Digital Blog Post #C Chapters 5 + 7

Chapter 5, page 127

Evaluating Online Information

After reading this section of the textbook I started to think about the college classes I have taken in the past and how several of my professors told me, "Make sure to use a credible site...". When I was younger I always just thought that the internet sites I looked at were informative and correct. It was not until early in college that I really understood how much garbage was on the internet, not to mention I realized that I did not use search engines properly. No one had ever taught me how to use "keywords" or how the results would differ if I put a search in a search bar with or without quotation marks around it. 

The textbook states, "Google revolutionized how people conduct online searching and in so doing became the dominant search engine in the world." (Maloy). I frequently use the "image" setting on my Google search engine because I have the ability to see the website as well as an image from a website. I use both things to determine if I want to investigate the site farther or not. I have also used the Google search engine on my phone, which I imagine many students do every day. As I move towards finishing my degree in education I think that I will have to learn a lot more about how search engines work on phones and tablets. These devices are how a lot of students connect online today so I do not want to be left in the dark ages. 

Chapter 5, page 128

Censorship

"Censorship means that material deemed offensive is banned from a school. But banning material is a notoriously slippery slope." (Maloy). At our college we have an occasional event called "Banned Book Week" or the "Banned Book Club" which is hosted by the humanities department. At the club, a book that was considered "trash" or "offensive" for its time period is read by several students and faculty and then discussed and reflected on. I have learned a great deal about history, America, government, social classes, etiquette, capitalism, religion, and other subjects of interest from attending these Banned Book Events. Although material should be age appropriate for students, I believe that there has been some unnecessary censorship in our school system in the past. I hope that the administration at the school I will eventually work for will be more open minded and want to keep history in context and to remain faithfully honest with students. There was, for example, a little problem at my friend's son's high school recently where the students began reading The Diary of Anne Frank, but when a parent complained about some content in the book, the students were given a censored version of the book. This has happened in several other schools across the U.S. as well. In the following video from youtube, the user The Young Turks posted, included a complaint that a parent had over this particular book when their seventh grade student was assigned to read it for a class. Maybe seventh grade is a bit young for this book, but I think that high school students can handle this material. It is an interesting thing to think about when we discuss censorship.

 I feel that this particular story must be read unedited and unaltered because it is a historical piece. If the material in the book is too adult for the high school students then a different book should have been chosen altogether. Censorship can be a good thing, but it can also be used incorrectly in order to promote ignorance. 

 I do want to say that I feel censorship when it comes to how students use the internet is often times necessary. There are a lot of real world dangers on the internet that are not in the pages of a book, so certain sites or links should not be accessible to students especially in a classroom setting.  

 Chapter 7, page 179

Criteria for Evaluating Educational Software

I really appreciate this section of the textbook. As Maloy states, "One way to identify good educational software is to recognize what constitutes poor software" (Maloy) and then gives Papert's three qualifications for poor software.  I feel as if a lot of parents feel that using computers to educate children is a silly idea, but provided that the programs are being used correctly and provided that the programs are good to begin with, computers can be a very helpful thing to students. 

The textbook goes on to say that there are evaluation instruments that teachers can use to grade software. I am happy that those exist because when I begin teaching I will need all the help from experienced teachers that I can get. 

A quote I really enjoyed from this section is, "teachers need to first answer the following question: ' Will the child program the computer or will the computer program the child?' "(Maloy). 

Photo created by Tina Emmett on Tagxedo.com

Resources:

Maloy, R. W. (2011). Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon

Tagxedo.com

 Youtube.com user The Young Turks