Reflective Blog #2
After completing the MAPping information activity, what are your reactions to your findings? What will you do differently while searching on the Internet for information now? How confident are you with the information you've used in the past (as part of your college career and/or in your profession)?
What are some implications for the future of our students if we fail to teach them these skills in school? After all, the schools may block access to sites, but students still have access at home.
Do you see any advantages for organizing your information via a social bookmarking tool? Which one did you choose to use and why? What are some ways you think you could use these tools in the future?
This summer the topic of discussion in the staff development courses for our district was information fluency.
ReplyDeleteInformation fluency is the ability to unconsciously and intuitively interpret information in all forms and formats in order to extract the essential knowledge, authenticate it, and perceive its meaning and significance.
This idea was emphasize to let the students know the importance of validation of resources. Especially since there are no laws or governing bodies to monitor who can have a site or the content within.
There is actually a page on our site that helps a teacher/learner evaluate the site validity:
http://www.livebinders.com/media/get/MjYzMTIzNw==
This is also a site that will help teachers explain the importance:
http://21cif.com/rkitp/features/v1n4/leadarticle_v1_n4.html
The biggest implication of not being successful at driving the practice of validation home with students is that there will we a generation of misinformed, incredible intellectuals. Mainly because the first resource learners use for information is the internet, without consideration for the soundness of the source.
I do see one major advantage to social bookmarks and that is to maintain and protect my bookmarks from being lost or unorganized. However, I have not chosen one as of yet.
The assignment for this week provided me with a first hand account of what students experience quite possible on a regular basis. After completing the assigned readings and research at the beginning of the week, I decided to put the findings of the researchers to a simple test by sitting in on all three grade and technolgy levels at my school. After sitting through three long days of classroom observations I realized students were not necessarily being encouraged to master a skill, but to simply repeat it without any explanation. Fastforward to my attempting to complete the maping assignment at home. It was easy to create, as I simply followed the directives of the computer. However, when it was time to transfer it to my blog and other places, it would not work! I became like the students I observed. I kept pressing the back button, hoping it would lead me back to to where I needed to be. Had someone taken the time to help me understand the big picture, I would not have been as frustrated because I would understand the importance of the URL's and their importance when it comes to programming language. I, like the students and teachers I observed, wanted a quick fix and a completed project without the stress of learning how it worked in the grand scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteAs I became more frustrated I began seeking out sites that would provide me with quick information. If it looked reputable I read it. This is also the mentality of the students. If it looks good, it has to be true. I think in the future, learning should be taught as a process for inquiry.
I believe that Lori has captured the exact feeling that I had while doing the assignment. I was unbelievably frustrated with trying to embed my mapping. There is an interesting paradox between the justification for the extensive use of technology being that students want immediate results and the never-ending process of gaining a working understanding of the programs. While working on the idea map, I was in the same situation my students will be. I will be giving them assignments. Due to time constraints, I will not always be able to explain the advantages of mastering the skills they are learning and how later this will enrich their lives. The students often see the exercise as arbitrarily drawn up by the teacher in accordance with whatever belief he or she has. They want to finish the assignment and return to aspects of their lives they deem important. While working on the assignment, I simply want to finish this project and move along with my life. I fear that students will have the same reaction. No matter how we present education, like ourselves when we were younger, students see this as a chore and not a life-altering positive experience.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, there is the final result of feeling a sense of accomplishment in having done something for the first time. Thought the amount of time spent trying to complete the task may detract from other interests, everyone enjoys the feeling of completion. It is also incredibly important that our students face less of the anxiety some of us feel right now in using new technology. We grew up with transparencies, blackboards, notebooks and cassette tapes. We can still remember when we gawked at touch screens and tiny cellphones even if they did not have smart features, and let us not forget the magic of caller identification.
How one week of instruction has changed my entire approach to searching for information on the web is a rather odd question. I believe that things change gradually and old habits die hard. It is my hope that after this class, I will have moved into a position where I make better use of technology in designing lessons and activities. The question raised in my mind is whether as a potential high school social studies teacher, I am expected to chuck the textbook, forget about the content and use my subject as a mere input for the expansion of technology courses. I am slightly opposed to the idea of discarding the emphasis on critical thinking skill for practical computer skills. If we want systems operators who merely follow protocol, then this is exactly what I will have to do.