Blog #3 Using

For the final project, I think I will develop a web-based learning experience around study skills, since I will be teaching a study skills and critical reading course to first semester college freshmen. Most of the students in the class have had some learning difficulties and they find studying tedious and unproductive. The challenge is to get them to use strategies that will lead to success in their courses. I believe this technology can add greatly to the internalizing of the strategies.

Unfortunately, most of the sites I've found so far could easily be done with paper and pencil.
This Quest Graden site http://questgarden.com/23/08/8/060419215421/process.htm links students to both word documents and other sites. For example, for note taking it links students to the Cornell U site which describes the Cornell Notetaking strategy, but for listening skills it merely takes students to a word document which describes listening skills. Another site, teacher web http://teacherweb.com/OH/Springfield-ClarkJVS/StudySkillsWebQuest/wqr3.aspx, also has a lot of study strategies on it. Unfortunately, the pages are boring (lots of text and not much else) and many of the links are things that one could do with paper and pencil. Finally, I found Mrs. Raimondi's webquest
http://teacherweb.com/NJ/MidlandSchool1/StudySkillsWebQuest/h3.aspx which asks students to create a poster to remind others to use a study skill for a particular strategy which they found useful. Again the site is a lot of text and not much else, but at least the final task requires students to evaluate and create.

It seems that the critical pieces here are the task and the evaluation pieces. I'd like to develop my study skills website so that the end product is one in which students see a real benefit. I want this to be an activity that they find useful rather than just more busy work. I am thinking of having them create a guide for incoming freshmen.

Suggestions are welcome!

Evaluating the web

In searching Penn State's iStudy tutorials I came across one about using the world wide web with this link to Widener University's library - http://www.widener.edu/libraries/wolfgram/evaluate . It has a real nice audio/visual tutorial with examples, including a comparison of two sites about Dr. Martin Luther King - the one discussed in the November book as well as one from The King Center. It also compares sites about smoking and illustrates the differences between them regarding authority, accuracy, currency and objectivity. While it would not be useful for very young children, it could certainly be used to demonstrate with teens.

Blog 2 for EDTEC 448 Teacher as Integrator

I have frequently taught a developmental reading class to college freshmen who need to improve their critical reading and study skills. I really like the REAL strategy (November, 2008) because it is easy to remember as students are at their computers (or in the library) doing research for a paper or project. I plan to use it along with some of the suggestions in the "WebQuest About Evaluating Web Sites" (http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/evalwebstu.html) This site is really specific and gives concrete examples on topics at a variety of levels and subject areas.

One thing that surprised me as I read this week's readings is that this isn't very different from what we have always taught students to do. It's just that we are teaching it much earlier because our students have access to so much material now. In the past, students in elementary, middle and high schools were limited by the material that was available to them in the school libraries. Now, students at all levels have access to materials of all kinds from all over the world. The parallels between REAL (November, 2008) and the old-fashioned way of doing research with paper materials is remarkable. For example, when doing research with hard materials we are admonished to use only scholarly or peer reviewed journals, i.e. we need to make sure the material we are reading comes from a reputable source rather than material prepared to persuade or to entertain. When using web materials we do the same thing by "reading the URL (November, 2008)." Secondly, with books and magazines, journals, and newspapers, we often tell students to look at the abstracts, summaries, table of contents, etc to determine if the source we have includes information on our topic. With internet-based materials, November (2008) suggests we "examine the content." Thirdly, with print materials, we are cautioned to check the credentials and qualifications of the author, editor and publisher. Likewise, with materials retrieved from the web, we should "ask about the author and owner (November, 2008)." Finally, with books and articles we are often directed to pay attention to the references (works cited, bibliography,etc.) to verify that the book or article we are using is based on substantial and reputable sources. Similarly, November (2008) tells us to "look at the links" when we are gathering information from web sites.

Bibliography

November, A. (2008). Web Literacy for Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Valenza, J. (2001). A Web Quest About Evaluating Web Sites. Retrieved May 13, 2010 from Springfield Township High School Virtual Library site: http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/evalwebstu.html

Response 1

I believe the internet has the potential to change the world as much (if not more) than electricity. While I have heard many bemoan the pitfalls of internet use, I recognize its potential for good. I liken it to the invention of the printing press and books.

Up until the mid 1400s when the printing press was invented, few people had access to the information contained in books. Few could read and write because they had no need to do so; life was parochial. Most people never traveled more than the distance they could walk in one day from the place where they were born. Information about the world beyond that was unnecessary. Because books were so rare (It takes a long time to handwrite a manuscript) they were highly valued as were those who could read and write. Education and literacy was limited to those few who would need to learn to read and write. That all changed with the invention of the printing press. Books became more readily available; hence reading and writing became more widespread. As people had access to the world beyond their villages (primarily through trade), the need to read and write increased and these tools became commonplace.

I have a picture in my head of a parent in the middle ages saying something like, "There are dangerous ideas in those books. My child might read something inappropriate if he learns to read. I grew up without books and paper and pencils; why does my kid need to have these?"

In a similar vein, I recently saw the video "Are You Ansgarr?" If you have not seen it here is the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX0-nqRmtos

Like books, paper and pencils, the internet is a tool that children can and should learn to use. Teachers need to become as proficient in the use of the internet as they are with reading and writing.