Michelle’s Weblog

10/14/08

Eshet-Alkali, Y., & Amichai-Hamburger, . (2004, August). Experiments in digital literacy. Cyberpsychology and Behavior,7 (4), 421-429.

Purpose:

This article discussed the different aspects of digital literacy, and the article discussed a study that they performed to see if digital literacy is spread through out different age groups.

Question:

Is digital literacy spread equally through out the different age groups, or is it focused mainly on the younger population?

Information:

It defines digital literacy as a combination of skill that are used in performing tasks in digital environments. It also goes over and states the different types of literacy that are included and gives examples. It includes the photo-visual literacy is the ability to read and understand instructions and messages that are present in visual – graphic form. Reproduction literacy is the ability to create or edit new information in all forms of media, and branching is the ability to learn how to navigate through something like information in a non-linear way. Finding your way through a program or website.  Information literacy is being aware of the quality of information and being able to sort out subjective, biased, or even false information. The last catagory is the newest and hardest to truly define and it is socio-emotional literacy. This is learning through social groups, edge sharing groups, chat rooms, and other collaborative learning tools. The study had 60 volunteers that included a a similar demographic background and they randomly volunteered. They also were spread equally when considering male and female and there were 20 in each of the age ranges. The age ranges included high school, 3rd year college students, and 30-40 year-olds. They were then given five tasks that covered the different areas of digital literacy.

Inferences/ Conclusions:

They found that when looking at the photo-visual literacy and the branching literacy that there was no significant difference between the high school and college aged participants, but the adults scored lower than the two other groups. In the reproduction and the Information literacy they found that the high school was the lowest and that the adults were the highest. The college then fell in the middle. And they also found that when looking at the socio-emotional literacy the adults were actually the lowest and the college was the highest. Showing that the different digital lieracies are not spread across the different age groups.

Assumptions:

The authors assuemed when doing this study that you did not know what digital literacy was and the differnet catagories that were within it. And that if you did a study after this the age gourps would perfom the same way indicating that these results are reliable.

Implications:

If they read and see that there is a need for digital literacy to be spread across different age groups and they do something about it then everyone would aquire digital literacy to a higher degree. If they do not, then digital literacy will not expand holding some back.

Point of View:

THis article was done py peple woho wanted to show how digital literacy is not spread through our the different ages. Their really was not a stong pull one way or the other, but you could tell that they thought that digital literacy was important and should be know in its entirety.

9/22/08

Sources:

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikkis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2^nded.). In H. Perigo (Eds.), RSS: the new killer app for educators (pp.85-98). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

7 Things you should know about social bookmarking. (2005, April) Retrieved Sept. 22, 2008 from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf

Purpose:

The two texts had similar purposes, but the chapter by Richardson included social bookmarking and other social web ideas. It wanted to introduce you to what the social web was, how to set one up, how to use one, and how tho implement the social web in schools by discussing bookmarking and twitters. The article from the Internet discussed what, who, how,and why of social bookmarking, and also showed you the downsides and implications for teaching and learning.

Question:

How can I explain what social bookmarking is and get them to want to use and enjoy this program?

Information:

The texts say that it teaches people to create and share their knowledge and findings with each other , and it says that this is changing the way that people teach and learn. Social Bookmarking is defined as a practice of saving links to a public web site and “tagging them with different key words and in different categories. This allows people to express different perspectives on theinformation that is shown as well as organizing it into different categories so that others can easily find the information that you have posted.  It also discusses a twitter which is a “micro blog.” This is a way to send updates and other information to several other people who are on your twitter. It then connects the various tools that you have already read about in earlier chapters and explains a little bit about how you can combine and make them work together.

Conclusions/ Inferences:

That Social Bookmarking is an easy tool to use and can be a good way of finding resources and retrieving them again. It can be good for projects and research and allows you to keep track and organize the research. It is also a good way for you to get your class included in finding research together, and in turn creating community among your students as well as letting them get the experience of interacting on the web.

Concepts:

It is a way to find more information and keep it organized. It is good for teachers because they can communicate with other teachers in the same field or school, and it allows more learning to happen with the students and the teachers learning form each other. It also teaches you how to use and create the sites and allows you to see how they can be good in the classrooms. You have to be careful because everything is categorized again by amateurs so the information may not be in the right places andyou might find other better information in other places.

Assumptions:

The authors assume that  you do not know what a Social Web, or social bookmarking is, that you and your students already have a google account and that you have already signed up and have the other tools that was discussed in the earlier chapters. It also assumes that  you want to read about social bookmarking to use it in your classroom.

Implications:

Following the advice of the texts would allow you to become more competent in the area of social bookmarking and twitters. You would also be able to teach students or other people how to use social bookmarking, and it can in turn allow your students to use this tool expanding their knowledge. This could allow them to research things faster and it would also allow them to learn how to work with others on the computer to come up with the research. If not followed they would be in a traditional classroom where work is mainly done in isolation and they would not be able to have access to the many different varieties of information that is available to them.

Pint of View:

Richardson strongly believes again  that you should follow his advice and add applications or “tools” that he has went over  in the book to the classroom setting. The article on the other was very neutral and just gave you the main facts about the application.

9/21/08

Sources:

Richardson, W.  (2009).  Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2^nd ed.)  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc. 

7 Things you should know about RSS (2007, April). Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ElI7024.pdf

Purpose:

The purpose of these two texts was to inform you about RSS, and to allow you to broaden your knowledge of how to use them.

Question:

How do I explain what a RSS is, how easy it is to use, and display the the many features that it allows you to engage in?

Information:

The text allows you to broaden your knowledge about the topic of RSS’s or Real Simple Syndication by explaining what it is, why people use it, who use it, and how it can be used in the classroom. It is used to bring information to you instead of going and searching several sites to see if there are updates. It can also allow you to receive information on topics that interest you all in one place which allows you to save time. It is also a good way to keep up with certain weblogs that you are interested in instead of going and searching all of the separate sites.  You have to also know and understand that if you have a lot of information you will only see a few bits of information from a few sources and that it can not give you all of it on the RSS.

Conclusions/ Inferences:

The texts want you to use the RSS to bring information to you instead of looking at several individual site everyday which will save you time. It also tells you to watch because you can become overwhelmed with the amount of information and since there is a limit of information that is given you may not always be accessing the best information about that topic/subject.

Concepts:

They want you to know that the information comes to you, and that an aggregator is a feed collector. They also want you to know that it takes less time to look at the information that you have as well as knowing what one is, the pros and cons, and what they are used for.

Assumptions:

They assume that you know what Google and Yahoo is and that you may want to use these first to get a RSS. They also assume that you want one and that you want to get information everyday on a topic. It also mentions about buying less magazines and newspapers so it assumes that you will buy less which in turn that it will save you money.

Implicaitons:

Following the test will allow you to broaden your knowledge about RSS’s by learning what they are and how to use them. This in turn will allow you to create a learning environment in which it will allow students to use this application in thier work making it easier for them to access information. This can in turn allow them to learn more about their topics or subjects.You may also not receive the best information that there is on the topic/subject. This can in turn allow them to learn more about their topics or subjects. If the text is not followed you will learn about RSS, but you will not receive your information this way and it could make it more difficult for you. By doing your own research in other ways you may be able to get the best information for what ever you are trying to accomplish.

Point of view:

The author’s want you to start using it immediately because they feel that it is very beneficial for you to save time and money. They also state that they love it and that they believe that it can help everyone more than hurt them.

9/21/08

Sources:

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikkis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2^nded.). In H. Perigo (Eds.), Wikis: Easy collaboration for all (pp.55-69). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

7 things you should know about wikipedia (2007, April). Retrieved Sept. 21, 2008, from  http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/44397. pdf

Purpose:

The purpose of both ot the texts was to inform the reader about what wiki’s are, how you use them, and show them the many ways that they can be benificial in the classroom.

Question:

How can I tell them about wiki’s, their pros and cons, and also make them want to use them in their classroom?

Information:

Both articles tells that wiki’s are a free encyclopedia and that anyone can add or edit the information. It also states that many people do not like it especially schools because you never know if the information is accurate or not. It also examens and explains that there are many people that want to help edit and make the information correct than there are people that want to harm the site. Another way that it says that you can help keep the sites accurate is by editing them yourself, because as it states in the book many people are better then just one person alone. It also has many uses you can look up lyrics, recipes, join a math wiki, or science wiki, and you can even have discussions about the topics on the discussion board. This allows students to not only have access to this information but also learn more by talking to other people that are interested in the same topic.

Inference/ Conclusion:

The authors of both of the texts want you know what the wiki is and how to use it but they also want you to use it in the classrooms. There are a variety of topics that you can engage in on the wiki, but you also have to take into consideration that anyone can edit the pages and they may not always know what they are talking about jeopardizing the reliability of the information.

Concepts:

They want you to know what it is, how to use it, that it can be inaccurate, it should be used as an information source, but not he primary one, and that there are many types of wiki’s that you can use.

Assumptions:

The authors assume that you do not know what a wiki is and that you want to know, that you use the Internet and you want to learn new ways that you can use it, and that you think that it is not a good idea to use the wiki, because they are trying to convince you that it can be reliable and that it should be used to enhance the learning experiences.

Implications:

Following the information in these texts will allow you to become more competent in the area of the wiki, and will allow you to engage students in a classroom using a wiki. It also will allow, according to the text, students to learn how to work together to get things accomplished, and how to work with the group in a growing technological word. If you do follow the information from the text you could also find yourself getting inaccurate information, because of how hard it is to see if the information is reliable or not.  Not following the information will still result in you becoming more competent about the wiki, but will also not allow the students or you to experience the benefits of the wiki. It may also lead you to still find accurate information in other places on the web, but it may actually may be more accurate if it is written by authors/sites that are creditable.

Point of view:

The first line of this chapter says the point of view exactly sayint that if you did not use the wiki then you should start now because it is that important, and it is also stressed several times that the author loves this feature and the authors are sure you could use the information. The other article is more based off of giving you a more unbiased view of the  information about the wiki.

9/14/08

Source:

Richardson, W. (2009). The read/write web. Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools classrooms(2nd ed.). (pp. 1-16). California: Corwin Press

Purpose:

The purpose of this chapter was to introduce to the reader how to start their own weblog, how to get their students participating in the weblog, and told how to keep them safer while on the weblog.

Question:

What is the best way for me to tell people how to start their own blog, and give them some suggestions on how to incorpret their students into using the weblogs.

Information:

It is easy to start a blog and it can allow an excellent way to communicate with your students. It is best to start small when starting by just interacting with other blogs, and then start your own as a teacher. Then after you start yours get your students involved reading your class blog, and others that you have deemed appropriate. Then get them to respond to your posts on the class blog, and then you can allow them to make thier own. It also states that you will want to give your students a lesson about saftey for the computer.

Inferences/Conclusions:

This chapter tells you how to start a blog y ourself and that it can be done with students by entering them slowly into the blog world. This way they will learn how to use a blog appropriatly for the class.

Concepts:

In this chapter you learn how to use a publishing tool, how to make and use a blog, where you can get started, but you also have to take into consideration that not all students have access to the internet at home.

Assumptions:

The author assumes that you want to learn how to start a blog, and that you want to get your students involved. It also assumes that you want to use the provider that it uses to demonstrate how to start a blog.

Implications:

If you follow what the author says then you will know how to start a weblog yourself, and you will also learn one way to introduce your students to blogging. You can also stay into contact with your students parents and other professionals by allowing them to put their inputs in about the class. If you decided not to follow the author then you would not have a blog. You may also figure out how to start one on your own or you could not use one at all.

Point of view:

The author show that he thinks that it is very simple and easy to use the blog and start one up. He also seems to think that it is benificial to the students for them to use it in class.

9/14/08

Source:

Richardson, W. (2009). The read/write web. Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools classrooms(2nd ed.). (pp. 1-16). California: Corwin Press.

Purpose:

The purpose of this chapter was to tell you what a blog is, what they can be used for, and how easy it is to use. He also wants you to see that they can be used for many different subjects, not just reading and writing.

Question:

What are blogs and what can they be used for?

Information:

 This chapter stated that weblogs are easily created, updated, and it allows you to be able to put your writings online and instantly have them published. It also stated that the weblogs can be used in many ways. One way is to use them as portals for parents and students so that they always have access to the class syllabus, home work and it makes and easy way for the parents to stay in contact with what is going on in our classroom. Is also gives you reflections and conversations about your writings everyday so you can improve writing skills. It even states that using it in the classroom is good because then it gives the quieter ones a chance to talk and interact with the rest of the class. It warns that when putting your students online that you have to make sure that they know and you know how to make sure the sites are accurate before believing everything that is on them, because they are written by anyone that wants one.

Inference and Conclusions:

Weblogs can be used in almost every educational setting, and they can enhance how the students will learn by opening new doors and information. They are also easy to use and allow students to get more out of their writings.

Concepts:

 It wants you to know what a weblog is, what you can do with it, and that there are many ways to use a weblog other then just reading and writing.

Assumptions:

That you want to use a weblog, You do not know what one is ,and that you do not know how or why you would use them in the classroom.

Implications:

 If you follow the authors recommendations it can provide students with richer learning environments for the children, could enhance student teacher relations, and can also involve the parents more in the child’s learning. If you did not take the advice from the author then you would be doing the same things that have been done, and the students may not get as wide of a variety of settings to learn in.

Point of View:

The author clearly believes that weblogs should be used in schools, and that they will enhance the students learning.

Date: 9/5/08

Source:

Richardson, W. (2009). The read/write web. Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools classrooms(2nd ed.). (pp. 1-16). California: Corwin Press.

Purpose:

The purpose of this chapter was to give you the history andthe background about the Read/write Internet, and to show you how important the Internet is becoming in all areas of life including education. It also talks about how teachers should implement the use of the Internet in the classroom and tells what programs the book will go over to give the teachers ideas.

Question:

How can I show that the Internet is important in all areas of life including education, and how can I make them want to use it more in the classrooms.

Information:

This book gives you lots of information on how the Internet is becoming a vast and important part of our lives. As stated in the chapter,”What we are entering is the “main event, and by main event I mean an era in which technology will truly transform every aspect of business, of government, of society , of life” (as cited in Friedman, p.216). And I would add education.” It has even changed “The ability to easily publish text, pictures, and video is changing the face of journalism and media as we know it as well.” Letting us be able to share things and keep in touch with other people. It also states that, “No matter how you look at it, we are creating what author Douglas Rushkoff calls a “society of authorship” where every teacher and every student–every person with access– will have the ability to contribute ideas and experiences to the larger body of knowledge that is the Internet.” And in turn we are giving ourselves many ways to learn new ideas. It also goes over how important safety is when using the computer in schools and gives you some ideas of how to implement safety in the classroom when using the Internet.

Inferences/Conclusions:

The conclusion of this chapter is that the Internet has come a long way, very fast sense it has started, and has now effected all areas of our lives. Education is another thing that has been effected, but it has been growing slower because it is harder for the teachers to learn the information. This chapter shows how important it is for the teachers to learn, lets them know ways to keep their students safe while using it, and shows them what programs the author is going to introduce to them so that they can use it in their classroom.

Concepts:

Some of the things that the chapter goes over would be that more students are associated with the Internet than teachers, and that the teachers need to catch up and implement the Internet into their classrooms. Andthat it is also not easy for the teachers to learn how to use these things, because they have not grown up around the Internet like most of their students have. It also shows that the Internet also affects most of the jobs now and that the students and teachers need to know how to effectively use it to allow themselves to be caught up with new information.

Assumptions

The author believes that the Internet will enhance the education of students if used correctly, and safely. The author also assumes that most teachers do not use the Internet in their classrooms, and that they don’t know how to use it in their classrooms. They also are assuming that the teacher wants to learn how to use the Internet in their classroom.

Implications:

If teachers follow this information and they learn how to use Internet in the classroom it could enhance the learning of the students,and give them broader views on different topics. It could also help the students further on in their lives because jobs are highly effected by the Internet as well. If teachers decide not to implement the use of the Internet in their classrooms it will just now allow the learning to stretch as far as if they did implement the Internet. The students would still learn but may not have as many points of view that the other students that use the Internet would.

Point of view;

The author plainly shows that they think that having the Internet in the classroom and involving it in class activities and projects is a good idea. He clearly shows that he believes that it will enhance the students learning.

Date: 9/3/08

Source:

Nail-Chiwetalu, B., & Ratner, N. B. (2006, July). Information literacy for speech-language pathologists: A key to evidence based practice. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 37, 157-167. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from the ASHA website (http://asha.org).

Purpose:

This article is written to show SLP’s as well as other professionals that there is a link between evidence-based practice and being information literate. It is written to show you that in order to be information literate you need to use evidence based practice, and it also gives you examples of how you can accomplish this. It also wants to make you aware that EBP is not widely being used by the professionals to become information literate.

Key Question:

What is the best way to get SLP’s to realize that using evidence based practice is the best way to be information literate, and what suggestions can be given to help them with this goal?

Information:

The authors state:“Steps in implementing EBP might include the following for a given clinical problem, as Sackett (2000) noted: First the clinician must pose a clear and concrete question.” “Next, the clinician should search the literature”, and “The third step of EBP requires the clinician to critically evaluate the information that was obtained.”Then the authors go on to show you the similarities between Evidence-based practice and Information literacy.“IL is defined by the American Library Association (ALA) as “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information”. “In short, the goal of higher education is to create lifelong learners. In this day and age, characterized by the information explosion and rapid technological advances , the development of skills in finding appropriate information is critical in many areas of life.”These statements help show that EBP and IL go together and are similar. People that are looking to be information literate have to look at the best information that is proven to help them know what the best and newest ideas are so they have to use the evidence based practice. The last quote listed above shows that it is especially important to stay information literate because of how fast things are changing.

In the research that this article looked up in used it also found some interesting facts of how SLP as well as other professionals do not rely on evidence-based practice but instead they relied on coworkers. When talking about how almost everyone agrees that EBP is good and needs to be used the article also stated that “there does appear to be some degree of disconnect between this rapidly emerging and emphasized principle and actual clinical behavior.”

Inferences/conclusions:

When one is looking to be information literate they need to use the evidence-based practice to find the newest and current information. There also needs to be something done with motivation, because it has been shown that most people do not go the the evidence based practice first. IL and using EBP is trying to be implemented in schools so that the new graduates will have experience with it, but it is not helping them use it when they graduate.

Concept(s):

Need to implement EBP more in schools. (They want to find someway that EBP and IL can be implemented in schools and universities so that it will encourage students to use it later on in their careers.) And that there is a need to find someway to get SLP’s in the field to look at the EBP instead of just the general Internet. (It was shown in this article that EBP wasn’t used by many of the different professions like it should be so the professionals need to be aware and watch where they are getting most of their information from.)

Assumption(s):

That you know what EBP is. That you yourself know that SLP’s, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and other medical professions have to have continued education. That you know what the Internet is as well as the different types of search engines and databases that she mentions and uses in the article.

Implications:

If everyone were to follow what the authors says in the article they would become familiar with the practice of using EBP and they would be up to date on all of the current information that there is for their field allowing them to provide the best care for their clients and patients. If they do not take the article seriously they will continue on not using EBP to become information literate and they could not be up to date on certain procedures and methods.

Point(s) of view:

 The author is looking at EBP and IL and shows how they are related, and they also show that EBP is not being used. By looking at this article you can tell that they do not like that it is not being used, and that they think that it should be implemented more in schools and after graduation in the professional fields. One way that show this is by giving all of the examples of how to accomplish the goals of implementing EBP.