Weekly Reading #2

As you listen or read the texts link above consider the following questions and answer them in a blog posting:

1.      What is Henry Jenkins main arguments about Wikipedia?

a.       Students are responsible for the accuracy of information they provide, and they cannot hold informational resources accountable for error-free texts.

b.      Wikipedia isn’t an acceptable source, even though it may lead to one.

2.      What is "participatory culture"?

a.       Low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement

b.      Strong support for creating and sharing what you create with others

c.       Informal mentorship

d.      Members feel their contributions matter

e.       Some degree of social connection between members

3.      What is the relationship between "old literacies" and "new media literacies".

a.       New media literacies are:

                                                              i.      Social skills

                                                            ii.      cultural competencies

                                                          iii.      and participation

b.      Old media literacies are:

                                                              i.      Individual skills

                                                            ii.      Information fed to students

4.      What are the reading and writing behaviors associated with "new media literacies".

a.       Social and cultural practices with media technologies

b.      Involves interactions between children and adults—online as well as offline

c.       Integrating media literacy across the curriculum and fostering while building upon existing framework

5.      According to Henry Jenkins why is it important to teach "new media literacies" in school?

a.       These skills are important to students moving into the growing media institutions and practices. Some of these new technologies have created a shift in how we as a society produce, analyze, and circulate information. The global job market is becoming more technologically savvy and our students will fall behind if we do not teach them new media literacies.

 

 

Jenkins, H. (2007, June 26). What Wikipedia can Teach us About New Media Literacies (Part One). Retrieved May 29, 2013, from Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Webblog of Henry Jenkins: http://henryjenkins.org/2007/06/what_wikipedia_can_teach_us_ab.html

Jenkins, H. (2007, June 27). What Wikipedia can Teach us About the New Media Literacies (Part Two). Retrieved May 29, 2013, from Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Webblog of Henry Jenkins: http://henryjenkins.org/2007/06/what_wikipedia_can_teach_us_ab_1.html

6.      What can young people learn through contributing or even consuming Wikipedia?

a.       They learn to become better critical consumers of media and ask better questions about the nature of scholarship and research. It empowers students to take ownership of their research and informational accuracy when they contribute to Wikipedia.

 

How do you feel about Wikipedia after reading or listening to Henry Jenkins? Do agree or disagree with his arguments? Why?

a.       After reading and listening to Henry Jenkins, I feel that Wikipedia is a good learning tool. I agree with his arguments. Students must learn media literacies to survive in this advancing technological society. I never thought about using Wikipedia to inspire students to report accurate research or learn to become critical consumers of media. It’s a great idea!

 

Find an online resource that supports your position on using Wikipedia as a resource for learning in school. Summarize the argument being made in the resource and explain how it supports your position.

a.       The article I found states reasons why Wikipedia cannot be used as a citable resource. It continues to discuss how to use Wikipedia effectively by researching the articles found on Wikipedia to see if it is a WikiProject and if the article has a peer review. This supports my view that it shouldn’t be cited in a research paper. It also supports my opinion that students can learn to be critical consumers of media through the process it states and the resources it gives in the article I found.

b. Cornell University Digital Literacy Resource   

 

Cornell University. (2009). Using Wikipedia. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from Cornell University Digital Literacy Resource: http://digitalliteracy.cornell.edu/tutorial/dpl3222.html

Find an image that relates to Wikipedia and schooling.

CHEEZ burger. (2013). School of Fail. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from School of Fail: Where Would We Be Without You, Wikipedia?: http://cheezburger.com/6064574720

Week Two: Wikipedia Analysis (Step One)

Step One:

Does the Wikipedia article appear to be biased in any way or does it maintain neutrality?

The Wikipedia article is biased towards the continuation of global warming, and thus, the threat to human civilization as we know it now. The language of the text appeals to the emotional man for action against global warming rather than being informative:

• What facts has the author omitted?
• Earth’s temperatures are naturally cyclical over a span of 10,000 years. Therefore, there is a natural warming and cooling period that the earth goes through 
• What additional information is necessary?
• Temperatures before the 19^th century
• Earth’s temperatures are cyclical over a span of thousands of years
• What words create positive or negative impressions?
• Negative
• Projected continuation
• Likely to rise
• Threat
• Inundation
• Efforts to reduce emissions may be inadequate
• Homelessness
• Statelessness
• Crop yields falling
• What impression would I have if different words had been used?
• Not an immediate threat
• Not a lot can be done or that “it is what it is” attitude towards global warming
• Not a man-made problem

NewsandEventsGuy. (2013, March 17). Global Warming. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

If you find some information that seems to reflect a partiality, preference, or prejudice for or against a person, object, or idea copy and paste that information to your blog.

1.      “In the scientific literature, there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused mainly by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view, though a few organizations hold non-committal positions” (NewsandEventsGuy, 2013)

     

     I find it hard to believe that there is no scientific body of national or international standing that disagrees with the fact that human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming.

2.      “The US public appears to be unaware of the extent of scientific consensus regarding the issue, with 59% believing that scientists disagree "significantly" on global warming” (NewsandEventsGuy, 2013)

This statement references the previous notion that all notable scientists believe that global warming is caused by humans.

3.      “That global poll also found that people are more likely to attribute global warming to human activities than to natural causes, except in the USA where nearly half (47%) of the population attributed global warming to natural causes” (NewsandEventsGuy, 2013)

I chose this quote because I feel that these statistics were sought out to show that the U.S. is behind in their knowledge of global warming and its cause.

NewsandEventsGuy. (2013, March 17). Global Warming. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

Why Information Literacy is Important in a Democratic Society

Three concepts that I think are related to the need for Information Literacy in a democratic society:

1.       Political propaganda and misinformation is directed towards our society daily.

2.       Participation in Facebook groups showed the results of the election within an accuracy of 1%.

3.       Online journalists are imprisoned more than print journalists.

4.       There is no way of stopping filtered information from getting into the hands of citizens of the world.

5.       It is the parents’ responsibility, not the governments to regulate and educate their children’s use of the Internet and other multi-media resources.

6.       Digital freedom to end the digital divide: digital right and internet freedom—cyber warfare.

Why it is important that information literacy is taught in school:

It is important to learn information literacy in school, because students have to know what propaganda and opinion motivates the media that is daily seen and heard.  They have to be able to discern truth from fiction, as well as become smart consumers. Researching “facts” that are presented to them, without accepting unjustified statements, is what will allow our students to be knowledgeable in this day and age.  Students need these skills that some of their parents don’t know. It’s these life skills that help a student become successful in the real world. Always questioning, will allow students to get to the truth.

Wikipedia:

Wikipedia should not be used as an information resource in school, because it is a collaborative website that has no restrictions. Anyone can change, correct, falsify facts on the website and present it as truth. There are too many factors involved to make Wikipedia a legitimate resource. However, it can be used as a tool to find other related resources.

Introduction: Week 1

Hi, my name is Heather Summers. I'm from Morgantown, WV and I am a mathematics teacher at North Marion High School. However, next year I will be teaching at East Fairmont High School.

I would like to know more about information literacy and how we can use that to become smarter consumers.

The video has a lot to do with information literacy. There is more to just the written text of something. There are graphs, photographs, charts, articles, links, gadgets, etc. that are used to transfer information from one individual/party to others. Moreover, there is so much available to a person in this technological age that it is important to have good information literacy skills.

Information literacy is being able to gather information from a multiple of resources and understanding and validating that information.

Example:

Stfeyeearo (Director). (2009, September 13). Information Literacy. Youtube. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrT0xFG9TB0