To Blog or Not to Blog...

Okay, sorry, I couldn't help the cheesy allusion in the title.  Chapter 6 in my book, Web Literacy for Educators is about...you guessed it, blogs!  As well as RSSs, Podcasts, and Wikis, but the majority of the chapter focused on blogs, more specifically, how we as educators can and should utilize blogs as part of instruction.  In the first paragraph of this chapter, November makes a powerful statement, that the focus "is connecting students to an authentic audience and challenging them to create work that can have an impact around the world."  What a mind-blowing concept, that our little 8, 12, 16, or whatever age students you work with, can have an impact not just in our own little classrooms, but in the world.

In the portion of the chapter that focuses on blogs, November addresses the concern that many educators and parents have when we think of students using free blogging sites, the questionable content that is out there.  He challenges educators not use this as a deterrent, rather ascertains that it is a learning opportunity as we "revisit the upside of preparing students to understand the ethics and social responsibility that comes with all of this global power."  He then goes on to point out that, while many blog sites may be blocked by school filters, as this seems to be an "easy fix" for the problem of questionable content, students are still going to have access to those sites outside of school.  So, rather than "blocking" or ignoring the issue, why not take it as a teachable moment/s, to teach students how to deal with the questionable material that exists and enforce the notion of the responsibility that comes with the use of sites, such as blogs.  Also helpful in this portion of the chapter, were ideas for how to use/ways to use blogs in classrooms, including:  discussion topics, build community (post events, homework, etc. for parents and students), publish student work, create a forum for collaboration, and build a body of knowledge.  He gave a fascinating example of one math teacher who gave his students the task of producing notes, illustrations, and examples of concepts taught in class on a blog, which resulted in a "Student's Guide to Understanding Calculus" at the end of the year.  Therefore, rather than reading a calculus textbook, students basically created their own textbook.  That blog, http://pc40s.blogspot.com/, has actually been linked to hundreds of Web sites, "including conferences and commentaries by leading educationalists and other math teachers," talk about a global audience!   This is another point made by November, that by utilizing blogs, "Teachers are no longer the sole or even the primary arbitrator of student work.  It is even possible that teachers do not have to work as hard to motivate traditionally failing students or to set much higher expectations for excelling students.  parents can now have access to the writing of an entire class, compared to only what their own child brings home written in their hand."

Since the majority of the chapter focuses on blogs, I'm just going to briefly touch on the other components of the chapter.  One was the use of RSS, which is a way to "automatically receive new content produced on the blog without having to go back to the blog Web site."  This is a good way, as an educator, to receive new information about any topic you desire.  He also suggests students can use the tool to get information for given topics, for example, a research topic.  Next in the chapter is information about Podcasts, which are audio or video files which can be downloaded to numerous devices.  Teachers can use Podcasts to relay information to students, or can even have students create their own Podcasts on a given topic.  And last, but certainly not least, is the section on Wikis.  A wiki is "a Web-based tool that allows people to work together on a single piece of writing or body of work."  November explains that this format is an easy to use tool that "will allow teachers and students to work collaboratively in a protected environment."  Teachers can choose to protect their wiki page, so only people with a password can contribute to the wiki.

Along with these valuable tools, comes valuable learning experiences, and responsibility, for both students and teachers.  Students must learn to be socially and ethically aware and responsible for the words they choose to use in any of these mediums, and we, as eductators, are charged with helping students learn these responsibilities.  After all, "Over time these tools will change, but the ability to expand our boundaries to a global community and open up new methods of authentic assessment is here to stay.  These are technologies our young people are currently using and many will be expected to use once they enter the workplace.  Providing them with guidance and positive role models about how to harness their power is essential."

Everything on the Internet Isn't True???

“Don’t just teach your children to read…
Teach them to question what they read.
Teach them to question everything.” - George Carlin

While George Carlin may be controversial for many of his views and strong opinions, I think the above quote is something any educator can agree with, particularly when doing research online.  Students are fortunate on one hand because they have access to practically unlimited information online, often at their fingertips, as more and more students acquire smartphones, ipods, ipads, and numerous other mobile devices, with which they can "google" any question or topic.  On the other hand, many students fall into a false sense of security, believing almost everything they read online.  Therefore, as educators, we now have an obligation to not only teach students how to use technology, but also, how to think critically about the information they access using that technology.

In Chapters 3 and 4 of Web Literacy for Educators, Alan November addresses the issue of validating information on the internet.  He uses the acronym REAL, as a sort of mental checklist students can use when trying to decide what is "real" information on the web. 

R stands for "Read the URL."  November suggests that students should be able to identify domain names and extensions (such as .org, .edu, .com, .gov, etc.) as a first step in deciding how authentic information may be.  

The E stands for "Examine the Content."  The basic premise of this step is teaching students to look beyond the initial appearance of a website, going back to the old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover."  This is to help remind students that, although a website may look "cool" or authentic due to fantastic graphics, colors, presentation, this is no guarantee that the information included on the site is factual.  

Next is A, which stands for "Ask About the Author and Owner."  In this section, November points out that "one of the beauties of the Internet" is "anyone who wants to be an author or publisher on the Web can easily fulfill that dream."  Of course, we as adults, know that this results in the publication of much false information.  As our students are developing online research skills, we can teach them to identify the author of a website (when available) and therefore question the motive of the author when publishing the information.  

And last but not least, L is for "Look at the Links."  During this last step, November encourages students to explore the forward and back links of a website to help a student "evaluate whether a site contains biased, false, or quality information."

I know I glossed over a lot of the information included in these information rich chapters, but I wanted to get across the basic premise of helping students begin to validate information they access on the web.  One very helpful resource at the end of chapter 3 is an "Examine the Content Worksheet."  This has students record the URLs of sites visited, then circle yes or no for the following 5 questions:

1.  Is the information on the site helpful?

2.  Does the site have more resources and links?  Do the links work?

3.  Is the site up to date?  Can I tell when it was last updated?

4.  Is the information correct?

5.  Are the facts different from information I have found elsewhere?

This seems like a pretty easy, yet extremely useful "checklist" to have students use.

I’m guessing many of you, like me, have gone online to search for information, lessons, etc., only to find nothing, or at least nothing “useful” in the many results of your search.  Alan November starts Chapter 2 with an anecdotal story of watching a teacher intern search for information on a compass.  When the intern typed in compass, a number of “sponsored” sites came up, including REI, which is the link the subsequently clicked on.  If the intern had been looking to purchase a compass, REI would have been a good resource, but since she was looking for information about the workings of compasses, this link was not the best resource.  The point of November’s story was to introduce the topic of doing effective research online.  The chapter focuses on how to search most efficiently, to explain how search engines work, and to introduce online resources that might help students as they conduct research online.

November explains that framing is very important while conducting online research, which I’m sure many of us have found out through firsthand experience.  He finishes his story about the intern’s search for compass, by sharing that he explained to her that changing her search “…to the phrases ‘how to read a compass’ or ‘magnetic declination’” to find more effective results, and to ignore the “sponsored” results, which are the first few results that usually pop up when conducting an online search.

Other useful information November includes in this chapter is clarification of how search engines work.  He explains that they use “programs called robots or spiders..which roam the web and collect information [which] is pulled into a search engine database, where it is indexed into smaller chunks of information.  When you conduct a search, your keywords are match against the search engine database…Search engines do not search the entire Web at the moment you enter keywords into the search box.  They only search within their own databases.”  While, in hindsight, this makes sense, I had no idea that this was how search engines operated.  Later in the chapter, he relays that web savvy page creators can use the search engine process to their advantage, by including many key words, to get their page listed near the top of your search results, even when their site may not include the most reliable information.

Also included in the chapter was a brief explanation of some of the types of material on the web, including: electronic textbooks, podcasts, blogs, and directories.  November included some helpful search tools, which seem to be very “student-friendly” including:

http://ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

Overall, this chapter helped clarify some workings of search engines, and included useful information and resources to help make the most of research online, something we all know can consume hours of our time!

Essentials of Thinking Critically Online

So after pondering my last post, and reading some great suggestions from Pam and Thomas, I realized that starting with the "basics" may not actually be "basic" for some students.  I guess I take for granted that students will come in with knowledge of how to access information online, an assumption that can be erroneous.

Pam and Thomas suggested a baseline assessment might be a useful tool, and why not, since we use pre-assessments, whether they be formal or informal, quite a bit in education.  I then realized that at the end of chapter 1 in the book, there is a short "quiz" over information presented in the chapter, and that quiz would actually be a quick way to determine students' familiarity with internet basics.  It is only 13 questions, most of  which are multiple choice, and tests knowledge of things like: links, URLs, domain names, and truncating a web address (which I hadn't done before reading this chapter).  While I initially thought the information in the chapter was perhaps a bit too basic, I have since reconsidered, and realize that I cannot assume students know this information.  Furthermore, knowing these terms is part of being web "literate."  If students are able to use google, bing, or other more advanced search engines to find information, that is great, but then knowing how to assess the validity of the information is perhaps the "next step" and we can help students begin to think critically about the information they find, through steps such as truncating a web address.

In addition, this chapter (and all of the chapters in the book) have boxes titled "Try This."  These boxes have quick activities the students can complete to put the information put forward into practice.  For example, the section titled "Truncating a URL" (pg. 12), teaches how to truncate, which "... is done by clicking at the end of a Web address and deleting all characters up to the previous left slash.  Each time you delete to the previous slash, you move up a level in the organization of the site.  You can delete right to left until you finally end up with just the domain name - which is generally the home page of a site." (pg. 13)  The "Try This" box then gives students a URL to practice this technique.  I didn't include the URL because, unfortunately, that particular URL is no longer valid, testament to how quickly the internet changes!  But, after doing some searching of my own, I found some URLs which could be used in class to teach students this concept.

All in all, I guess I realized that I should not make assumptions about what students will know upon entering my classroom.  And, maybe starting from the basics, if needed based on students' previous experiences, is not so bad after all.