TO LEARN OR NOT TO LEARN
RESEARCH
REPORT: LEARNING TO BECOME INTERNET LITERATE
BY RICH SNIDER, G17, FALL2002
DR. LEON JAMES, INSTRUCTOR: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/leon.html
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS REPORT ARE AT: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy17/g17research.html
SECTION 1. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDENT REPORTS
1.
This previous
report can be found at: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/459f96/rmitsui/409/reports/report2.html
----------The authors point
of view in this report was one that points towards practice making
perfect. The author goes into much
detail on how one must seek, help and have patience in order to succeed at
learning how to participate in Dr. James’ class reports. In the end, these strategies seemed to pay off
for the students in the past.
The author takes the reader through three steps of learning
how to use the internet. First is the
CONFUSION PHASE. This phase is where people whom the author asked about their initial
experience of trying to use the internet for setting up their homepages first
start feeling the anxiety form technology phobia.
One student said, “My first search ended up nowhere except
for me feeling frustrated and helpless.”
Another said, "While on the internet, it seemed pretty complicated,
somewhat confusing, frustrating, and difficult to find particular topics and
items, especially when there's no information given on the "how to do
something" functions. I mean there were the help commands on the screen,
but the wording is sometimes too darn complicated to understand."
It seems clear that these folks had a long way to go before
they would be comfortable with the technology that they were having to use.
After confusion comes the RESISTANCE PHASE. This phase is when people want to call it
quits and drop the class. The author
explains that frustration and doubt in ones own learning ability come into play
in this phase. It seems that confusion carries over to this phase as well.
Here are some examples from the report of what some of
these students experienced…
One student that the author questioned said, "In class
we were given the preliminary instructions for our first report. These
instructions, at first seemed pretty simple; we would just report on our
impressions of the previous generations writing. Then it became more
complicated. We had to type in all kinds of commands just to make our reports
look like regular word processing. I had
serious thoughts about giving up and dropping the class but I knew that if I
didn't stick it out I would be letting my computer-phobia get the better of me.”
Yet another student, contemplates about dropping the class
as she explains, "When I first registered for this Spring 1996 semester, I
guaranteed thought it would be a fun and less stressful semester for me because
I registered for two sociology courses (my minor), which are both a lecture
type class, and two psychology courses (my major), one is a lecture type class
and the other is a writing intensive class. Boy were my intentions wrong!”
These situations seem like they were probably taking their
toll on the students. This is where
having patience and confidence in yourself to learn something new becomes very
important, from my point of view.
The author called the final stage the SPIDERMAN PHASE. This is where
the author explains having
confidence much like that of a superhero when using the internet. This phase of their learning seems to be a
bit more enjoyable.
Here are some of the other students reactions during this
phase:
One previous student told the author, "At first,
navigating through all of the files began to confuse me, it all seems like a
big blob. But as I practiced using the links, going to and from my home page to
other people's documents and the instructors home page, things began to come
together. All it really takes is a lot of practice."
Another said, "My homepage was a little more fun to
make, although, I wasn't quite clear from the beginning what was expected. But,
gradually, I caught on. (Sometimes I have to be hit over the head with
things.)"
And another said, "The first day in class you may have
explained that there is 3 different dimensions but as long as you don't see the
screen it doesn't make any sense to me so maybe it will be good to explain it
all the first in front of a screen. well now after 1 month I have understood
the picture and I fell comfortable going from one to another. By writing down
all the procedures, I learned fast, and now, I don't need to look a it
anymore."
---------I feel that this
description of what these previous students have gone through in dealing with
Dr. James class is much like what myself and many of my classmates are going
through right now. Confusion and
resistance really hits home. The
confusion probably relates to my experiences more than anything.
I have never dealt with setting up homepages or anything
like that on computers. The most had
ever done was setting up an email account.
Perhaps if all of this was in the course description, myself and others
wouldn’t have taken this class.
---------Dealing with the instructions is
where it seems most people have had and are having problems. The instructions aren’t the normal “how to”
kind that most are used to dealing with.
They are more like “go out and find out how on your own” kind of
instructions. This probably makes it very easy on the instructor in that he
doesn’t have to help any of the students in trying to figure out instructions
for setting up homepages even though they didn’t realize that they were
enrolled in a CYBER class.
I believe that many people including myself have a phobia
of computer technology. Most people like
me only use the internet to check email and surf the web. Much of the technology is overwhelming if
you’re not familiar with it.
2.
This previous
report can be found at:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409af96/march/409/report2.html
The authors point of view in this report
seems to be much like the first report that I reviewed. The author explains 4 phases of developmental
patterns for learning the internet. The
phases are FRUSTRATION, STRESS, ANXIOUSNESS, and DEPRESSION.
Frustration is what the author experienced
when problems like links and icons tend to not load up correctly. Here are a couple of examples from the
authors report of how other people have experienced frustration:
One student stated, "Everything that was
discussed in class was completely foreign to me, I couldn't even begin to
understand what the heck was going on, so I tried to compensate by taking
accurate notes...Who was I trying to fool?"
A student from Generation 3 also
stated, " While on the internet, it seemed pretty complicated, somewhat
confusing, frustrating, and difficult to find particular topics and items,
especially when there's no information given on the "how to do something"
functions. I mean there were the help commands on the screen, but the wording
is sometimes too darn complicated to understand."
STRESS is the second phase of developing patterns of
learning the internet that the author writes about. Not much insight was give from the author
about how he/she experienced stress while trying to use the internet. Rather he/she jumped directly into examples
of how others have.
Conrad
Moreno's Report 2 "I must admit
that I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of work that both of these
generations had put into constructing all of their files. There I was all of a
sudden, looking at a huge pile of work that lay ahead of me. It would seem hard
enough just taking one class in a semester, but there I was taking both
Internet classes. Normally an anxiety attack as huge as this would keep someone
away from confronting their problem, but it only motivated me."
Phuong
Wataoka “
If I couldn't find my topic in one search engine, then I can always jump on the
next search engine. It will take me wherever I want to go. One disadvantage I
can think when using the search engine is that it takes along time to get hook
onto the server from home. I finally
solve this problem by doing all my searching at school. I don't have to wait as
long when I used the school computers.”
ANXIOUSNESS is the third phase that is covered in the authors report. He/She only explains his/her experience of anxiousness
by finding it irritating when a homepage takes forever to load up. He/She then gives examples of what others
have said about feeling anxious due to the internet.
"In the
beginning, I had no clue that we would have to be using all of these commands just to write a paper. There is also no
handout or literature on these special features we have come to know when typing out our paper. Boy I was ready to throw
in the towel but I'm glad that I stuck it out and continued to learn the Web
system."
"I hated computers and their jargon and suddenly I
felt very anxious and scared. The terms on the paper were something like rm,mv,ls-al,cd,cp,dir,etc... By this time I was lost-so
lost I thought I was going to drop the class. We were assigned to go and get a UHUNIX
account if we didn't already have one and practice using the terms on the
paper. Well, wouldn't you know I did have a UHUNIX account when I came to the
new student transfer workshop but I never used it!!"
The final phase of the authors report is DEPRESSION. Here is what the author said about
depression. “There are those times in
our lives when we all get a little depressed. Some of us know what triggers our
depressed state, yet there are a few of us who don't know. Here are what a few
students had to say about depression, how they overcame it, and how different
emotions affected their lives.’
Berna Collado writes about the
different moods when driving and the effects it has on people. “Personally, I
agree with Caroline that one's emotional state does influence one's driving
behavior (as well as with other behavior's in one's life). While on the road, I
could just be driving until I hear a song that makes me feel a certain
way."
Bryan Yucoco's experiences with driving and how he dealt with
all the stress and different moods from
it. "Dr. Jekyl
and Mr. Hyde" One thing that I notice is that I change moods when I am in
the car. Usually I am not a very moody person but for some reason or another my
moods go right off the scale. Mood depends on many things. I find that the
music that I am listening to has a great effect on my mood. If the music is
uplifting, no matter what worries I have or how many things that I need to get
done, it doesn't phase me at all."
I’m not sure how these examples pertained to learning the internet. These people
talked about mood and depression can be a mood, but I think he/she
should have used examples of people overcoming their depression brought on by
frustrations from using the internet.
--------My reaction to this
description of learning the internet is one of understanding
what the author is getting at. I have
had, and still have, some of the same problems that the author and some of the
people in examples have had. I too feel
frustrated when problems occur when trying to use the internet technology. I have had a difficult time uploading onto my
homepage apparently because I “can’t follow directions” or can’t read or
something and this gives me frustration that leads to stress and anxiety which
then can lead to depression.
--------These patterns all
begin with frustration. The
technological skill level that is needed to participate in Dr. James class is
not what most psychology majors have.
The lack of these skills adds to the frustration of not only having to
write long papers, but also having to try to figure out how to put it on the internet. This is not a simple task.
I hypothesize that if Dr. James would’ve taken the class to
the computer lab and walked the class through the steps of using the internet,
the class would be able to get much more research and other PSYCHOLOGY related
tasks completed.
3.
This previous
report can be found at: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409af96/malonzo/report2.html
The author of this report wrote about 5
steps to learning the internet. The
steps include FRUSTRATION & ANGER, DEFEAT, SEEING A GLIMMER OF LIGHT,
MOTIVATION, and FEELING SUCCESS. As you
can see, this report seems to have a more positive outlook on learning the
internet than the previous reports that I’ve
reviewed.
FRUSTRATION & ANGER are feelings that we’ve all felt when
having difficulties with something that we aren’t familiar with. The author writes, “When learning something
new, we may not get the hang of it the very first time, with the exception of a
very few, and we become angry at ourselves, the computer terminals, the
teacher, and just the world!”
Sometimes getting all worked up because of something like a
assignment from Dr. James’ class can be detrimental to other aspects of ones
life. Many times frustration and anger
from situations like these carry over from the computer lab to social
lives. This is where things like rage
come into play. This what we tend to see
on t.v. We don’t
see someone working for weeks trying to get help from computer technology
education students, lab monitors, and help searches, and then the teacher and the
teacher simply telling the person that they aren’t reading the directions.
DEFEAT is what we
feel when we don’t believe that we’ll ever succeed
in what we’re trying to accomplish. Check
out what the author described about going through this stage. “You feel like quitting, dropping the class,
or just plain indulging in chocolate ice cream! Well, maybe not for some, but
for me, that was the case. But, you feel as if nothing you do will make it work
and you feel as if you have to resort to some other alternative like just
giving up and concentrating on other classes and forgetting about this one.
I believe that many others in my class, especially myself,
have experienced this feeling of defeat.
This is actually the stage that I feel on a regular basis in dealing
with this class.
SEEING A GLIMMER OF LIGHT is what the author calls the situation of copying other peoples pages and
adding information of his/her own. The
author explained that by doing this, it can help you learn the whole
process. I feel that looking at other
pages to get an idea of what your paper should look like is a good idea. You can see how others have placed their
links and things like that.
MOTIVATION is what people feel when things start to
happen for the better. In learning the
internet, this could be finally figuring out how to complete a task. The author explains, “Once things begin to
come together for you, you feel a sense of motivation. You see that you can
finally make everything work and you feel the urge to make your pages look a
lot nicer than they already do. This motivates you to look around the entire
internet to find things that you would like to add to your page, in the hopes
that someone will land on your page and say "Wow! This page is nice!"
FEELING SUCCESS is pretty self explanatory in its
definition. This is where enjoyment can
finally be felt by dr. James students.
It’s where you can look at your work and be proud of what you’ve
done. And be proud that you didn’t give
up and drop out of the class. This is,
of course, if you feel that you’ll get the grade that you deserve.
-------This report gives some
positive hope on the outcome of this class.
It is a breath of fresh air to know that the previous students have had
some of the same experiences and attitudes that I’ve had thus far. I can relate to the frustration, defeat, and
anger. But seeing a glimmer of light,
motivation, and feeling success still seem a long ways away for me.
-------These patterns can be
explained by peoples natural reaction to things that don’t seem to go their
way. Nobody enjoys doing something that
they aren’t any good at. I think that
patience and will power are essential for completing a class such as this one.
SECTION 2.
SELF OBSERVATION DATA
-------While doing my research for my
annotated bibliography, I filled these
forms to help keep up with the different
searches that I had done. You can check out the forms on this link. FORMS
------- I had to gather data for weekly
online forum postings as well as incorporating
it into my bibliography report. The
instructions for the online forum can be accessed here: FORUM The instructions for the bibliography report
can be accessed here: BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gathering
the information for the bibliography report wasn’t too difficult, although it
was rather time consuming. The data that
I collected from my home computer was all done using the search engine google. I always use
google when I am looking for something on the
internet.
My
two topics of interest for the bibliography report were “Driving Distractions”
and “Rage In the Workplace”. So I would
use the internet to search for keywords like: driver distractions, cell phones
and driving, or dangerous driving or workplace rage, violence at work, or rage
at work. These searches would usually
pull up lots of links involving those keyword.
The
only problem with doing searches on the internet is that there are so many
sites to sort through. Many sites claim
to have information about the subject that I’ve searched for. This may be true but since I was searching to
do a report for a writing intensive class, I was looking for sites that had
quality information from experienced doctors or specific studies that had been
done.
Other
searches that I did included online articles and library books. The online voyager, a computer tool for
looking for information in the Hawaii libraries, is a very convenient way to
search for anything that the library might have. I used the voyager to look for data in
articles and in books while at the Hamilton Library at UH Manoa on several
occasions. This sure beats thumbing
through library catalogs by hand.
It
is possible to view articles form the computer without having to go search for it in the library. This is very convenient. Once I found the articles that I wanted, I
simply printed them up right there from the computer. Again the online voyager is a very useful
tool that probably cut my search time in half.
I’m a big fan of the online voyager.
Unfortunately
I was unable to view most of the books from the computer. But short summaries
of the books are available which can help narrow down which books to actually look
at. This helped me pick a certain book
to go look for in the sometimes confusing Hamilton Library. I finally found the book I was looking for on
the “addition side of the library” after consulting a library worker.
Filling
out the actual FORMS was
by far the worst part of doing any kind of search. Each form has exactly the same 26 questions
and there are 10 forms. Each form is also 6 pages long and took a
long time to complete. The questions
weren’t difficult to answer because they were very basic in acquiring
information about the search. Most were
to be answered on a scale from one to ten.
But many of the questions were asked more than once, just in different words. To say the least, the forms weren’t the most
enjoyable things to complete.
-------The data from the forms illustrates
how I found the information which includes how long it took, how long I thought that it would take, how easy was it to
find, was I frustrated at all during the searches, and other questions along those
lines. The forms provide the researcher
with memory of the searches that may not be there when it comes time to do this
report.
The data for all ten
of the forms have many similarities. The
questions pertaining to the time that it took to do the searches was usually
somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes when doing a internet search. And that was about how long that I expected
them to take.
When it came to the
searches for the articles, the time was usually around thirty minutes to complete
those tasks. It takes more time to do
these searches because you have to be more selective and specific about what
your looking for when using the online catalog.
Searching for the
books is by far the longest due to having to use the online voyager to the call
number and then searching through the library to find the actual book. These searches tended to take closer to an
hour. I had expected to spend around a
half hour on this search but I was sorely mistaken. I had forgotten how poor my book finding
skills were when it comes to libraries.
-------a) I conclude that the data I used for my forms
represents my state of mind while doing information searches. From looking at the data, I had a pretty good
attitude during most of these searches.
My scores on how frustrated I felt were very low, as well as my feeling rage
and irritation. The only time I felt any
rage was when I couldn’t find a book in Hamilton library.
Technology has
really improved the easiness of finding information. The internet has brought information of any
kind directly into my home. I no longer
have to go find a book that may or may not have what I’m looking for and thumb
through it to try and find something good.
I believe that the internet has cut out a lot of stressful work when it
comes to looking for information.
b) The search engine
“google” and the online voyager are my tools of trade
when looking for information. I think
that these are the best tools anyone can use.
I have found them to be the most efficient ways of getting information
that you want.
SECTION 3.
COUNSELING SESSION
-------The counseling session was a study
done on people to see how the do searches on the internet when given questions
to answer by using a new search engine.
-------While participating in this study, I
learned some information that I did not know by answering the questions. I learned that tobacco companies give
millions to each state for tobacco prevention programs. I also learned that the Mona Lisa was stolen
and missing at one time, before being returned.
-------I thought that the experience of doing
specific searches was a good way to observe students strategies for using
search engines. Perhaps if the observer
could give out some pamphlets for good strategies after completing the study
would help students in the future
SECTION 4.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INFORMATION LITERACY
-------Our instructor, Dr James, has put together
a report that maps out the history and objective of his creating this online
generational community classroom that I am currently enrolled in. This report explains the different steps that
students go through while becoming familiar with the demands for this class
from generation to generation.
HISTORY:
This project started in the 1970s using typed student
papers that were written, read, collected, bound, and referenced by each
succeeding generation of students in each of several college courses that Dr.
James taught at the University of Hawaii (Social Psychology; Statistics;
Personality Theory; History of Psychology as a Science).
In
the 1980s, the collection of student reports
was augmented by electronic course-integrated activities on the PLATO system (discussion
groups by topics across classes). Starting in 1993 all required course
activities were conducted on the World Wide Web through the facilities of the
College of Social Sciences on the Manoa campus.
OBJECTIVE:
Dr. James uses this report to explain how students go through phases while learning
the technology needed for participation in his classes. Phase 1 is when the student becomes information
literate. In addition to learning new
technologically based skills, Dr. James believes that each student develops
affective skills - “not quitting when the
going gets tough,” cognitive skills -“knowing what the earlier generations wrote,”
and sensorimotor skills – “performing requisite
activities online.”
The intended result
is a change in the learning approach of the student. By maintaining self-confidence, acquiring
disciplinary content, and acting out membership status, Dr. James believes
hopes that his students will transform from “passive students” into “autonomous
learners.”
-------My report goes along with this approach
in that I, as well as many others have had many difficulties not in the writing
for this class, but in the technological skills. The most difficult was the simple posting of
my web page using the FTP software. Many
others that I read about from previous classes had similar problems.
My
report also fits this approach because I went through the same phases the of
learning that are discussed in Dr. James report. Phase 1 of the learning is becoming information
literate, there is a definition of information literacy further along in this
report. Phase 2 is becoming a
self-directed autonomous learner which means being able to learn independently.
Phase 3 consists of exercising leadership and inventiveness. I feel that this phase is where the student
shows that he/she can complete the objectives of the class by coming up with individual
ideas, and I have no idea what Dr. James means by “leadership,” because we are
supposed to become autonomous.
-------Definition of INFORMATION LITERACY:
"a new liberal art that extends from knowing how to use computers and
access information to critical reflection on the nature of information itself,
its technical infrastructure, and its social, cultural and even philosophical
context and impact" - Shapiro, Jeremy J. and Shelley K. Hughes. Educom Review. 3.2. Mar./Apr.
1996. http://nosferatu.cas.usf.edu/lis/il/definitions.html#literacy
-------My research report, the generational
curriculum, and information literacy all display the learning process when it
comes to computer technology. Learning
this technology can be very difficult, as
illustrated in my research report, and
can wear on a students self-confidence in the early going.
All
three of these categories displayed in this writing have played a part In my
attempt at participation in the 409a class.
I Don’t believe that I’ll ever completely information literate because
the technology rapidly changes, but I do believe that I’ve made some big strides
toward the goal of being autonomous.