"Crap" Detection

After reading this article I realized just how important it is to "triangulate" sources to determine the credibility of the information that I am consuming. I already knew that the web could provide good and bad information and that I needed to consider the sources of information carefully. While I did what I could to find out if the information I was reading was credible, I don't think that I ever thought about having multiple pieces of evidence. It is now at the forefront of my mind. I also was unaware that there are many tools available to help one distinguish between fact and "crap". As a teacher-learner conducting field studies and looking more than ever at the web for information to improve my practice, I need to be very careful to use credible sources. I want to learn but I want to learn reliable information rather than consuming the misinformation that might be out there. As an educator, I need to begin to incorporate this type of detection into my practice. I need to teach students how to determine the credibility of the information they are seeing online. Many of my students would just accept what they are reading as fact and would not consider the credibility of the source at all. It is an important skill students need to develop, as no doubt, they will be using the web more and more through out their school years. I think that "crap detection" skills empower students (people everywhere, really). It goes beyond determining if a source of information is credible for a report you are writing. These skills are important for the social, emotional and physical well being of people too as they engage in web based activities. Looking at information and people with whom we engage on the web, with a critical lens may help readers/viewers identify impostors, hoaxes and scams and avoid them.

On Being Networked

Being networked for me has meant having ideas and information available to me to help me meet goals I have set for myself as a teacher. I have learnt about things that I have wanted to know more about and have learnt about things that I never knew existed, like voicethread. Through the prompts given to LTT members, I realized that I am more connected than I first thought. I forgot about things like pod casts, wikis, and TEDtalks when I first began thinking about my network. I also realized that my being part of the network has been one sided. The pieces of the network I first thought about were those in which I was a more active participant, ones where I contribute to as well as draw from. The ones I forgot about tended to be the ones in which I draw from solely. Part of the reason I am drawing rather than contributing, is due to the fact that what I am reading about (theory, technology tools) tends to be things which I do not have a lot of knowledge about and feel like I have little to contribute. Twitter was mentioned often as being an important resource for educators in the voicethread so I have been convinced to give it a try. Perhaps being limited to 130 characters (...think little room for deep thought, maybe :) ) will encourage me to be a more active participant. So, a goal for me will to be a more active contributor to my network and look at ways to further expand my network.