I have always had some really major concerns with social media/collaborative web/web 2.0, meaning, the way the web is today. And I still have them though I feel like I am finally getting some justification for using the some of the tools that are available.
My main concern has always been that anyone can add content. I don't necessarily view that as a positive thing. My question is, to put it bluntly, who are you? Why should I listen to you or care what you have to say? What kind of authority do you have? Listening to the video (Rethinking education), things like adsense, customized content or advertising based on your searching, I view in a different way and don't have a problem with. I think customized advertising is fine; we have to pay for all this "free" stuff somehow and I accept having to view advertisements so they may as well direct me to something I might actually find interesting. But when watching the first video, Web 2.0 (Web 2.0), having blogs explained as a place where anyone can post their thoughts and views for a specialized audience...well frankly, I don't care what most people have to say. If I don't know someone I especially don't put value or validity to what they have to say until I have a reason to. I suppose it speaks to my general mistrust of the intelligence of the general population. Without trying to sound too mean, I don't care what most people have to say and I don't particularly care to share my thoughts with others either. UNLESS THERE'S A REASON. In an educational setting there is a clear reason and even what we've covered today has had some very clear application and that completely excites me. I don't have a problem with collaborative technology in the right setting.
That being said for educational purposes I am always always concerned with the lack of verification combined with the complete freedom of access. I believe that is such a dangerous situation!
Information needs to be verified and authenticated for educational purposes. Which is why librarians are SO
IMPORTANT! There are so many useful ways to use this technology with the right direction. And it's not a choice to use them or not. It scares me that we are using it without really knowing how. I don't think in general people want to take the time to 'read the directions" and in this case there aren't even directions to read! But we as librarians can help with that.
I have to agree, web collaboration in a educational setting has many positive attributes. and I also agree there is a lack of verification of sources. People can go online and post anything they like. The combination of unverified sources and the "cut and paste" mentality of some students only ads fuel to the bonfire of misinformation. This same generation takes the first thing they find on the internet as gospel. And that is a scary thought.
ReplyDeleteWell.......
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me start by saying that it IS our job to teach students to separate the wheat from the chaff, to realize that they can't believe that everything they read is true. It is a MAJOR PART of our library curriculum. Second, this is not going away, it will only increase, and so it is so, so important to teach students information & media literacies skills. Third, there are so many smart people to learn from out there on so many different topics!
Will Richardson said at a conference I went to: "How can we MODEL those interactions (tech/librarians listen up!). There is no doubt that five years from now, when my kids are teenagers, they will be comfortable living in public ways that will astound and alarm thier parents." He also said, "This is a compelling, different moment in time that we are in right now. Social technology is an opportunity that has not been in our context before; it's speed and creativity. So think... as librarians,
WE all have to be Walter Cronkite - we have to look at info and make sense of it, participate in it, not just consume it. Discussion pages in wikipedia is where people negotiate the truth, critical thinking and analysis. The info comes in through twitter, delicious, we share it and we all get smarter. How do we prepare students to create, navigate and grow their own PLNs in safe and ethical ways.. this is where they need US to model how to grow this network in safe ways.
And the only way we will be able to do this is to dive right in!