Well, the turkey is eaten; the friends and family are gone, but what a wonderful time of fun and fellowship we had! Hopefully all of you had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed some time with your loved ones.
It’s surprising how quickly we can take the things we have for granted. When I think of computer and Web technology, I usually consider it something that I have discovered mainly during my time in college. Yet looking back, I realize that have benefited from it for quite some time.
I didn’t really spend much time online until 8th grade. Before that, the library and our faithful set of encyclopedias were my main references for information. That changed when I took a debate class in 2002.
Our resolution was “that the United States should significantly change its trade policy with the Middle East and/or Africa.” Depending on a coin toss, each student would argue either in favor of or against the resolution during the debate round. Each of us had to develop his/her own case for fulfilling this resolution and also prepare to defend the status quo.
Considering how quickly things were changing in these regions, it was often difficult to obtain current information. Finding many of the publications in libraries to be out-of-date, we often sought information online. This was rather overwhelming at first. There seemed to be so much information to sort through, but I was able to find plenty of useful evidence.
Although we delighted in this newfound wealth of references, we quickly learned that not all information found online was credible. In a debate, it is your evidence against your opponent’s. The source, author, and publication date all came into question as we challenged each other’s arguments and references. Our research skills improved as we learned to consider every side of the argument and build a strong set of evidence to support our cases.
Seven years later, I am taking my skills a step further as I explore the capabilities of Web 2.0. Research and online learning have now become interactive as I have the opportunity to ask questions and contribute my own thoughts and feedback. Overall, it has been a rich and dynamic learning experience.
I began exploring the Web as part of my education, and that experience has strongly shaped how I use this technology. I think incorporating Web 2.0 tools into education is great way to familiarize students with using the Web productively and effectively. As we saw in several of our video lectures, there is a concern that many young people are not skilled in processing and validating online information. By using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom, instructors can communicate in a language that the students are familiar with and also guide them in using these tools effectively.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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2 comments:
All information you hear or see can be inaccurate. Many people make out the web, and especially Wikipedia, to be full of inaccurate information. Sure things may be wrong, but as I mentioned in my post just because something is in a book, magazine, or on TV; that does not make it correct.
I feel Wikipedia is a much more reliable source than a news channel like Fox News. As we learned earlier in the quarter, Wikipedia is known to have fewer errors than encyclopedias. I personally never had any problems inaccurate information. I never once had a teacher tell me something in my paper was wrong. Maybe I have been lucky though.
I agree that all media has the potential for inaccuracy, but I would also argue that the nature of the Web makes it especially easy for inaccurate information to circulate.
It is incredibly easy to contribute content, and this convenience has resulted in a growing mass of information authored by everyone from the professor at Harvard to the little kid next door. I think this collaborative resource is excellent in a number of ways, but it does require filtering. Wikipedia can be a great resource for gaining a general understanding of a topic, but it probably isn’t the strongest evidence for a research paper. Blogs can be a great source of personal insight, but they can’t necessarily be relied on for comprehensive or unbiased information.
As we learned in the videos we have been watching, digital natives are being faced with a growing amount of information, and their absorption of it is increasingly fragmented. Quickly skimming the details of the first couple Google results can easily lead to a misunderstanding of the topic. Users gain the most accurate understanding when they learn evaluate the source of the content and check the information against other references. This is true for any medium, but it seems especially important for Internet users as they are bombarded with an unprecedented mass of information.
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