Critical Consumption (or crap detection) - A Social Media Literacy

Last week, I facilitated our group's discussion on the topic of social networking.  As the topic is still fresh in my mind, I found an article I liked that focuses on five social media literacies:

• Attention
• Participation
• Collaboration
• Network awareness
• Critical consumption

I hadn't heard of the term "critical consumption".  Per the author,"Critical consumption, or what Ernest Hemingway called "crap detection," is the literacy of trying to figure out what and who is trustworthy—and what and who is not trustworthy—online."(Rheingold, 2010).  This is truly a critical literacy for all of us in the digital age.  The Educause article entitled, Attention, and Other 21-st-Century Social Media Literacies, gives some good information on all five of these social media literacies and challenges us as educators to explore these interconnected literacies and we attempt to engage ourselves and our students in our current networked society.  My favorite part of the article is indeed the discussion of "crap detection" which I think is a critical skill for all of us to develop as we journey through the massive information on the web.  I know for myself, I've spent too much time reading "crap" on the web or trying to source accurate information.  Using a couple of the techniques described in the article may help me weed through all the junk and find useful, accurate information.  I guess I'll be honing my "on-line detective" skills.  How about you?

Source:  Rheingold, H (2010).  Attention, and Other 21st Century Social Media Literacies.  Educause.
Retrieved on November 30 from: http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE%2BReview/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/AttentionandOther21stCenturySo/213922

Did You Know?

As I was a bit freaked out by the vision of the future in the Web 3.0 world (as discussed in my last post), I wanted to find something a bit less scary but still focused on Web 2.0 (or 3.0) this week.  I viewed a few of the "Did You Know" videos and really liked this one.  It's from 2009 so some statistics may have changed, but it gives some interesting facts about such things as the decline of traditional media and advertising versus the rapid growth of on-line media and advertising.  And did you know that Wikipedia launched in 2001 and now contains over 13 million articles in over 200 languages?  How about that 90% of the 2 billion e-mails sent each day are spam?  Anyway, this video is a fun way to look at how technology has truly changed the world.  What this says to me is that the educational system - K through 12 and higher education - must change in order to keep up with the students who are served by this system and prepare our future generations to effectively and appropriately use these technology-based tools.  What are your thoughts?

Think About What's Coming - Web 3.0

As we all know, technology is rapidly advancing.  So what does this mean for us?  Web 1.0 evolved to Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 is next...  Take a look at this short video, Evolution Web 1.0, Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, by clicking on the title.

I enjoy using and learning about the various Web 2.0 technologies and services, but I've got to admit that Web 3.0 sounds a bit scary.  I don't currently use all the Web 2.0 technologies and services.  But Web 3.0 sounds like everything is integrated so using various technologies will no longer be an option but a required way of live.  Why must my washing machine ever be connected to the Web?!!  Really, I don't understand (yet).  Also, the idea that Web 3.0 is "intelligent and omnipresent" is a bit scary, too.  What outright alarmed me is the idea that the computer will come close to or surpass human intelligence.  Reminds me of one of those horror movies when high-tech machines overtake the humans and the world.  However, I do like how Amazon.com functions - and more of that would be fine to me.  It'll be interesting - and perhaps scary - to see how Web 2.0 evolved to the next generation of the Web.

What are your thoughts about the potential of Web 3.0?  Does it scare you, like it does me, or no?  Why?

Online Learning Can Even Change Those Boring Lecture Halls

Our discussion topic this week is on-line learning so I took the opportunity to find and share an article I like on the topic.  The article, from The Chronicle of Higher Education, is YouTube U. Beats YouSnooze U.  Feel free to click on the title/link to view the article.  The author talks about the tradition of 300-person lecture halls in higher education in which the students sit passively listening to lectures as the professors pontificate (ok, so that was my word) on a topic and stare at a sea of blank faces.  He says there was nothing that could be done with this "broken learning model" until recently..."We can now deliver on-demand content to any student for nearly zero incremental cost.  The video content can be paused and repeated as needed.  Content producers can get real-time data on use, including student attention and efficacy.  Students can focus on exactly what they need to know." (Khan, p.3)  His solution then, to the traditional "broken learning model" is that student watch lectures on their own, in their rooms or wherever they would like and at their own pace.  The  300-person former lecture room becomes "an opportunity for active peer-to-peer instruction rather than a passive, one-size-fits-all lecture."(Khan, p. 3).    Khan also makes a bold prediction that ten years from now "the current (broken) paradigm of lecture, homework, and snapshot assessments" will shift to "students learning at their own pace...and grades and transcripts replaced with real-time reports and analytics on what a student actually knows and doesn't know."(Khan, p. 3).  Per Khan, the classroom will be interactive and the role of teacher will be that of mentor or coach.

Khan paints a great picture of the possibilities in higher education, using technology and on-line learning as a way to enhance learning and allow the face-to-face instructional time, which currently can be all lecture-style, to be a time of interactive problem-solving for the students.  Per Khan, many current aspects of learning in higher education would change.  I, for one, think it would be an incredible transformation.  I really do think it's a better model to allow students to learn at their own pace (through taped lectures, videos, etc.) and then collaborate during class time.   However, I really don't think that we'll see it in a large-scale way in just 10 short years from now.   I think the changing expectations for the professors would take a bit longer to make a reality.  What are you thoughts on the potential transformation of college classes (especially lecture classes)? If you think that those traditional lecture-style classes will change, when do you think it might happen?

Source:
Khan, S. (October 31, 2010).  YouTube Beats YouSnoozeU, The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Retrieved from:
http://chronicle.com/article/YouTube-U-Beats-YouSnooze/125105/

TeacherTube a Letdown

In the article I discussed in last week's post, the author says that TeacherTube.com is a great Web 2.0 resource for teachers.  This evening I thought I'd take a look around the TeacherTube site and give my impressions.  Well, I was underwhelmed.  My focus was mainly on the videos and each one I checked out was boring and fairly uninformative.  In one video that I looked at, the objectives were not written correctly, the speaker read directly word-for-word from the PowerPoint slide and the pace was really slow.  The irony was that the facilitator was talking about her 5th grade students - Next Geners - and how they are self-directed learners who enjoyed multi-tasking, high tech collaboration, and a quick pace.  Another video that caught my attention (given my topic of Web 2.0) was one entitled Web 2.0 Workshop and listed in category of professional development.  I've provided a link and I'd ask you to take a look but that would waste your time.

I have been fairly impressed and at times, even mesmerized by the various Web 2.0 resources and learning materials out there, but the resources posted on TeacherTube just didn't seem that robust or high-tech.  However, I am not a K-12 teacher and perhaps many of the resources are geared toward the lower grades.  I'm curious what others may think about the TeacherTube site and the resources posted there - please feel free to share your thoughts.

www.teachertube.com