Reading
URLs
As someone with a degree with in English it is pretty
safe to say that I have written a fair amount papers. Writing these papers also
involved a substantial amount of research as well. While nothing can beat the
feel of a book in your hand or using library data base to find articles, it is
also useful to search the internet as well. But, researchers and students alike
must always be cautious of the types of websites that you get information from.
I think back to my high school days and my teachers always said to steer clear
of websites ending in .com. It is definitely to denote the last three letters
because these are what is called the domain designator, which Roblyer and
Doering (2013) state indicates the type of website you are visiting (216). As a
conscientious researcher, you must be aware of the type of website you are on
so that you can verify that it is a reliable source. Again, during my secondary
education I was told to avoid a commercial site, that is .com sites, and to
focus more on .edu sites because they are more trustworthy for academic
research. I still agree with this, but I do think .com sites can be referenced
as long as you can verify the author of the websites credentials. The more
research you perform, the better able you will be to look at a website and
verify its authenticity.
How
to Properly use Search Engines
Using search
engines can be very tricky, but as the world becomes more and more digital
proper education in search engines is now a necessity. But as mentioned above,
caution must be exhibited when using search engines. Using a search engine and
looking at URLs must work hand in hand. It is not enough to simply type in a
word or phrase and use the first website shown. Roblyer and Doering (2013)
suggest, “Type in a combination of words that could be found in the URLs of the
sites or documents you want,” (219). The problem is that even using words that
would appear in the URL does not guarantee that you’ll find a reliable source, this
where our caution with URLs comes into play. I remember in my high school
English class being required to have a certain number of book sources as well
as online sources. The online sources were difficult to find because of all the
precautions that needed to be taken. As technology continues to develop I think
online sources will soon be the majority of sources and I would have to require
a certain number of book sources. That aside, I think it is extremely valuable
to have proper instruction from the teacher or a research librarian on how to
search the web for sources and how to use search engines in the best way
possible.
Using
Internet Tools
Looking through
the list of possible internet tools I am reminded of my struggle with the
Flipped Classroom concept. Granted, technology is becoming more of a necessity in
class rather than an option. I still think some things would be difficult to
integrate into an English classroom. However, the use of wikis would be
extremely helpful. Roblyer and Doering (2013) describe a wiki as, “…a
collection of web pages located in an online community that encourage
collaboration and communication of ideas by having users contribute or modify
content, sometimes on a daily basis,” (223). This would be extremely helpful in
an English class when it comes to research papers. Using a wiki would allow for
students discuss potential paper topics and it would be a great place for them
to compare sources and get hints as to where to look for research information.
Favorite
Websites
Thinking about what my favorite
websites are Facebook is the first one that comes to mind. The only problem is
I do not see myself using it in a high school classroom because of the danger
of potentially crossing any lines in regard to student –teacher relationship.
The second website that comes to mind would have to be Google. I know this is
mentioned in the chapter for this module yet it has truly been a life saver
when I need a question answered quickly. Roblyer and Doering (2013) say in
regards to Google, “When searching Google, you are doing a keyword search,”
(219). This means that it is better to search just the word or phrase you need,
the fewer the words the better. I would direct students to use Google for a preliminary
search but to not let that be the only research attempt. After looking at the
usefulness of wikis, I searched to find a suitable website for wikis. I came
across Wikispaces which allows students to view wikis and also allows teachers
to set up wikis. Roblyer and Doering (2013) state, “Many instructors use wikis
both in their classes for their students to develop their own wikis or they
develop wikis to communicate their own content” (223-4). Wikis are useful so
that students can bounce ideas off one another and it also allows students to
let their voice be heard if they choose to not speak in the classroom. I could
use this as a way for students to discusses works read in class and talk about
the major themes using the wiki.
M3 http://t.co/dc2GiseeMX allows you to set up your own wiki as a teacher that you can use in your classroom! #ED527UM
— Michael (@mfisher8akl) October 4, 2013
In my opinion (and our textbook's) the best thing about wikis is the way they "encourage collaboration and communication of ideas" (Roblyer and Doering, p 223), which you touched on in your last paragraph. It's a format that lets students feel as though they are making a worthwhile contribution.
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