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We've all heard the statistics: The amount of available information
is doubling every three years. By the time they graduate from
high school, today's students will have been exposed to more information
than their grandparents were in a lifetime. Ninety percent of
the technology we will use in the next decade has not been invented
or we have no access to it yet.
Access to the Internet has made teachers overwhelmingly aware
of the information explosion because they and their students are
drowning in a sea of facts and figures. Fishing on the Internet
yields a harvest of data, distractions, and debris. In the midst
of this overload, it's common to find students who don't know
how to organize information, find useful data, or create their
own theories.
To respond to this challenge, teachers are looking for ways
to help their students acquire information literacy -- that is,
the ability to identify, access, apply, and create information.
We have developed a seven-step model to clarify information
literacy and its relationship to the Internet. We've field-tested
this model in a partnership between Kansas
State University and the Spring
Hill (Kan.) Unified School District, and with teachers throughout
the country. Your teachers might find these steps helpful:
1. Identifying the right questions
The first step toward information literacy is focusing on a
subject and asking the right questions. Many times students aren't
sure how to start, and they end up sidetracked by information
that isn't useful. In guiding their students to develop thinking
skills in evaluating and researching information, teachers should
help find appropriate subjects, point students to current problems,
and help develop relevant questions. Identifying a research subject
and developing appropriate questions takes considerable practice.
Students work best when researching a subject or issue they care
about -- one that has consequences in their world.
Students who are learning how to learn must begin by thinking
about what answers they expect to find when they begin their research.
That way, they are better equipped to evaluate the information
they gather. A few points for students to consider:
* What is the real issue? Is there more than one?
* Does the information you're looking for exist already, or
will you have to generate the data yourself?
* Does this issue cross disciplines?
* What research must you do before you can ask focused questions?
* What information will you need to give the issue perspective?
* Can you create an assumption about this issue?
2. Organizing the search
To begin this step, teachers and students must have a basic
understanding of the Internet -- and access to an Internet browser.
Teachers should have an understanding of bookmarks, folders, and
search engines. With this know-how, students can begin to organize
searches. Search questions include:
* What web sites are available to help in the search for information?
* How can you organize information effectively? How can you
categorize bookmarks to return to useful sites quickly?
* What traditional print or offline media resources are available?
Do they complement or provide different material than what is
found online?
* How much time do you have to search?
To become information literate, students must learn not only
how to organize information, but also how to be discriminating
information consumers.
3. Selecting appropriate search tools
Identifying, selecting, and using the available tools for finding
information on the Internet is crucial. Search engines allow users
to probe a database of web documents using key words. These search
services attempt to create a detailed record of the web using
automated software agents -- nicknamed spiders -- that crawl from
page to page and record the information they find.
Not all search engines are created equal. Some -- such as Alta
Vista and HotBot -- aim
to index every page on the web. These search engines are useful
for casting a wide search net when you know what you're looking
for but you're not sure which sites might have the information
you need. To make the best use of these services, students should
take the time to learn the specific search syntax for each search
engine. That way, students will be able to formulate narrowly
tailored search queries, avoiding a long list of search results
that may contain many sites unrelated to the information they
are seeking.
Other search sites -- such as Yahoo!
and eBLAST -- employ human
beings to index select web sites by category. These search indexes
contain a limited number of sites that have been selected for
their quality, and are useful for conducting initial, exploratory
searches when you don't want a long list of hits. They are also
useful for finding the official web site for a specific organization
or company.
Yet another type is the "meta" search engine -- such
as Dogpile -- which sends
your query to a number of different search engines at once and
sorts the results. This can be a real time-saver. Ask
Jeeves, another "meta" search engine, takes questions
in plain English and then directs you to the web sites that are
most likely to answer them.
Clearly, students need to give some thought to which search
engines they use -- and why. When searching, students should choose
the search engine that is best suited to the type of query they
are formulating. (For a further discussion of the characteristics
of different search engines, take a look at Debbie Abilock's search
engine advice page or Ross Tyner's Internet
Search Tools & Techniques site.)
Search engines can make a significant difference in the quality
and quantity of search results. If students understand what these
tools can do, they're less likely to stay with only one search
engine rather than explore others. Questions to be addressed are:
* Which search engines will best help you?
* What are the strengths and weaknesses of the search engines
you intend to use?
Of course, traditional print sources should also be part of
the student's information search. Information-literate students
should know the benefits and drawbacks of both digital and print
information. On the plus side, Internet-based information can
be timely and can be accessed from anywhere with a computer and
modem.
The source or authorship of the digital information, on the
other hand, must be closely scrutinized. Anyone can publish anything
on the Internet without any credentials or credibility: An article
dealing with the Swissair crash in Time magazine, for example,
will be more objective and authoritative than an online article
on the web page of someone who has a special interest or bias.
Inclusion of online and traditional sources of information must
be balanced, but both must be analyzed for strengths and weaknesses.
4. Analyzing online resources
One of the biggest problems teachers and students encounter
is determining whether a web site is credible, and that requires
knowing something about the intent of the people who created the
site. Categorizing a site by its top-level domain -- .com
(commercial enterprises), .edu
(educational institutions), .gov
(government agencies), .mil (military
installations), .net (network
providers), .org (non-profit organizations),
or country-specific designations such as .us
or .uk -- can send readers in
the right direction to determine credibility, although it is only
a first step. (Keep in mind that a site's top-level domain is
an indicator -- not a guarantee -- of its true identity.)
Here are brief descriptions of some common types of web sites.
(For more information, see Marsha Tate and Jan Alexander, "Teaching
Critical Evaluation Skills for World Wide Web Resources,"
Computers in Libraries, November/December 1996.)
* Informational web site. An informational web site is
one whose purpose is to present factual information. Examples
include dictionaries, directories, statistical data, and compilations
of research. Some informational web sites -- such as the Library
of Congress site -- are located in the .gov
top-level domain, which means they are official government sites
and represent the mission or agenda of a particular government
agency.
* Personal web site or home page. A personal home page
is one published by an individual. These sites may be located
in a variety of top-level domains (.com
or .edu, for example). Students
should recognize that the information on personal web sites is
likely to be subjective.
* Advocacy web site. An advocacy web site is sponsored
by an organization attempting to influence public opinion. These
sites are often located in the .org
top-level domain, such as the American
Civil Liberties Union site. When using material on advocacy
web sites, students should consider the source and figure out
how to distinguish fact from opinion.
* News web site. News web sites -- such as those maintained
by USA Today, CNN,
The New York Times, The
Washington Post, Education
Week, or the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette -- aim to provide objective reports and subjective
analyses of current events. With a news web site, questions to
ask include whether the information is up to date and how to distinguish
news reporting from editorializing. (Keep in mind that most news
web sites are located in the .com
top-level domain; these sites often carry advertising but are
nevertheless primarily informational rather than corporate
in nature. Obviously, students need to look beyond the top-level
domain when evaluating a site's credibility.)
* Business or marketing web site. A business or marketing
web site is sponsored by a commercial enterprise -- such as Coca-Cola,
Apple, or Nike
-- which is usually trying to promote or sell products. These
sites are typically located in the .com
top-level domain. If the site was developed by a commercial institution,
the essential question is whether advertising or marketing claims
overpower or influence the site's content.
* Educational web site. A web site operated by an educational
institution is typically located in the .edu
top-level domain. Examples include universities, colleges, K-12
schools, and nonprofit education-related agencies. (See the Technology
Leadership Center at Kansas
State University and the Spring
Hill (Kan.) Unified School District for examples.) If the
site was developed by an educational institution or a person associated
with that institution, the question, again, is the balance between
fact and opinion. Edu domains
should be viewed with the same skepticism as other domains. Until
recently, top-level domain registrar Network Solutions registered
sites in the .edu domain without
checking to see if the site actually was affiliated with an educational
institution. Student domain sleuths can turn to InterNIC's
WHOIS database to find information on the owners and administrators
of a particular domain.
Once students classify the intent of the web sites in their
research, they should ask these questions:
* Are these sites authoritative? Who are the authors?
What are their credentials?
* Does the site have high-quality information, or does it just
look good?
* If you can't establish credibility, do others with established
credibility confirm the information?
Reading and interpreting audio, graphics, and video clips is
as important as reading and interpreting the text. Often, graphics
and sounds can speak louder than words -- and have a powerful
impact, either positive or negative. Internet consumers must be
skilled in visual literacy as well as the written word. Questions
to consider:
* What is the purpose of the nonprint items?
* Are the messages found in the text congruent with the messages
conveyed by the graphics, audio, and video clips?
* Does the nonprint information convey messages that are absent
from the text?
When teachers guide their students in learning to scrutinize
sites for credibility, they should emphasize the importance of
challenging sources of information. They should also teach intelligent
skepticism about web sites.
5. Synthesizing, sorting, and sifting
Once students determine the credibility of the information they've
gathered, they must figure out how the data fit into the problem
or issue they're addressing. They need to see what information
answers the questions posed in Step 1, in addition to these questions:
* What are the major issues? What sources reflect these issues?
* Who has presented the strongest evidence? What is the supporting
evidence?
* Which sources are less important? Why?
* Which of the authors or sites say the same thing? How many
are saying it?
* What new issues are being raised in this information?
6. Publishing new information
With the amount of information doubling every three years, we
cannot afford to educate students to be only consumers of information.
They must also be able to frame information. This step requires
students to go beyond information gathering and generate their
own web sites. This allows students to generate new information
or share existing information organized in a new way. The creation
of a web site becomes authentic learning because the information
leads to something purposeful. It is the act of creation that
distinguishes information literacy from other learning strategies.
Web sites created by information-literate students involve audio,
video, and graphics as well as text. When these media are combined,
they become new forms of information to be mastered. That is,
students must learn how to select multiple forms of media to convey
a message. Developing audio, video, and graphics that enhance
or expand the textual information is a complex communication skill
that we are just beginning to explore in technology-infused classrooms.
Conveying meaning from a wider spectrum of communication mechanisms
rather than using a single medium, such as text, is a new opportunity
for students.
Students should consider two major questions when creating web
sites:
* How do you determine your audience?
* What is the best way to structure your information?
7. Getting feedback
Testing ideas might be the most difficult task for students.
They must learn about the "push and pull" nature of web sites:
If you push information out, what can you do to pull information
back, getting the observer to return to the site and provide feedback?
Questions to be considered:
* How do you get feedback about your information?
* How have you extended previous information?
* How (and where) do you focus on related questions or different
questions?
Today's schools generally take one of three approaches to using
technology: technology as a tool, technology as a subject, and
technology as empowerment. All three are important, but they should
not be considered as mutually exclusive; rather, we believe they
should be integrated.
The practice of teaching with technology should not be
abandoned, but it should not be the goal of technology learning;
instead, we believe, teachers should move to a role of motivating
students and learning with them. Similarly, teaching about
technology needs to be integrated with other curriculum subjects.
Learning with technology, we believe, should be the ultimate
goal, and that means technology-infused learning needs to become
ubiquitous and unnoticed in the teaching and learning process.
If our students are to become the leaders we need in the next
century, we need to teach them how to fish in a sea of information.
Gerald D.Bailey
is a professor of education at Kansas State University. Dan
Lumley is assistant superintendent at Spring Hill Unified
School District, Spring Hill, Kan.
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