Thing 11

I was thinking about how similar proper digital citizenry is to researching and writing about literature in my class. We want our students to manifest appropriate behavior in the library--to be quiet and not bother others, to use the materials carefully without marring the books, to give proper attribution for ideas and words that we borrow from others.

I think in my lesson I would talk about these same things--and of course, as a notorious example, we are experiencing and suffering as an entire school district from the acts of those who did not use Wikipedia appropriately this summer. This example alone should help students to see there really are consequences for misusing internet sources. These consequences are probably even more serious than misusing library sources, because while the library may not ban a student for misbehavior, internet sources can. I would talk about using courtesy on the internet as well as in any public space. The internet is an extension of our resources which used to be only physical, and we must use the privileges we gain from using the internet respectfully and carefully.

In addition students need to be guided into careful use of internet sources just as they are guided into appropriate library sources for the level of their essay. My students now are aware that anything can be posted on the internet--from Johnny Jones' eighth grade paper on To Kill a Mockingbird to serious scholarly articles. The sources likely to pop up at the top when they type Scarlet Letter into Google are Sparknotes and other sources of that level. I ask them to see me if they find a source which they are in doubt about or which does not have an author.

And, of course, Google searches tend to turn up less than scholarly material, though you must really look hard to find something worthy to cite in a literary analysis. Yes..I know Google Scholar exists, but so far, I have found it impossible to use.

We are finding some great stuff on the internet--I am astounded at how much I depend on it for information now--but also lots of junk. Being a responsible internet citizen means learning how to find what will work and dismiss what won't.

By the way, with our projectors hooked up to our computers now at school, I can easily walk the students through a lesson doing research with the library materials, though I am having a terrible time actually recording voice and screen shots in Jing!!