Thursday, February 14, 2013

Journal #5

Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

 
 
 
Focus Question: How can teachers and students thoughtfully evaluate online information resources, including the online encyclopedia Wikipedia?
 
This focus question struck my interest not only because I am interested in becoming a future educator but also because I am currently a student. Every day we use the internet for multiple uses, may it be for directions, email, search engines, social networks, ect. Interent safety is a crucial issue in today's world which is why it is important to know how to thoughtfully evaluate information on the web.
 
As I had mentioned before, interenet safety is a crucial, dangerous issue in today's world. Researchers Nicholas C. Burbules and Thomas A. Callister, Jr., state that "Different kinds of information problems plague the Internet" They have  categorizing such "troublesome content" under four terms beginning with the letter M:
  • Misinformation- Information that is "false, out of date, or incomplete in a misleading way"(Burbules & Callister,2000, p.96).  This type of information is everywhere on the Internet, but may be hard to identify. "Disinformation" is a particular type of misinformation where "knowingly false or malicious information" is posted online, often from unknown or unidentified authors, in an attempt to discredit individuals or organizations.
  • Malinformation- is what reasonable people might consider "bad" or harmful information and includes "sexual images or material, potentially dangerous or damaging information, political views from militant fringe groups, and so on"(Burbules & Callister,2000, p.98).
  • Messed-up information- Information that is "poorly organized and presented" such as long lists of data without synthesis or context, Web pages marked by "gratuitous logos or other graphics that distract or clutter,"or discussion boards and blogs that feature text rambling on without a clear focus or topic (Burbules & Callister, 2000, p.100). There may be so much messed-up information about a topic that a reader is overwhelmed by the data and unable to make sense of it.
  • Mostly useless information- Information that focuses on the trivial, the mundane, the eccentric. of course, what seems useless to one person may be vitally important to another.
By being able to identify "mis," "mal," "messed-up," and "most useless" information, people and organizations resort to one of the following informaton management and control strategies: censorship, filters, partitions, labeling, or critical reading. Each approach has important implications for both teachers and students.
 
  1. Censorship- Meaning that material labeled offensive is banned from a school. But banning material is a repeating slippery slope. Standards of what is inappropriate or indecent shift over time, and in a society dedicated to freedom of speech and expression,a legitimate concern exists whenever a single person or organization has the power to decide what to censor.
  2. Filtering software-  Software required in schools recieving federal funds by the Childeren's Internet Protection Act of 2000, attempts to block material from computers by identifying certain objectionable key words or phrases. "There is no way to prevent determined youth from finding their way to inapropriate material if they are pooling their skills and sharing things they find with one another".
  3. Partitions- Like fitering, "restrict access only through pages that are themselves lists of approved sites" (Burbules & Callister, 2000, p. 110). Teachers might partition material by using a Web-based bookmarking tool to place material for student use in a restricted online space. However, they wonder about the accountability of the people deciding what to allow in and what to rule out.
  4. Labels- Classifications in a system similar to the ratings used by movie companies, telephone and satelittle providers, video game makers, and other manufacturers of products and services for children. Labeling systems attempt to identify for consumers a stanard of safe material for children. Such systems have been less than successful in restricting access to poor material, and they do not educate children and adolescents about what represents good material.
  5. Critical reading- Different approach that teaches children, adolescents, and adults how to read online material and decide for themselves its usefulness or appropriatness (Sutton, 2005). Burbules and Callister refer to critical reading as "hyperreading" or "giving students the tools to identify, criticize, and resist what is dangerous and undesirable on the Internet" (2000, p.114). Some schools may include critical viewing skills in the curriculum so students become aware of the influences of media images on citizens. Critical reading incorporates both critical thinking and critical viewing to teach students about " selecting, evaluating, and questioning information" from the web (Burbules & Callister, 2000, p.82). Developing critical reading skills is a key information to literacy and is vially important to students' understanding about how to use and contribute to online resources, such as Wikipedia, our next topic in this chaper.
Wikipedia: Online Encyclopedia
In design, anyone can submit an entry to wikipedia by adding a new listing or revising an existing one. A core staff or 1,000 volunteers evaluate each entry and decide what material gets posted online. The idea of this website is that high levels of accuracy and informativeness will emerege from the interchange of ideas and information generated by multiple contributors. Wikipedia claims to make the presentation of knowledge an open and participatory process by inviting everyone online to be part of the writing. Many people, librarians and teachers among them, distrust Wikipedia because recognized experts do not serve as referees of the  knowledge selection process. Their reservation is that without such editoral control, the trustworthiness of the database cannot be real. Teachers in every subject area can have productive discussions with students about that merits and shortcomings of Wikiperdia. Consider the following criteria for evaluating web resources provided by the Association of College and Reseatch Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Associations; accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and converage (Kapoun, 1998).
Accuracy- refers to the overall reliability of the information on the site by providing a clear description of who authored the site and for what purposes.
Authority- indicates the credentials of the author or authors as well as the nature of the site itself.
Objectivity- tests whether the information on the site is fair and nonbiased, including being entirely or largely free of advertising.
Currency- means that the site is up-to-date with recent information and updates are clearly indicated.
Coverage- suggests that the information on the site can be viewed easily without difficulties.
 
Tech Tool Link: LibriVox
This website offers free audio recordings of published books in the pubic domain. These materials are read aloud into digital audio files by volunteers and then available to the general public of the web.  As a future teacher and a current student, having the option to listen to a recorded section or entire required book makes my life that much easier. I am able to pause, rewind, and fast forward the recordings as I take notes.  I like the option to easily volunteer and participate in the recordings, which allows us to get involved in our world. Below is a video that provides you wtih step-by-step directions for a first time LibriVox recorder!
 
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Chapter Summary & Connection:

 
I really enjoyed this information- packed full chapter! I was able to clearly identify how to evaluate a website and verify the appropriatness of the information provided. I was pleased to hear of the different methods used by schools to promote internet safety. I peronally would like to trust the critical reading strategy, but I find that the partitions would be the more benefical resource. One issue I want to continue to learn about is, IT FITness. IT FITness is a when students are being able to evaulate, learn about, and use new information technologies both personally and professionally. Students learn not only technical skills but also develop technology-informed mindsets and engage real-world activies and accomplishments. I think IT FITness should be added to the curriculum in order to better prepare our students for the new technology advanced world.
 
References:
Maloy, Robert W. "Chapter 5/ Engaging Learners with Digital Tools." Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston: Pearson, 2014. N. pag. Print.
     
 


1 comment:

  1. Sounds like you learned quite a bit in this chapter - extensive and comprehensive post! The observations about the positives of LibriVox are great - can you see how those assets might be helpful in a classroom lesson as well?

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