Wiki+Reflections--+Group+4

**Discussion for 2/15**
Amy

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Evaluating websites for school use is a concern of teachers throughout grade levels. “Traditional indicators of credibility, such as author and publishing information, are often difficult to find or perhaps even missing from websites.” This is where critical literacy comes into play. However, critical literacy goes beyond the Web, and also focuses on interpreting meaning and assessing the appropriateness of the website to what is be learned/taught, but I’m going to focus on using critical literacy to evaluate websites. Because the internet has no system of checks and balances to filter what is put on the internet, the task of evaluating falls completely on the user. In terms of discussion, how would you teach these evaluating skills in the classroom? “Researching” on the internet usually starts around 4th grade – how would you teach an elementary student to sift through the information that they find after typing a topic into Google? I think that I would start with showing students the information from Figure 6.3 and explain to them that the title, description, URL and category links. In addition, teachers need to prepare their students to gain the skills needed for researching. It has been mentioned that "researching begins around 4th grade"; however, could researching skills be learned in earlier elementary grades? I believe it would be beneficial for teachers to implement a guided research project for earlier elementary grades. In prior readings, we are learning that more and more students are coming to school with an abundance of knowledge in regards to technology. It might take awhile for introducing the steps in a guided research project with earlier elementary students; however, I believe teachers would be helping their students to begin building the life long skills that will be required. Teaching Students at a young age to sift through information on Google will benefit them in the future as well. It will teach them to be a "healthy skeptic", as stated in the article. When students arrive to the high school, they will be able to identify bias and personal agendas in primary sources - a task necessary for regents exams and research. =====

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The Lawless, Schrader, and Mayall article discusses a study done to show that a prereading activity affected the choices made by students while navigating the internet as well as the amount of information gained from interacting on the internet. Using the information that I learned from this article, I will be sure to introduce all topics that I am requiring students to research on the internet, prior to having them begin research. This will also help to cut down the amount of time that students spend navigating the internet because they will know what they are looking for. Furthermore, students not only know what they are looking for, but have a pre-established schema of the information. I felt it was interesting that the students who did not do the pre-reading used more conventional navigation tools because they had to use menus, table of contents, and headings to provide the structure in which to place their information. Without the structure of the conventional navigation tools, students did not know how to make sense of all the information. The students with the pre-reading already had the background knowledge and were able to sort and categorize the information in order to make meaning. I’m curious though because time is always of the essence in a classroom how can we quickly, but efficiently, teach students to navigate and evaluate a website, and be sure that they are properly evaluating the website at the same time? A second point of curiosity is how on earth are pre-service teacher institutions 80% female; where are all the men? I thought this was very interesting as well. Lawless, Schrader, and Mayall (2007) mention that it is very typical for the percentage to be that high. A valid question is made here, and I think it is equally important for students to have male and female role models. =====

Matt (Additions in Blue) The Eagleton, Dobler, & Leu article provides a different perspective of evaluation that I had not yet thought about. As a student, the media specialists at my middle school always taught us how to evaluate a website once you were on it. However, it is interesting that the article includes the ability to evaluate the usefulness of the website - whether or not the material will even be of use to you as a reader. It's fascinating to look at how far the research into evaluation of internet websites has gone. The article provides detailed information on how to break apart the URL in order to better understand the information that it provides. While it seems obvious, we all look at the URL to gain information about the website. However, I find that I largely teach how I was taught unless information alters my pedagogy. The article is making me metacognitive of the way in which I would teach my students and changing my perspective on how I would do it and what information to include. Rather than just talk about how to determine if a website is accurate or not, I am beginning to develop a way in which to teach students how to determine usefulness of websites and how to teach them skills such as breaking down the URL.

**Tara (pink writing)**

While reading the articles for class this week, I had a few questions in mind: How do we go about teaching our students to evaluate websites, and what is the appropriate grade/age level to begin teaching our students how to search for truthful information on the Internet? Thinking about the readings for this week from an elementary perspective, how should teachers go about introducing reputable websites for student learning? Since information on the Internet is becoming an increasingly popular source for student learning, I think it is important for elementary teachers to slowly introduce how to evaluate a website. Thinking back to when I was in high school and during my undergrad, teachers and professors would mention that (.gov) and (.edu) were often the most reputable websites for research. According to Eagleton, Dobler, & Leu (2007), “When students know what to look for and where to look, the URL can provide a wealth of clues for determining both the usefulness and the truthfulness of information. The process does require the Internet reader to be an active participant by constantly making decisions about what to read and whether the material she has read meets her informational needs” (170).

Another concept that I found meaningful in the Eagleton, et al. (2007) article, is implementing a gradual release of responsibility that will guide students to develop skills for the Internet, and to help students gradually gain independence. Eagleton, et al. (2007), mentions, “Teachers can help students transition into independent practice by providing a limited number of links students can access or a shortcut list of predetermined websites bookmarked for students” (173). This particular quote made me think of implementing a Webquest for students to explore reputable websites. It can be particularly helpful to have a predetermined list of websites that are already “evaluated” for students. Furthermore, it is helpful to all grade levels, especially elementary, when teachers begin to introduce how to evaluate websites. In addition, I like how the article offers handouts for evaluating information on a website. We do not necessarily have access to these handouts in the article; however, it is informative to know that teachers can provide a lesson through an evaluation checklist.

Amy

The first thing that I could think of when I heard that Wiki was our next topic, was the wiki which I created/edited along with three other students my senior year of college as a class project. Just as Richardson (2010) points out, the Wiki could be edited by anyone (but was mostly the members of my group, and our professor). It also showed the history of the page, which allowed for the professor to give the correct grade to each of us for the effor that we put in. This especially came in handy when one girl in our group stopped putting in the effort, and our professor could very easily see the case we were making against her, I guess she didn't understand that viewing the history of the page is a major part of a wiki.

Throughout these readings I also could not stop thinking how could I incorporate a wiki in a primary classroom? I was thinking that it would be a good way to start a discussion with parents in the class, maybe as a way to discuss parent volunteers and happenings in the class. It was difficult to see a wiki actually put to use in a 1st or 2nd grade class, however. I think that a 5th or 6th grade class, like that introduced to us through Luce-Kapler (2007), is the perfect time to start a class wiki. It is a great place to start a discussion on a book being read in class, or even one that is read in a students free time that they would like to share with the class. In addition, Wikis could be used across all content areas such as creating a page pertaining to a topic in Science or Social Studies. Some teachers may even create a Wiki webpage for their classroom. An example of a webpage: http://dte6ss.wikispaces.com/. I really liked how Tarasuik (2010) had the students in her class actually getting on Wikipedia and adding information about their novels to the website. This is a neat way to involve students in something outside of the classroom, and show them that the work that they complete in class will help them in a variety of different ways once they leave class.

**Tara** (The purple writing is me collaborating with my group members)

While reading chapter 4 in our text book, I kept thinking about all the different opinions regarding Wikipedia being used for classroom instruction. Many of the opinions towards Wikipedia have been negative. The negative opinions come from professors and teachers that require their students to refrain from using Wikipedia. According to Richardson (2010), “I think we need to teach Wikipedia to our students. Why? Well, first, because they are already using it in their research, whether we like it or not” I can understand that students may use Wikipedia for quick searches on a specific topic; however, are students reviewing reputable sources of topics on Wikipedia? I think I may be confused as to exactly how Wikipedia works, and how it might benefit students’ educational purposes.

On the other hand, Richardson (2010), has me somewhat convinced that Wikipedia can be an excellent source if used in the right way. According to Richardson (2010), “There is much to learn in the process of using Wikipedia that can help our students become better learners—namely, collaboration and negotiation skills” This particular quote has me convinced that Wikipedia could help students learn to effectively collaborate and negotiate information with their peers. One thing the chapter did clarify is how groups work together to “fix” vandalism and incorrect information, which is usually done in a timely manner. However, it makes me nervous if students were to come across inappropriate vandalism while working on a Wiki or searching for information.

According to Tarasiuk (2010), an important point regarding adolescent literacies is mentioned, “Instead of limiting their focus on teaching students to read using textbooks and write using paper and word processing programs, schools should expand their notions of literacy instruction and treat it as reading and writing for the purposes of communicating in many traditional and contemporary modes using multiple tools and resources” (544). This particular quote reminded me of the class we are taking, and the importance of incorporating technology into daily instruction. Many students come well-prepared with the different types of technologies offered on the Internet. It is important for teachers to embrace the different technologies offered, and guide students to communicate in various ways. For example, a few of the contemporary modes could be writing in a Blog or Wiki, Wordle, Glogster, etc. The list of technological resources that can be used in the classroom is infinite.

As I was searching for Wikis, I came across the page, //Welcome to Greetings From The World- GFTW//. This particular Wiki has been nominated for the Best Educational Wiki in 2011. It is an educational resource for students to LEARN about the world, LOOK through a lens, and CREATE your own lens. In addition, students from around the world have been creating Glogs pertaining to their country, and posting the Glogs to the Wiki for other students to learn. For example, one student from Utah made Glog about the different state parks in Utah ([]). Another example is one from Calabria, Italy that a student created, which provides videos and facts. The language on the page is listed in Italian; however, I still think it is a great source for students to be exposed to ([]). This could possibly be used in a middle or high school setting for students taking classes in Italian.

Matt