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Vol 8|No 2|October|1998 |
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From Now On
Because of the "noise issues" accompanying networked information, many schools now recognize the importance of equipping all teachers and all students with information literacy skills (see September From Now On, "Forming the Information Literate School Community"). Schools are also awakening to the need for guidance systems which provide a platform for exploration. Under this approach, we begin student research with carefully distilled information combined with focused thinking and reading. We start them with quality and structure. We encourage them to move outward from this core of value to explore the fringe. We hope they will move from conventional wisdom to unconventional wit and uncommon thought. The blend takes them to new places.
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Responsible teachers understandably balk at the idea of surfing toward intimate knowledge of essential questions. Few of us have the time to sit on our boards waiting for that perfect wave. We prefer to garden or mine or fish for reliable information and we seek the very best tools and strategies to speed us toward our goals. |
We keep looking for "knowbots," "intelligent agents" and "user interfaces" that might help our students sort their way through the noise and the static.
Fortunately, software, information and publishing companies are growing acutely aware of the need for such products, as "noise reduction" has become a major marketing focus.
Apple markets System 8.5 with a big push for Sherlock, an enhanced "finding program" which helps you to scour the Internet, the files on your own computer as well as the shared files on your network fileservers.
The words of "Amazing Grace" come to mind . . .
But now I'm found
Twas blind
But now I see
Information abundance is not always a blessing it seems.
Second Hand Smoke
Not all information encountered along the Information is healthy for young people. Not so long ago, information for schools was selected because it matched curriculum goals, reading levels and developmental needs. Now the Net offers a carnival side show with much that would never pass by a textbook approval committee.
In a wide open search process, students are likely to encounter the equivalent of "second hand smoke." They set out looking for one thing but are almost certain to taste information exhaust, dust, and smoke. The percentage of irrelevant "hits" can be quite high. Some of these will include offensive and possibly damaging materials.
Reliability
In many cases, the information available on the free Internet has been placed there by amateurs, many of whom are passionate, some of whom are skilled and others of whom are bigoted. Because professional information providers (writers, researchers, reporters, editors and publishers) strive to make a living from their information gathering and development, much of their work still carries with it a price. If you want to read the Wall Street Journal online, you pay a subscription fee. While many newspapers are flirting with free Internet access, most are looking for ways to generate more than advertising revenue to support the work of their information providers.
For now, at least, much of the free information on the Internet is of questionable reliability. Mixed in with the questionable may be many highly reliable reports from government agencies and government funded research projects, but even these reports can provide entirely contradictory findings and interpretations.
A recent report from the highly respected Educational Testing Service (available free online at http://www.ets.org/research/pic/technolog.html) was summarized by the New York Times with a headline almost exactly contradicted by the Washington Post.
Computers Help Math Learning, Study Finds (NYT, September 30, 1998)
Study Faults Computers’ Use in Math Education (WP, September 30, 1998)
If you wish to read the Washington Post article, the Post tells you the following . . .
You can search The Washington Post archives for free, but a fee will be charged to see the full text of any article published more than two weeks ago. Stories published in the past 14 days are available at no cost on our main search page.
The following prices will be charged to read the full text of stories: $2.95 per article on weekdays, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time and $1.50 per article all other times.
If you wish to read the New York Times article, the Times tells you the following . . .
Our Archives service allows you to search for articles from the last 365 days of The New York Times and Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Searching is free. After you find the article you want, you can print it out or save it on your computer. Each time you download an article $2.50 will be charged to your credit card.
While the Educational Testing report seems free, we actually paid for it with our taxes as the report shares the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
We are noting that there may be no "free lunch" on the Internet. One way or the other we may pay a price for quality.
Examples of Products
Offering Guidance
New products keep emerging which promise to help us find just the "right stuff." The promise is enticing. The notion is seductive.
"Let our fingers do the searching!"
"Leave the linking to us!
Those of us who have worked in teams to find solid Internet sites which match our curriculum goals have thrown away 95 sites for every 5 we keep. There is an enormous amount of garbage to wade through. One team of middle school teachers in 1997 spent four hours to find just two substantial and worthwhile sites devoted to volcanoes (the USGS site and Volcano World).
Creating lists of reliable Internet resources is time consuming, expensive and beyond the reach of the average school. If only we could buy a selection service which would point students toward excellence!
Encyclopaedia Britannica
The online and CD-ROM versions of Encyclopaedia Britannica (http://www.eb.com/) (EB) both offer premium information which is easily searched. This electronic encyclopedia is quite user friendly. Navigation is intuitive. The whole feel of the learning experience is upbeat and enticing rather than dry and dull. "Swell!" I found myself reacting as I first started tasting its offerings. "This sure has improved since the printed versions of my childhood."
In order to save readers time and direct them to supplemental resources on the Internet, at the end of many articles the editors offer Internet links along with suggestions for further reading and research in print materials.
"What a great feature!" I immediately decided. "That could save so much time and trouble."
The offer of Internet links is attractive and reassuring on the face of it. Rather than spending 5-10 hours looking for Internet links about Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims (as I did in November of 1996), we should be able to turn to EB, read the excellent background articles and then click on Internet links to extend our knowledge and really dig down deep into what we would hope to be the far more substantial resources of the Internet.
When I tested the quality of the Internet links, I often found myself more impressed by the EB article than the material being recommended on the Internet. I soon came to feel that the folks at EB were doing the best they could with a very weak and poorly developed (Internet) collection not of their own making. Instead of providing substantial resources to extend and deepen our understanding of important historical figures and events, the Internet rarely offered anything on a par with the quality of the encyclopedia itself. This was disappointing but not altogether surprising.
The chart below shows what happened when I explored the EB Internet links. It also shows the results when using Microsoft Bookshelf and Encarta.
King Phillip's War
Bikini Atoll
Mary Cassatt
Claude Monet
Georgia O’Keeffe
Benedict Arnold
Molly Pitcher
Crispus Attucks
Paul Revere
Anne Hutchinson
Ethan Allen
Nathan Hale
Patrick Henry
Sojourner Truth
Thomas Paine
Mars
Pluto
Mercury
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
George Washington
O.J. Simpson
There were no Internet links provided by EB for four topics (King Phillip's War, Bikini Atoll, Crispus Attucks and Nathan Hale) and only 1-2 links for three other topics.
When I tried to find good Internet sites myself for those topics, I found 95 "hits" for King Phillip's War (mostly slight references to the war with little information).
There were 951 "hits" for Bikini Atoll, several of which were quite informative and worthy of mention. Chief among these was the Bikini Atoll Web Site http://www.bikiniatoll.com/home.html - sponsored and copyrighted by the Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Government Council and RMI Online (Republic of the Marshall Islands Online) http://www.rmiembassyus.org/index.html
There were 495 "hits" for Crispus Attucks, but none I found in the first 100 which offered information on a par with the EB article.
There were 1,646 matches for Nathan Hale, but none I found in the first 200 which offered information on a par with the EB article
In a previous article for FNO I created a listing called the Hotbot Top Forty which reported how many hits emerged when searching for important leaders, celebrities and thinkers. I often found that celebrity status held more sway than the contribution made by the individual.
The Internet seems to favor pop culture and celebrities while virtually ignoring the heroes (Crispus Attucks, Molly Pitcher, Paul Revere and Nathan Hale) and villains (Benedict Arnold) of our past. Important but often controversial topics from our past (King Phillip's War and the Bikini Atoll) can also fail the test of "currency" which often seems to dominate Web publishing more than "comprehensiveness" or "impact on civilization."
Of all the historical figures I checked, only Thomas Paine had more than a dozen EB Internet links, and he along with and George Washington (11 links) were the only ones for whom the Internet links provided information which was substantially deeper and quite different from that provided by the encyclopedia. Paine ran far ahead with 15 links compared to Anne Hutchinson (5), Ethan Allen (3), Patrick Henry (4), and Sojourner Truth (7).
Why is Thomas Paine (who was long viewed as a bit too radical a thinker to be held up too high as a hero) winning so much Internet attention? He attracted 5,084 matches on Hotbot.
We could hypothesize that writers (particularly dead ones) and political figures with diaries and memoirs, may leave behind more material (now public domain) which can create an Internet presence, while those who acted and died for their country without benefit of publicist or diary, have less to show for their efforts in a land of HTML. We could also hypothesize that certain thinkers, because they were somewhat radical in their own times, attract a turn of the century, cult following which likes to publish their hero's work on the Net.
When I checked out three painters, I found that EB provided far more Internet links for them than for the historical events and figures just mentioned. Claude Monet (whose work has recently starred in some mega-exhibits) came out on top with 90, followed by fellow Impressionist Mary Cassatt at 44 and Georgia O'Keeffe at a distant 10.
Current public awareness of a figure seems to play a role in these results, but I also found that a very large percentage of the links were single paintings, many of which were from the same Web site. None of the artists had more than a half dozen sites offering biographical material, and while some of these were quite good, even the best were pretty much on a par with the original EB article. The value of the Internet links lay in the quality of the paintings available, not in the depth of reading material offered.
George O'Keeffe (perhaps because of copyright law?) fell way behind the other two artists for no apparently sound reason since she has also attracted tremendous attention in recent years.
EB had more to offer in the way of Internet links when it came to science. Planets, earthquakes and volcanoes fared better than historical figures, events and artists.
After spending quite a few hours with the mix of Internet and EB articles and information, I found myself wondering why anyone would bother with the Internet when learning about history. At the same time, I felt grateful to EB when it came to topics better treated by the Internet. The EB links were a vast improvement over the use of an Internet search engine which drowned me in noise and worthless sites.
Microsoft Bookshelf
Bookshelf offers Internet links from time to time when you explore a topic, but they are quite infrequent and rarely show signs of careful information prospecting. As was clear from the table above, Bookshelf suggests no Internet sites at all for 11 historical figures and events. O.J. Simpson outscores George Washington 2 to 1!
Bookshelf does much better with scientific topics such as the planets, earthquakes and volcanoes, but people and historical events fare poorly. Even though there are a few sites for our three painters, it is a thin and lack luster listing which appears hastily conceived. EB wins hands down when its Internet links are compared to Bookshelf's.
Encarta
When it comes to Internet links, Encarta has little to offer for the historical figures and events on the list, providing no Internet links at all for 6 of them and 1-2 links each for another 5 of them. When it comes to scientific issues and artists, Encarta does a solid job, settling for fewer sites than EB but offering a half dozen high quality sites which showed signs of careful selection. Encarta offers brief annotations which identify the source, in contrast to EB which provides brief annotations without mention of source. Science (planets, earthquakes and volcanoes) was the only category I examined for which Encarta offered Internet sites which amplified the basic encyclopedia article.
As was the case for EB, it seemed that the staff of Encarta was doing a conscientious job of locating Internet resources for topics which were adequately covered by the Internet and could hardly be faulted when there was little quality available.
Curriculum Associates
This company offers curriculum related Web sites which have been captured on a CD-ROM, permitting students to experience those pages within the relative safety of the CD-ROM. The company has found sites to support major themes and curriculum topics such as "endangered species." They send students to pages from the World Wild Life Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and other sites with high quality. The product simulates the Web experience while keeping students "local" in what amounts to an electronic playpen. Curriculum Associates http://www.curriculumassociates.com/
Kathy Schrock's List
Kathy Schrock's List http://www.capecod.net/schrockguide/ is a non-commercial example of excellent guidance. A former school librarian, Kathy finds the best sites on the Internet to support school programs and points us to them. No fuss. No bother. In an arena all too often crowded with hype and hyperbole, the simplicity and directness of Kathy's list is especially compelling.
The Interface Strategy
The Internet lacks several things which have made libraries useful in the past: organization, comprehensiveness and reliability. It requires entirely too much wading and wandering about to serve as a very useful tool in support of serious thought and inquiry on many subjects. Schools which value time and productivity invest in user "interfaces" which point staff and students to information worth their time and attention. This approach in no way prevents them from enjoying the Internet in its "wild west" form. The idea is to offer an alternative which restores the kind of order and quality we have come to expect from a sound library.
Preview
Someone must invest time in culling through hundreds of Internet sites to determine which ones are worth a visit and which ones are appropriate for various age groups. We either create our own lists of good sites for our schools or we rely upon the good judgment of folks like Kathy Schrock. When companies like Encyclopedia Britannica and MicroSoft offer us reliable guides to the Internet, we add them to our array of user interfaces.
Select & Display
As we sort through the available sites, we apply a half dozen or more criteria to determine which are worth including on our list.
1. Is the author and the source of the information clear?
Y/N
2. Does the author have sufficient academic credentials, experience or expertise?
Y/N
3. Is the information provided in a reasonably balanced manner?
Y/N
4. Is there any sign of bias or distortion?
Y/N
5. Is the information reasonably complete and comprehensive?
Y/N
6. Does the information take us beyond "encyclopedia understanding?"
Y/N
7. Is the reading level age appropriate?
Y/N
8. Is the site reasonably free of offensive material?
Y/N
9. Is the site well organized?
Y/N
10. Does the site offer something more than we might find in a book?
Y/N
Guide
Once we have found good sites, we take care to offer the list in ways which help the learners make wise choices. We need to avoid huge scrolling lists with dozens of sites because it makes choice difficult. Better to stick to a dozen which are well annotated - meaning that we have written several sentences describing what our colleagues and students are going to find when they visit the site.
Concentric Rings
and Strategic Research
We should teach students to conduct "strategic" research. They make wise choices. They spend little time stuck in the mud. They move swiftly, cutting through smog and glut. They keep their eye on the prize.
They collect only what is pertinent. They build new ideas and test hypotheses as they explore. They are much more than information hunters and gatherers. They are inventors.
They begin with the "core" and move outward. They pass through concentric rings, reaching out toward new possibilities.
Core information sources - highly organized, condensed and concentrated. They start with "conventional wisdom," acquire background and perspective, and then they branch out in search of the non-conventional, the tangential and the peripheral.
Because the Internet is trendy, many students rush to electronic sources before consulting more traditional sources which might offer greater value and more depth. Unfortunately, for many topics and questions, the Internet represents a "fringe" source rather than a "core" source. Its value lies in divergence and irreverence. It makes a poor launching pad for serious thought and investigation.
The strategic researcher takes the Internet for what it does best and looks elsewhere for depth and intensity.
We consider the developmental needs and readiness of our students . . .
Naive & Unskilled (ages 6-10)
Our youngest and least skilled students have the most need for a well structured "head-start" instead of a "jump start." Given the high percentage of noise and static they are likely to encounter on the "free Internet" it is irresponsible to throw young ones onto the Net as if it were some kind of substitute for a good elementary school library. In many respects, those who cut back library and book budgets to find funds for Web surfing are guilty of replacing cultural literacy with mass culture and pop culture. They are condemning students to a sitcom view of reality.
Emergent (ages 10-14)
Once students have acquired information literacy skills (prospecting, translating and creating new meaning) they can begin to explore the new information landscape like prospectors of old, keeping in mind the value of core resources and reliable information. Schools must make informed judgments about readiness and maturity, launching young ones into the less structured information terrain with something more than a "sink or swim" approach.
Free Range (ages 14+)
We expect students to leave high school with a great deal of skill and independent problem-solving ability. We must begin weaning them from unnecessary structures and guidance as they enter high school, teaching them to make wise choices and operate as free agents.
Credits: The photographs were shot by Jamie McKenzie. Icons from Jay Boersma. Copyright Policy: Materials published in From Now On may be duplicated in hard copy format if unchanged in format and content for educational, nonprofit school district use only and may also be sent from person to person by e-mail. This copyright statement must be included. All other uses, transmissions and duplications are prohibited unless permission is granted expressly. Showing these pages remotely through frames is not permitted.
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