While I was searching, however, I did think about how useful it would be use Google Reader to follow blogs about teaching literature, so that I would have a continually updated database of knowledge from other professionals. If I didn't have my across-the-hall source of information, using teachers from around the web would have served my purpose just as well, and probably more efficiently had I already had it set up in Google Reader. I plan to subscribe to various subgroups of the English Companion Ning, but if you have any other suggestions for literature-focused blogs or other publications to subscribe to, let me know! I'm definitely very new at exploring the RSS feed realm.
How does one teach students to determine the validity and credibility of information found on the Internet? I always start with a conversation about the meaning of "reliable," in any context that students associate the word with. Reliable friends, teachers, adults, role models usually enter the discussion first. Then, I shift the discussion to research and key word searches. I have a few articles that discuss how reliable or unreliable Wikipedia is, and how anyone can publish their work on the internet...but the facts aren't always correct. I ask them, "If everyone in your 9th grade class posted something about the same topic, would you trust what they all had to say?" Most students think about that for a few seconds, realize the answer is "no," and begin to see my point about how one cannot cite everything found on the internet as fact.
Once they distrust common search engines such as Google and Yahoo, they ask what they CAN use for reliable research. THAT'S when I show them the databases that the school's Media Center subscribes to, and that they can access from home: Gale, Britannica, ProQuest, SIRS, and Grolier. It's hard for them at first to navigate the sites, but since they're already invested in gathering reliable sources, they put in the extra effort.
Now that I know about RSS feeds, I'm going to show them how to use them to gather information about research topics. They're probably going to pick up on it faster than I will, and they'll see the benefit of having the information come to them, as long as they are savvy about their key word tags.
In all, I can say that learning about RSS, Diigo, and Delicious this week has completely made me rethink how I approach research papers. I need to facilitate the use of these tools, teach students how to sift through reliable and unreliable sources, and leave the actual writing of the paper for later. Even the topics they choose doesn't seem to be much of an issue anymore; it is more importatnt that they know how to use the 2.0 tools available out there.
For my final project, I might focus on the research paper that I do with my Intermediate Writing class. It's one unit that I change every time I teach the class (which it's nice to have that kind of freedom, since I'm the only one who teaches it!), and it really doesn't matter what the students research. The entire course is geared towards students who want to go to college, but aren't naturally gifted writers. The writing assignments are supposed to prepare them for what they will have to do in college, and from the looks of it, using the tools that we are learning about in this class are what they will also have to be familiar with.
Great thoughts! I had the same realization this week about how to have students use these tools in their research. I think that teaching them the technology would have to be a piece of it, but it would definitely prepare them for college.writing
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