Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Other
Location
Room 210
Proposal
Whether we like it or not, most student writing these days happens through facebook, myspace, twitter, and texting. Though we assume that academic reading and writing ought to be distinct from social writing, it often isn’t. Students will go to Google for celebrity gossip or information on the Civil War and accept the information about both on equal terms. The seemingly simple nature of online access to information requires that we give students concrete tools to critically assess the information they find there. The fact that many students consider Wikipedia as a credible resource is evidence of this. It looks credible (they say) so why isn’t it? I will present an outline of a unit that teaches students to present research in the form of a blog. The unit teaches students to academically engage with an electronic platform that they usually consider a social mechanism and creates a critical awareness of the kinds of information they find online. The exercises give them concrete questions to ask about the source of the material (what is the purpose of this site? who is the author? how can I determine credibility?) and allows the student to write to a real audience since their blogs are “published” publicly online. The entire project can be varied for many different age groups and can be modified for any discipline.
Short Description
The seemingly simple nature of online access to information requires that we give students concrete tools to critically assess the information they find there. The fact that many students consider Wikipedia as a credible resource is evidence of this. It looks credible (they say) so why isn’t it? This presentation will outline a unit designed to teach students to academically engage with electronic writing environments that they usually consider social mechanisms in order to create a critical awareness of the kinds of information they find online.
Keywords
Source evaluation, Wikipedia, Credibility, Electronic writing
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Parks, Amy Ratto, "Blogging Your Research: Teaching Students to Critically Assess and Participate in the Culture of Electronic Research and Writing" (2009). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 69.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2009/2009/69
Blogging Your Research: Teaching Students to Critically Assess and Participate in the Culture of Electronic Research and Writing
Room 210
Whether we like it or not, most student writing these days happens through facebook, myspace, twitter, and texting. Though we assume that academic reading and writing ought to be distinct from social writing, it often isn’t. Students will go to Google for celebrity gossip or information on the Civil War and accept the information about both on equal terms. The seemingly simple nature of online access to information requires that we give students concrete tools to critically assess the information they find there. The fact that many students consider Wikipedia as a credible resource is evidence of this. It looks credible (they say) so why isn’t it? I will present an outline of a unit that teaches students to present research in the form of a blog. The unit teaches students to academically engage with an electronic platform that they usually consider a social mechanism and creates a critical awareness of the kinds of information they find online. The exercises give them concrete questions to ask about the source of the material (what is the purpose of this site? who is the author? how can I determine credibility?) and allows the student to write to a real audience since their blogs are “published” publicly online. The entire project can be varied for many different age groups and can be modified for any discipline.
