Check the Facts! Cross Check the Facts! Lessons & Media

Fact checking is essential in a (mis) information rich environment. 

FactCheck.org
Brilliant resource from the Annenberg Public Policy Center. There is also a six year archive of contents. As you would expect, the current materials focus on the health care debate.  For a truly balanced view of things, when the facts have been checked, and all varieties of political spin revealed this is my new FIRST STOP for FACTS.  This is a treasure trove!

Tags: media, research, factcheck, 21cif, evaluation

FactChecked.org
Luckily, FactCheck.org also has a highly developed classroom section that provides in-depth lesson plans and media links. These are highly polished materials for educators seeking a way to teach critical thinking and evaluation skills to their students. The Lesson Plan Archive ( http://www.factchecked.org/LessonPlans.aspx ) will intrigue any educator looking for a way to engage students. These plans are edgy and up to date. If you've been looking for a way to teach thinking and evaluation of media.

I've been vitally interested in Investigative Searching for sometime. Fact checking, triangulation of data, skeptical and inquisitive attitude has been part of that package all along. However, I hadn't focused on Fact Checking until I reviewed the results of our summer work with 1000 teenagers who took our new Investigative Searching 20/10 online course. The data clearly shows that Fact Checking is an area of great weakness. Teenagers HATE to fact check.

This resource could change all that because once you break through the barriers, this works is stimulating, engaging, and fun. In fact, I may try one of the plans with my current group of undergraduate teacher candidates. Monty Python and the Quest for the Perfect Fallacy really appeals to me!

If you decide to use this resource, let me know what you think! (Emphasis on the think. 8-)

~ Dennis In San Diego,  remembering Joe Friday's essence "Just the facts..."


Posted from Diigo. The rest of Information Fluency group favorite links are here.

Podcast: “Primary Source Learning Online” with Stephanie Norby of the Smithsonian

Smithsonian exploration of the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln

Hosts Susan Manning and Dan Balzer (well known for their great Learning Times Green Room podcast series), talk with Stephanie Norby, executive director of the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies.

http://www.internationalonlineconference.org/podcasts

Stephanie’s group hosted a very exciting online conference, bringing together curators and educators across the Smithsonian to explore the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Over three thousand participants logged in for the conference, from over 700 cities and 26 countries.

I hope you will will enjoy Stephanie's unique insights on the process - as well as get a glimpse of life within the world's largest museum complex and research organization, composed of 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo.

http://www.internationalonlineconference.org/podcasts

Stephanie will also be sharing her expertise as a keynote speaker at the 7th Annual International Online Conference for Teaching and Learning, and will offer a tour of the many free teaching resources available online from the Smithsonian museums.

IOC 2009 takes place completely online March 30-31, 2009. For more information visit:

http://www.internationalonlineconference.org/

Hope to see you there!

IOC 2009 is sponsored by LearningTimes, the Illinois Online Network (ION), and Lake Land College with the support of The Cutting Ed and the LT Green Room. Additional support is provided by Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO), Jossey-Bass, WebStudy and the Master of Science in Adult Education program at Indiana University.

Coolhunting: Social Network Analysis

Here's a link to a fascinating new post from Carl Heine, of Information Fluency Partners:

• Internet Search Challenge: Coolhunting Web 2.0

  Tags: coolhunting, web2.0, search

From the Blog: "The basis of coolhunting is that you can use Web 2.0 tools to locate creative swarms of individuals who are developing new ideas before they reach a tipping point. Web 2.0 forums, chat, bulletin boards, etc. (even emails) afford a window into the communication patterns of people who are engaged in creative swarms.

That means when searching Web 2.0 for information, at least 80% of people are at a distinct disadvantage. Without being involved in a conversation, they don't earn the trust of the individuals who are involved.

I highly recommend reading the book Coolhunting by Peter Gloor and Scott Cooper if you want to know more about social network analysis, swarm creativity, collaborative innovation networks and so on. There are some very powerful search tools in this field that are like Google on steroids. I'll blog about that later."

Posted from Diigo. The rest of Information Fluency group favorite links are here.

Tutorial & Game: Checking the Accuracy of a Website

This is the Accuracy MicroModule from the 21st Century Information Project. For more modules visit the website.


The accuracy of factual information can help you judge the credibility of the author. Accuracy of information can also provide clues to possible bias in the resource under investigation.

Most web pages are not reviewed or edited by professional editors or publishers. Anyone can post just about anything they want on the Internet. A second grader can claim to be a Nobel prize winner. A Russian professor can be mistaken for an American child due to lack of familiarity with the English language. Satirists or hoax perpetrators can build websites that present an alternate reality.


Don't rely on first impressions. Ask Questions!

A good way to check factual data is by asking probing questions.

Practice this critical thinking skill until it is second nature.

Ask yourself:

What claims is the author making?
What evidence does the author give to support those claims?
What evidence do I find elsewhere to support those claims?
What evidence do I find elsewhere to refute those claims?



How can you check the accuracy of information on a web page? Find the Evidence! Look for:

proper nouns
dates
essential keywords

Use these embedded information accuracy clues to check the facts by using a search engine to confirm or refute the facts under investigation.



Triangulation of Data: This is a standard for serious research. Find at least three sources that agree on the same data point. If you can't find three credible resources that confirm the data, be suspicious!

For example, the distance from the earth to the sun is 93 million miles, fluctuating up to 3 million miles due to its elliptical orbit. Some resources will just say 90 million miles, some 93 million miles and stop there. Until you have three sources that agree on a number, you don't really know for sure. Remember triangulation of data is crucial when checking accuracy.



Is it Accurate? Shall we play a game?

Test your skills at:

finding embedded evidence
checking evidence for accuracy
triangulation of data

Launch Game!

Knowing your Audience? Or I should say, knowing the audience of your audience?

In the first issue of our newsletter we begin a series about what the current crop of kids (i.e. digital natives) know and don’t know. Our research tells us they don’t know much about the formal strategies of searching. (See Five Things Digital Natives Cannot Do (and what you can do to help, coming soon!)

We as educators, do know a bit about this generation of students. I found this link on Gary Price’s Research Shelf to Lee Rainie’s March 23rd speech: Life Online: Teens and technology and the world to come. This speech was given to the annual conference of the Public Library Association of Boston. (Teens and Technology.pdf) Rainie describes our students as the Millennials (born 1982 – 2000). He then shares eight recent findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project that he directs.

I will provide a few direct quotes from Rainie’s speech as a teaser! ~ Dennis O'Connor, 21CIF.

How Millennials Approach Research:“For your purposes, it’s important to note that Millennials’ devotion to the internet has greatly shaped the way they approach research process. In many cases, they start projects by going online and browsing around. When they have questions, they will often ping their social network for advice and guidance.

They approach research as a self-directed process. Those who want to serve them would probably do well to think of themselves as “info support” in the same way all our offices have “tech support”: on call and ready to deal with problems, but not in my face showing me every possible function and setting on my computer.”

Brave New World?The 21 st Century Information Fluency Project plans to adapt and grow to meet the needs and demands of ‘new workers and consumers’ in the coming age. It is a great feeling to be out here on the bleeding edge helping to define this reality.

"I can’t tell you precisely how different this work and research environment will be – and I would be very wary of anyone who claims to know for sure just how much change will occur.

I think it is safe to say, though, for the new workers and consumers coming of age in the 21 st Century, learning and research will be:

• More self directed and less dependent on top-down instructions


• Better arrayed to capture new information inputs


• More reliant on feedback and response


• More tied to group outreach and group knowledge


• More open to cross-discipline insights, creating its own “tagged” taxonomies

And

• More oriented towards people being their own individual nodes of production.

As a researcher, I see this new world as a fantastically target-rich environment for things to study.

Your role is much more complicated, scary, and exciting. You have the privilege of reacting to and shaping the new environment for these emerging workers.

As the parent of four of these neo-workforce participants, I would only ask you to be brilliant at what you do."

~ Lee Rainie

So What Do You Think?

Does Rainie's description of the new generation jibe with your personal experience? Are the kids in your classes the fluid digital natives that the Pew Internet & American Life Project so richly describes?

Library Media AASL survey of State Staffing Requirements

Doug Johnson, recently sent important information to the ISTE Media Specialists Special Interest Group about state requirements for staffing.

Doug has created a Wiki and invited all media specialists to update specific information about their states.

http://dougj.pbwiki.com/State-staffing-requirements

"I hope readers will add to or correct any information about their states. The editing password for the wiki is WORLD.

All the very best and thanks, Doug "

Check it out and consider adding important information to this resource!

~Dennis

The Myth of the Google Generation

Do you believe in the Myth that kids know more about the Internet than you do? Many educators seem to assume that the current generation of ‘net-savy’ kids know what they are doing when it comes to internet based research. Now, scientific research has established what many of us have known all along: today’s kids don’t have a clue about how to find information online.

It was this insight that lead Dr. Carl Heine of the 21st Century Information Fluency project to call the net-generation, the Untaught Generation. In his series of articles: Five Things Today’s Digital Generation Cannot Do (and what you can do to help) Dr. Heine explains the skills today’s students need.

The following information was originally published by The Resource Shelf under the title The Google Generation is a Myth.

“A new report, commissioned by JISC and the British Library, counters the common assumption that the ‘Google Generation’ – young people born or brought up in the Internet age – is the most adept at using the web. The report by the CIBER research team at University College London claims that, although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to asses the information that they find on the web.”

Here is a link to a 35 page pdf of the full report: ‘Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future’ 35 pages; PDF) Key findings are summarized by this telling statement: “…traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors.” (Italics ours.)

We all know that vital 21st century skills like information literacy and information fluency have been elbowed out of the way by the drill and fill demands of a test pressured curriculum. Let’s hope the nation collectively wakes up to the realities that today’s kids (and educators) are in desperate need of training in the critical thinking skills needed to search, evaluate, and ethically use digital information.

Joyce Valenza –21st Century Research Skills!

Navigating the Shifting Information Landscape

Interview with Joyce Valenza This interview is with Joyce Valenza, Springfield Township (PA) High School Teacher-Librarian and technology writer, who is a featured blogger and presenter at numerous conferences.

What are the greatest challenges for teachers and teacher-librarians when teaching the effective use of research skills/strategies? At this moment it is understanding the shifting landscape. The last two years saw dramatic change in the information landscape. The change forces us to examine new questions: How do we respect intellectual property in a mash-up universe? What do creative, effective information products look like? How do we balance issues of privacy and safety in an information landscape that busts through borders and invites us to share our ideas and our work? How do we use these new tools to participate creatively in global discussion? How do we best exploit exciting new opportunities for authorship and audience? What "old world" tools and skills need to be carried over into our new projects?

You have spoken of students as being either "sponges," absorbing information passively; or "miners," actively searching for information gems. How can educators structure research assignments to help students become “miners” instead of “sponges”? If they haven't already done so, every district should ban the "report." If you asked me to write a report on Pennsylvania, I'd likely print you an encyclopedia article. That work has already been done far better than I could do it myself. Students need to use information to imagine, to solve, to analyze, to propose, to invent, to create. Give me a challenge or allow me to create my own information challenge based on my own questions and passions. Ask me (or allow me) instead to create a commercial promoting travel to my state and post it on YouTube. Ask me to make a decision (based on criteria I myself develop) about whether to move to Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. Ask me to collaborate on solving a local problem in a wiki and to present my solution using a media slideshow I could share on the Web.

How can Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, del.icio.us, and GoogleDocs enhance and transform the teaching of K-12 information literacy/fluency skills? Among the most powerful applications we've used so far: Blogs to record, manage and reflect on major research projects. These make the chaotic process more transparent and more interactive. They allow teacher, librarian, mentor, and peer intervention. They can also prevent research disasters. Wiki pathfinders allow teachers, librarians and learners to collaborate as they construct guides for projects and lead students to sources they might not discover independently. We've moved most of our lit circle activity to blogs. Each circle manages its discussion, setting up timelines, establishing categories. Our teachers love that they can easily assess the level of participation and quickly gather what any group or student had to say regarding characterization. We love using tools like Animoto and Voicethread for preparing powerful media presentations.We use GoogleDocs for group writing and to allow teachers and librarians to suggest edits. We are exploring ZohoPolls for original research as well. Students work hard to craft solid questions and make sense of the data they collect.We've recognized what our misuse of PowerPoint has done to our school. We are considering new presentation options and tools, as well as the concept of "presentation zen." How can we best connect with an audience? What does effective storytelling look like in the 21st century?

How can we help our students create their own meaningful information spaces to support their work as learners? I think we may need to guide them to widgetizing their personal desktops. This year we asked our seniors to use iGoogle as a tool to organize their senior projects. I see more tools like that emerging. Now students can open an interface and be presented with their favorite online dictionary, foreign language tools, mapping tool, thesaurus, calendar, to-do list, while they push research-relevant RSS feeds to them through a reader. They choose their theme. Their little game applets are there too. This was perhaps the "stickiest" activity they've done yet this school year. The spaces continue to grow more personally meaningful.

I look forward to the day when we can offer more widgetized library tools. So the student who needs the American History database this semester can drag that widget onto her desktop and replace it (or schooch it further down) to substitute a science database widget next semester. We also ask students to consider their research blogs as their own information spaces. Blogs help students organize, categorize, reflect. They can be customized learning spaces.

Tech Tip: Personalize Your Desktop With Gadgets and Widgets A host of free “mini-apps” are available to personalize your computer workspace for fun and productivity, and to gather your frequently-used information resources in one spot. In Macintosh OS X, these are called “dashboard widgets”, in Yahoo they are “widgets”, in Windows Vista they are “sidebar gadgets” and in iGoogle they are simply “gadgets”. Since there is no universal format for widgets/gadgets, a widget designed for Mac’s OS X Dashboard won’t work in iGoogle or Vista, or vice versa. However, there are options for converting Google gadgets to Dashboard or Vista Sidebar formats.

Here are links to directions and galleries for adding widgets/gadgets to Mac OS X, iGoogle, Vista, and Yahoo.

How to Add Widgets to Mac OS X Tiger Dashboard; Apple Downloads – Dashboard Widgets How to Create and Share Your Own iGoogle Gadgets Personalize Windows Vista Sidebar Yahoo! Widgets

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