Are You Information Literate?

Information literacy is one of the most important issues students must deal with today. When is information reliable? How do you discern what is unreliable internet fodder and what information will turn out to be invaluable in a report or research paper? Like me, most students today think that they know how to weed out the unsafe internet sources, but they'd be surprised to read about how little they truly know. One of the least utilized search tools is the use of Boolean operators. Searchers can weed out so many unusable sites by using simple Boolean tools like "AND" and "OR." Many students know nothing about these useful operators and, thus, miss out on some sucessful search tools. Of the reading we've done this week, perhaps the most useful bit of information for students is "The 5 Basic Evaluation Criteria."

1. 
   
   Accuracy
   Does this information seem reasonable?
   Who wrote it? Can you contact them?
2. 
   Authority
   Who is the author?
   What are his/her credentials?
   Who is sponsoring the page?
   
3. 
   Objectivity
   Is this an opinion piece or factual?
   Does the information seem to have a particular slant?
   What's the author's agenda?
   
4. 
   Currency
   How old is the information?
   Does age matter for this subject?
   Is there a date on the page?
   Do the links work?
   
5. 
   
   Coverage
   Are the needed dates included?
   Is the information cited? What are the sources?
   Is there a balance between images and text?

Students would do well to utilize this advice, and as  a future English teacher it's helpful to have such a clear cut list of judgement criteria. One of the most challenging things for teachers is keeping up with the technology, and I now know that making sure our students are information literate is also a vital part of education.

The Great Perhaps*

This week in my Adolescent in Literature class we read John Green's Looking for Alaska. This novel deals heavily with loss and how teens cope with it- providing some intense and amazing observations. After some of our class discussion, I realized I read the book entirely differently from almost everyone in my class. This got me thinking, what is it that made my experience so different? Did I miss the boat entirely? Are the intracacies of the novel something my mind just fabricated? What exactly is so unique about my perspective on this fantastic story?

Of course, this sent my mind reeling. I wondered if I've read everything from this "weird" point-of-view (and to tell you the truth I'm still wondering...). But then it hit me- isn't that the beauty of literature??? It's amazing how many different interpretations people can have for any given piece of literature. From the Great Gatsby to Twilight, books (and poems and articles and music...) have millions of discernable messages and ideas. Whether what an individual derives from a story is the author's intended meaning or something completely out of left field, literature takes on such a unique meaning to each reader.

So with this newfound opinion I'm ready to delve into the Great Perhaps with my next book- Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War. Who knows what I'll get out of this one...

*the Great Perhaps is a phrase from Looking for Alaska

Anyone? Anyone?

The modern student faces a world of rapidly developing technology. Unfortunately, this is rarely reflected in the classroom. For many students, a day in class feels like this clip from Ferris Buehler's Day Off. One of the biggest issues confronting teachers is how to combat students' boredom, but also provide them with valuable information. This becomes especially difficult in a college setting where students have laptops- giving them unlimited access to an endless array of distractions. Even as I sit here writing this I have Facebook, email, and SLU Global and various other sites running simultaneously.

Most students like me consider this "multi-tasking," but it's an ever developing form of procrastination and distraction. Nothing, however, is duller than sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher drone on about a topic that we're only half interested in. So, what will keep our attention and still give us the information we need?

Teachers need to keep in mind our generation's widespread knowledge of technology and take advantage of it. Class blogs (like this one my young adult literature class is creating) can prove themselves to be invaluable tools. They allow students to connect in a social network environment that is familiar to them while also bringing school into the picture. I personally enjoy classes in which my teachers utilize the internet- even if it's just to show a YouTube clip- to help bring more sources into the discussion.

The Kansas State University video we watched this week for class reiterates the point that students are simply not engaging in the classroom. Again, it is becoming so much more important to actually engage students in the learning environment, and as future teachers, we need to remember these things.