Research Report:Ê To Become Internet Literate
1.) The first site I decided to checkout from previous generations was Christineâs report.Ê It had all the titles using words I felt very familiar with when I first started this course:Ê Frustrated, stresses, anxious, and depressed.Ê Christineâs report focused on what a tole the Internet can have on your piece of mind.Ê She gives you examples of other generationsâ experiences and her own in her report.Ê She begins by asking a relevant question, ãHow many of you out their experienced frustration while using the computer?äÊ She admits to be almost completely computer illiterate when she started the class and felt a little intimidated when Dr. James started describing what the class was about and the type of work required for the course.Ê ãEverything that was discussed in class was completely foreign to me, I couldnât even begin to understand what the heck was going on·.ä.Ê Thank God I wasnât the only one.
2.) My reaction to her report was pure exhilaration.Ê I was so relieved I wasnâtÊÊ the only lost soul in the group.Ê I experienced the same thing when I first started course.Ê I knew I was going to be facing some definite challenges.Ê See, I am not exactly what you would call Internet literate.Ê I thought it would be fairly easy to breeze through it all.Ê As Christine progressed in her research, she seemed to become more comfortable and at ease.Ê I could definitely see the phases she went through.Ê I felt the same way.Ê At first it was very nerve racking trying to do a simple search at times.Ê But after repeated attempts, I felt myself becoming more relaxed and actually looking forward to what I was going to find on my next search.Ê
3.) The pattern I saw with Christine experienced and in relation to my own experiences started with stress and negativity.Ê It slowly progressed to excitement and confidence.Ê I think the cause of this pattern is similar to anything that is foreign to someone.Ê At first, stereotyping and frustration are exhibited because you donât really know what this obstacle is all about or how it all works.Ê After first hand experience and getting familiar with it, we are able to deal with and work with it in a way that is sufficient for us. ÊThrough this experience, one can begin to understand and even appreciate the importance of technology through the use of the Internet.Ê My hypothesis is that through the steady relationship that is built with the Internet, you no longer have to be afraid or intimidated by what you donât understand.Ê Having the courage to figure it out is the most important step you take in the whole process.
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Ryan
Mitsui
1.) The second site I visited discussed the phases the student went through and gave great tips at the end for important functions to setting up your site and reports.Ê The student had three specific phases that he titled as CONFUSION, RESISTANCE, and the SPIDERMAN phase.Ê The first phase talked about what, I think, everyone goes through at the beginning of the course, ãI felt confused and disoriented.Ê I didnât understand what I was suppose to be doing and I felt a lot of anxiety because I wasnât sure I would be able to complete all of the tasks.äÊ The next phase talked about exactly what I felt at the beginning of this very report.Ê I wanted to give up and take the easy way out and just drop the class.Ê Cut my losses.Ê But I couldnât.Ê As she described her experience, ã What was I getting myself into? I had serious thoughts about giving up and dropping the class.äÊ The last phase talked about how you transform form feeling inadequate and useless to feeling like a superhero flying through the Internet.Ê The student was adamant about the importance of repeated practice and use of the Internet.Ê That is the only way to become a pro at it, ã·as I practiced using the links, going to and from my home page to other peoples documents and the instructors home page, things began to come together.ä
The last half of the report gave great tips on constructing your report and sites.Ê From how using Microsoft Word first and then uploading your work helps speed up the process, to tips on the different ways to ãtagä your reports.Ê How to enlarge or decrease font, how to make your words different colors.Ê He even told how to change your backgrounds on your site and individual reports.Ê I donât know about you, but I sure didnât know how to design a web page.Ê Much less upload one.
2.) I reacted to her description in a very similar way.Ê I could definitely feel myself going through the different phases she described.Ê I went through a very similar experience.Ê At the very beginning, I felt so confused and lost in all the techy lingo that was floating around in class.Ê I started not liking it and even dreading having to do the reports because I was not comfortable with using the computer and the Internet in this type of way.Ê But I found myself rising above the challenge ahead.Ê Through the progression of my use of the Internet, I found myself becoming quicker and more sufficient.Ê I even began to feel like some sort of computer nerd.Ê HA, HA!
3.) The patterns observed in this report were excellent examples of what students taking this class go through.Ê From absolute anxiety, faced with something that may of us shy away from and try to avoid at all costs.Ê Then allowing that inadequate feeling take over into total rejection of the whole idea, like an egg turning rotten.Ê Finally, we begin to be able to face our fears and overcome the obstacles.Ê Becoming confident with the Internet because it becomes something comfortable and familiar to our understanding.Ê My hypothesis is that through repeated practice and an open mind, anything becomes possible.Ê Even becoming a computer nerd.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Michelle
Alonzo
1.) The third and final report I looked at gave another type of pattern or phase process that was very interesting and similar to the previous reports I read.Ê These phases included frustration and anger, defeat, seeing a glimmer of light, motivation, and feeling of success.Ê She describes her first experience as, ã·the most difficult thing I had to do.äÊ Probably because like so many of us she, ã· really never had any formal instruction on how to do the most basic techniques on the Internetä.Ê This student described one of the worst experiences to be procrastination.Ê I can TOTALLY RELATE!!Ê God knows I redefined the word during this course.Ê Her negative experiences were actually helpful to her because they were actually a part of the whole learning process.Ê They were necessary in order for her to excel in the end.Ê The student also mentioned the importance of working with other classmates and with prior generations reports to help in her learning process.Ê ãIf youâre doing it all on your own without someone there whoâs going through the same process as you are, you may be in deep trouble·ä
2.) My reaction to this report was very comforting.Ê I felt very relieved that someone else struggled the same way I did through this whole process.Ê The titles she gave to her different phases were very appropriate to what I felt I went through in my own experience.Ê From frustration to success, I went through it all.Ê The feature I felt most related to was when she talked about procrastination.Ê That was my middle name through the whole process.Ê This course was something I didnât want to face.Ê I had to come to terms with the whole idea and my own fears in order for me to turn it all around.Ê I was able to come out of it with a feeling of success and relief.Ê I can definitely say I came out of it feeling a sense of achievement and that I have learned something that will be valuable to me in my future ventures, whatever they may be.
3.) The pattern I saw in this last report I looked at was similar to the other two reports. But gave a little more insight into what it takes to be able to come out of it gaining something valuable for yourself.Ê The cause of negative to positive attitude, I think, is through the process.Ê Gaining insight into something you are afraid of and then overcoming that fear.Ê My hypothesis is that through hard work, dedication, and help from others, one can do things that they never thought they would be able to or even want to do.Ê The lesson learned throughout this course is that when we take ourselves out of our comfort zone, and pushed to do something that we are not familiar with or scared of, when we come out of it we have gained knowledge and skill that can benefits us in so may ways without even being aware of it.Ê What is so good about the set up of this course is that it forces you to be aware of the changes that you go through and realize the benefits that are gained through the whole experience.
1.) To start my self-observation, I would like to invite you to view my forms.Ê I ask you to explore this file for detailed information on how I put my data together.Ê Through the forms I filled out during my research experience, I went back later to analyze this data in more depth.Ê Reflection on this information allowed me to better understand my entire experience and the process I went through.Ê I got to see how perception progressed through repeated attempts at learning through the Internet.Ê It helped me to see more clearly exactly what phases I went through one search at a time.Ê I also was able to relate my experience with others that went through the same process.Ê
2.) I gathered the data through repeated practice of searching the web for specific topics I was trying to gain information on.Ê I would like to point out the Forum discussions and the Annotated Bibliography to give you a better idea of what was expected in order to obtain the sufficient data needed for analysis.Ê Every time I did a search, I didnât get the significance of filling out the forms and they took a lot of time to do.Ê But after a while, I saw how they affected the way I did my searches.Ê The forms made me consciously aware of each experience I went through on the web search.Ê The forms are wonderful detailed accounts of what I went through every time I did a search.
3.) In summarizing and looking at the data I collected, I did find an interesting pattern for some of the question asked in the forms.Ê I noticed that in comparing #15 and #20, which talked about the effort expected verses the effort actually taken in doing the task there was a big difference.Ê For #15, which asked the expected effort before the task was done, averaged at 6 (not that much effort).Ê Whereas in question #20, which asked what the actual effort was for the task averaged at 8 (a good amount of effort).Ê This made me realize that I really didnât expect the task to take as much effort for me as it really did when I actually did the task at first.Ê But as I proceeded, I realized that my expected effort verses my actual effort became closer together from a difference of 6 and 8 to a closer average of 7 and 8. ÊI think this reflects my repeated practice and learning of how to do my tasks more sufficiently over time.Ê
I think this is a valid finding in helping me not only understand the process I went through, but also in helping me plan future searches to allow me to give myself more time and to prepare me for having to put a little more work into what I am doing during my search.Ê In looking at the explanation verses the numbers for these two particular questions, I found them to relate to one another.Ê The explanation gave good insight into why I chose those particular numbers.
4.) In looking at the overall data, I can conclude that my behavioral and thought process was definitely affected through this whole process.Ê I went from feeling unprepared and a little intimidated, not thinking that it would take as much work as it actually did in the beginning.Ê To feeling frustrated and stressed when I realized how much work and time it really did take and trying to understand the system.Ê To finally feeling confident and actually looking forward to getting on the web.Ê In the end my effort and work time actually decreased because I got use to the system.Ê I learned a process that was sufficient and easy for me.Ê The search engine and computer I used were actually very sufficient and well equipped with a wide variety of information.Ê I expanded my search with the use of new search engines that I learned about through my experience.Ê It was just getting to know how the system worked and then using it to my advantage.
1.) The counseling session was actually quite interesting and informative.Ê I didnât really think I would get anything out of it.Ê I went and filled out the consent form where I found out we were part of the research.Ê I went into a search engine called Vivismo.Ê I looked up topics the same way I did using other search engines.Ê The Vivismo search engine was very efficient and gave good information pertaining to my topics I was researching.Ê It gave two different listings for sites to go to which I thought was a good feature.Ê I have used this engine after my counseling session a few times, not only for my psy. 409 class, but for other searches as well.
2.) The only suggestions I have for improvement are to maybe trying to schedule the counseling session at the beginning of the course before the annotated bibliography.Ê I found the session to be helpful in understanding the class as well.Ê This session not only gives a great tool to use for future work, it helped put the course into better perspective and allows the participants to get the broader picture of the courses intent. So scheduling the session at the beginning would benefit future generations.Ê The other suggestion I have in describing the class material and requirements.Ê I think it is essential to let the students clearly know that a large part of the course work involves being able to design a web page.Ê I didnât realize how much skill was necessary in the designing department in order to be successful in the class.Ê I didnât have a clue as to how much work would have to be put into knowing how to design a web page.Ê I think this is one of the reasons why I had such a hard time in the class.Ê
1.) Dr. Jamesâs article showed how this type of web classroom has helped students who participate in it to become better equipped in certain areas of development over the years of the classroom has helped students who participated in it to become better equipped in certain areas of development over the years of the courses standing.Ê The different areas of learning that are involved in this whole process have to do with information literacy in relation to the internet, self sufficient autonomous learning and finally developing into a leader that sets examples for others.Ê These skills are inherited through time and dedication that are essential for not only being successful in the course, but also in order to obtain and benefit from something that you have taken the initiative to understand and master.Ê
2.) My research report and my experience fit into Dr, James approach in a couple of ways.Ê I have benefited from this whole process.Ê I have become more self-sufficient and take more initiative in doing what I need to do to get what I need done.Ê Throughout this course, I have also been exposed to an information highway that many people are intimidated by.Ê Through the course, I have been able to grasp and use this amazing program for my advantage and no longer feel inadequate about using it.Ê This course has given me a liberating experience.Ê It has taught me that I can face any obstacle that seems challenging for me.Ê This course has been one of the toughest I have participated in throughout my university career.Ê I have learned so much, not only about the Internet, but also about myself and my capabilities.
3.) I went on-line as instructed and used the google search engine and links.com to find definitions of information literacy.Ê I finally found two that I thought were adequate.Ê The first was found at: www.inform.umd.edu/LibInfo/literacy/.Ê This site gave the definition of information literacy as follows:Ê The ability of people to know when they need information, finding information, evaluating information, and using the information to make appropriate decisions in their lives.Ê The site went on to talk about how the web has democratized information because it is equipped with a wide range of information from a variety of sources varying in quality and depth.Ê There were five elements that the site mentioned to keep in mind when you are deciding on what resources are of value.Ê Scope, authority and bias, accuracy, timeliness, permanence, value added features, and presentation.Ê I believe these elements are essential in determining if the source you are evaluating is sufficient for the purpose.
The second definition I found through msn.com at www.infolit.org/definitions/index.html.Ê This is the site for the National Forum on Information Literacy.Ê The definition this site gave was as follows:Ê Information literacy refers to a constellation of skills revolving around information research and use.Ê The site went on to say that information literate people are, ãable to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use it effectively.äÊ Also that the Internet and web have brought a totally new aspect to information literacy that has completely evolved the entire process.Ê Both definitions are similar to one another, but each adds to the complex meaning of Information literacy and everything it involves.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
4.) Through my experience, I have been able to connect my research report, Dr. James Generational Curriculum and Information Literacy in my own unique way.
Class
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