different web applications, they’ll be networked, the input of different students will be available instantaneously, they will be able to give one another instant feedback, they can add graphics/videos to the wiki, and enjoy all of this at the fast pace that these digital natives are accustomed to.
The disadvantages are going to be in making firm procedures on how to handle inappropriate criticism and possible inappropriate language or references to inappropriate subjects. The point that wikis are available for the whole world to see could be a two-edged sword. In one aspect, it will make the students more aware of their writing (this should cut down on spelling and grammatical errors), but it also could be harmful to another student or the school if used inappropriately. With the teacher having the ability to see the updates as they are made, close monitoring will be the key—which could mean a lot more time involved on the teacher’s part.
My Wiki: Mrs. Arledge’s Class Wiki
For my ETEC 524 wiki, I have decided to create a wiki that will either supplement my existing class web site or totally replace it. I teach Business Computer Information Systems, which is now being renamed Business Information Management, and Accounting classes. I want to utilize it as a place to post assignments, my calendar, notes, handouts, and online resources the students can use. More importantly, I want it to be a place for students to collaborate on class projects, hold class discussions, create student generated study guides to review for chapter tests, showcase student work (e-portfolios), and possibly as a tool to get parents more involved through assignments that require the parent’s input. I have started my wiki, called Mrs. Arledge’s Class Wiki using WikiSpaces. I have added several pages and have even transferred some of my information from my existing class website to this wiki, and have encorporated tools that I have learned in this class into the first assignment. I love this, and I hope that my students will enjoy this too.
Other Web 2.0 Technologies
When I ran my own search for Web 2.0 applications, I found a site that listed 192 applications for educators called Feedmyapp. With so many to choose from, it is really hard to decide where to begin. For now, I think I will start with the following:
- Google Reader, Google Calendar, and Google Documents (especially the forms feature) are applications that I can use personally as well as in my classes. I am already coming up with an idea to use the Google document forms to give warm-up quizzes. When they submit their answers, I will be able to quickly evaluate them from a spreadsheet. I am working on exporting my Google Calendar into my wiki for due dates and deadlines.
- Moodle is another Web 2.0 technology that I plan to explore. Several of the teachers that I spoke with at different workshops use it. Some use it to allow students to upload assignments, give quizzes, etc. I would like to learn more about it.
- I have found some good videos on YouTube, but I didn’t realize there was an area of YouTube for EDU, http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400. This is supposed to feature videos from their college and university partners. I want to check this out also. I love videos.
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