Research
Report:
Learning To Become Internet Literate
By Marissa Namihira, G17, Fall 2002
Dr. Leon James, Instructor
Brief Overview:
Introduction
Self-Observation Data
Counseling Session
The Psychology of Information Literacy
Section 1: Introduction
C. Marchadie’s Report 2:
Frustration: An essential part of learning the
Internet.
Here
Christine was experiencing difficulty in using the Internet. Prior to this class the Internet was just a
way of killing time, basically just a fun thing to do. She was able to maneuver
through sites and retrieve the information that she needed. The part that was becoming difficult for her
was when she needed to upload her findings.
It was her first time like many others.
Even though the instructions are very clear it is still a difficult
process because sometimes the server might be down or you can simply press a
wrong button. With the Internet you can
never tell where you went wrong.
In her report
she stated that, “How many of you out there
experienced frustration while using the computer? I know what it's like going
on a computer and it doesn't do what you want it to do. Before taking this course,
I only knew about the Internet and how to "surf" it. I experienced
frustration when my links weren't working properly, and then when my icons
weren’t loading up correctly.”
She clearly was getting very frustrated with the problem she
was running into.
Stress Factor: Results from procrastination
Here Christine underwent another phase during this report. She waited too long to start on her project that she stressed herself out. “Can you believe that even I got stressed from this class? I was up to the point, nah no need do the reports, got plenty time. Oh oh! So I wrote down who I was going to make links to, and then from there got stressed again, cause I had to figure out what I was going to write on this report.” As I have also learned it is not a wise decision to put these reports off till later.
Although this
phase maybe something that can be avoided it is certainly something that
majority of us do. Once we finish the
first report all of us get really burnt out.
I had to take two weeks off from everything else to recuperate. I hate sitting in front of the computer and
that is probably how others feel too.
It makes it even worse when you put it off till the last minute. These reports are so detailed that if you do
it in a rush you will tend to forget certain key points.
Nervous Wreck:
The Internet does take time
Christine will demonstrate that
the Internet does not always work at the speed you want it too. Often there are times when your FTP program
does something entirely different from what you wanted it to do. While she was uploading her homepage, it
when through a long process. It is very
common to here a student say that they have uploaded their file and it is not
there. “Many students, including
myself, found it irritating when a homepage took forever to load up. Read some
of these student’s experiences with anxiety.”
Not only did
Christine experience difficulty but prior students also went through the same
experience and agonizing ordeal. Look
at this example, Ragna
Borries said, "First, Lycos showed me the Catalog of the Internet and
when I asked for information on advertising it gave me a whole list of 17
options for specific information on different points of advertising. I clicked
on advertising law. However, it took so long to connect and in my impatience I
began clicking all over the place. I did not pay attention to the display on
the bottom of the page, which showed me how many bytes of the full document had
been received yet. In my despair I actually managed to freeze the screen."
Depression: The effect that occurs while doing a report
The one thing that every student
in this class will agree on is that these reports are very hard. Even though you start ahead of time it still
will bog you down some how. After
sitting on the computer for a week you tend to feel like you are alone. You go to class and see everyone in that
same mood. Christine demonstrates that
it is not only her opinion but also the opinion of other fellow students.
Shane
Akagi's feelings about being depressed while on the Internet.
"Depression how do I fight depression? I just take a break from the typing
that I am doing. When I first began doing emacs work I remembered becoming
extremely agitated, as well as depressed with the work that I was doing, I
began to mentally curse the instructor for giving us such a frustrating
homework. Normally this is not the case for me, I guess under only extremely
stressful situations I become like that.”
Here Shane is going through what is very common among students going through
over a long period of time.
After
all its said and done: the healing process and recovery
Once you
complete this report you tend to feel a sense of achieve and
accomplishment. Christine had a very
positive and optimistic standpoint on the Internet. She realized that this newfound knowledge would be of privilege
to her in the near future. The Internet
has brought her a wealth of resources and she seems to be appreciative of
it. Even though she traveled down a
long road, the journey was well worth it for her.
Here she gives her opinion of her journey, “I feel privileged to have the opportunity to learn the Internet in a cyber-community as this. It gives the other students as well as myself a chance to learn from each other and about each other. We also have the chance to learn how each of us would handle a different situation or problem on the computer. I feel it is very beneficial to be learning the Internet through a cyber-community rather than trying to learn it on your own.”
Advise Column:
First of all, don't put it off for a long time. Start surfing other student's homepages. Write down the addresses to the person's homepage-with a little sentence telling yourself why you chose it. By getting this done, it will be much easier to get your reports done on time. Second, be prepared whenever you're going to use the computer. Always have your notes and books handy. Also you should give yourself a lot of time doing these reports, they can't be done in a day. Good luck and have fun!
Take it from
a person who has been there. There is
no better advice then someone who has already traveled down that road. Christine gives good advice here and we
should all take it into consideration.
My Take on her Experience
With Christine she seems to be a very average person. Although I have not had the exact similar situations I sure can relate to her. She, like myself, is a procrastinator. I have a hard time to sit myself down to start on my projects. It is much easier for me to write a paper than to create a website. Most papers we do in college in undergrad, do not take up this much effort. Some of my reports have been coming out to 50 pages in the last semester. But through it all I have benefited tremendously.
I now know more about the Internet and the computer then my dad who is an electronic tech. I find myself being able to teach him a few pointers. It is funny; I thought that my dad was so smart with computers until last semester. I am now very diligent and able to load programs and even download information. It does help a lot to know your computers.
Hypothesis
This pattern that happened to Christine is very similar to all the reports that I have read. Everyone does get frustrated at first because they do not know what they are doing at first. But like all the survivors in this class you some how get through it. I stress the word survive; you don’t actually know what you are doing but somehow manage to put something together. My first reports were always bad. In order to know what you are doing you need to do them several times first.
This process happens to everyone because we are entering uncharted territory. Looking at the instructions for the first time is very overwhelming. You don’t really understand what the instruction is talking about and sometimes you don’t even understand why? But eventually you get through it and relief is sure to come.
Confusion:
The first Stages of Internet Classes
Here Ryan is lost in his first few days of this semester. He is entering into something new and is unsure of the things that are going on around him. He is very much like the other students in his class. Whenever we enter a new class at the beginning of a semester the structure of each class is difficult to grasp. We must take notes on things we yet do not understand. He finds other students that are just like him in this initial phase.
Ryan says, “This phase is for the novice or the beginner when we don't really know what we are doing. It’s like every new skill you try to learn, or take on. Remember learning to ride a bike? It’s like that, in this phase its all trial and error. If you are a novice like me don't worry, you know what they say, once you've learned to ride a bike you never forget! (At least that’s what they say, I wouldn't know I never learned to ride one!)” He has very optimistic approach to learning.
Resistance: Almost There but Not Quite
The resistance phase follows the confusion stage, it’s when we want to give up and call it quits. It’s when we resist learning something new because we are unfamiliar with it. This phase is usually a little harder to detect than the rest because we think of it as just part of being frustrated or confused, actually it is the result, but we need to keep pushing on! Ryan puts it best. Just when you are about to grasp the concept something disrupts your process and you spin down an everlasting cycle of frustration.
In his examples, he illustrates that a lot of students travel down this similar pathway. When frustration of not being able to complete the task interferes with our success we are falling at the mercy of defeat. Ryan says that we must keep going and it shall pass. Every so often in life we are faced with adversity, so when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Achievement: When You Can See the
Light at the End of the Tunnel
As soon as the frustration is over and you recollect your thoughts clarity will set in. It is now possible to complete your task. As an individual it is very hard not to get frustrated with when things seem difficult. Everyone has played victim to it. Ryan’s says that once we pass this awkward phase it is like a baby bird that just learned how to fly. Just getting to that point may seem endless but to keep at it, and soon you will, like he did, accomplish this report.
In his examples he show how Michelle Ota gets through it. Michelle Ota says, "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 instructor’s home page, things began to come together. All it really takes is a lot of practice."
Learning: It Takes Many Steps
We are not required to do the same type of learning but learning is learning. Their project consisted of tags, which were specific codes to commands to use in writing. I suppose the closest thing that I could relate this to be using a PDA. In order to correspond with other people they needed to be able to learn this code to communicate their message. He said that the fact that everyone else was required to learn this tag method made it easier for him to stick with it.
Advise Column:
My advise to you is to just keep at it and don't put it off till later! Do it now!!! You'd be surprised how little time you have to do all of your reports. If you don't understand just ask, NEVER be afraid to ask questions!! You won't look dumb, I almost guarantee that someone else has the same question but is too afraid to ask. This is the fastest way to find out how to do something! So my only advice is to get help AS SOON AS YOU CAN and just get the reports out of the way. Think of it this way if you get all the reports done really fast then you won't have to think about them during mid-term or finals week. Otherwise you have to work on it day after day, rushing to get it done before the semester is over.
Advice well taken, it seems as though ever student procrastinated on their report and advise fellow students do to do the same mistake. I must agree, because if I were doing this at the last minute I would be stressing out. I learned after the annotated that it is not wise to wait.
My Take on His Experience:
He seems like a very good learner. He was very positive throughout this whole process. When things started to seem tough it seemed as though he kicked it up a notch to get through it. People like me need to learn how to motivate themselves as well as Ryan in times of frustration. Whenever anything was unfamiliar to him, he did not scare very easily. I think that we can learn from the advice and developmental phases that Ryan went through.
Hypothesis:
I believe that Ryan is like this because he is a very intelligent person. He realized that the task was not impossible and that it did take some time to get used to the idea of the new concepts. I have taken this class before, but have had different projects. I too have learned that it just takes a little patience and a lot of understanding to accomplish any of these reports.
Even though not every student will be as optimistic like Ryan we still can try to be positive. Whenever it seems impossible we should take a step back and try to look at things from a different angle. Sometimes we will see things that we did not see the first time. Internet knowledge is something that comes with practice. If we have an open mind we will learn a lot, but if we don’t even try then we will become no better at it.
First
Thought: The Initial Reaction
The others in the class seemed to at least know a few things about the Internet and how it worked. However Carol is a different story. She is a woman who is starting from scratch. Here is an excerpt from her report to give you an idea of where he is coming from. When I first walked into class I thought I'd learn what Traffic Psychology was all about. Then I heard about going on the Internet, I started to freak out because I tried to avoid the Internet like it was the plague for years. The only thing I knew what to do on the computer was write my papers on Microsoft Works. I didn't even know what e-mail was or how to do it. So I decided to make it a point to spend as much time as I could to prove to myself that I could over come my fears about the Internet and e-mail.
As you can see the word novice really plays a role in describing her experience. Ryan had thought he was a novice but he is mistaken when compared to Carol. By 1996 computers were already a big industry and Carol was not a part of it. It must have been really challenging for her to take this class at such a disadvantage.
The First Month: Carol’s Adventure
into the Computer World
Carol had to start from scratch
with everything she did. She needed to
set up an e-mail account and everything.
The CLIC labs came in handy for her.
Luckily she knew someone so they could give her special attention. “In
week one the class was suppose to get our address for uhunix and give the
teacher our login name. Dr. James said that if we didn't have one we should go
to Keller Hall and get our address and password. Once we have it, we are to
e-mail him our login name. Believe me, I felt lost and confused because I
didn't understand a word he was saying. Hey, remember I'm computer illiterate.”
As you can see Carol was a fighter a
tried really hard to try to learn what was going on. Even though these new things were very strange, I give her credit
for continuing the class. As the weeks
went by she started to learn more and more.
Even though she went through a lot of trial and error, she seemed to be
getting it slowly. It seems as though
with every accomplishment she became more confident every time. In her report she explains how satisfying it
was to complete her homepage
Learning the Ins & Outs: Hey, Its
Not That Bad
Carol got really good at learning how to manipulate to computer. She even explains how to do techniques to make your reports better and more efficient. She believes in sharing her newfound knowledge with the rest of us. She seems to understand that learning these types of things for the first time is really difficult and would like to try and make it easier for the rest of us.
“Links are very interesting because when you
click on the links it will take you to the file that it's linked to. You don't
need to waste your time retyping or copying and pasting everything over and
over again. I do admit that typing the links in your files is a pain but once
you put it into a file you just need to go back there and click to where you
want to go.” Here Carol demonstrates
the uses of a link and why she thinks it is essential when typing up your
report. She has become very skilled at
using the Internet.
Advice Column:
“I hope that I can offer some insights on what to expect in this class to the future generations to come. Believe me that when you're on the computer you can lose track of time and things do take long to load, find, and search. Remember that when you're on the computer you are in the computer world. At times the computer world is a challenge and a battleground due to your frustration and eagerness to finish your reports.” Carol advises that it may be a difficult road ahead but it not an impossible one.
Carol seems to be proud of her accomplishments but at the same time she hates the Internet and computers. In her opinion they take up a lot of time and you lose where you are. I guess she must lose herself in her work. She says that you lose a sense of time. She had a hard time while putting her projects together and it took away from her family and life in general. I must agree with her about the work taking you away from your life. I hardly get to see my friends I only talk to them when I am on break. It does consume a lot of your time, but that is how school is.
My Take on Her Experience:
Carol seemed to have the most difficult journey in this class. It seems as though she really had to work a lot harder then the others. Taking a look and comparing her to her classmates shows how much more effort she must have had to put in. I now know that it really must have taken her away from her family. She went from not knowing anything to learning how to create good web pages. Her developmental phases are by far the most arrayed. Christine and Ryan were a little familiar and were able to pick up on it easier and quicker than Carol.
I give Carol a lot of credit for her accomplishment. She stuck with it and never gave up. The way I know this is because I am here today reading her report and learning something from her. I consider myself to be quite efficient with computers but even Carol knew something that I didn’t know how to do, which was to use anchors. Hopefully I can figure it out and be able to use them in this report and the reports to follow.
Hypothesis:
I think that Carol puts it best
in this statement, “I learned that my
resistance to the knowledge of computers was connected to my resistance to
learn a new information gathering system. I learned to overcome my resistance
to achieve I new experience in my life. I found that this computer technology
is easier than looking up information in the library. I just couldn't believe
how up to date the information is on the computer world. I now know where to
come if I ever need up to date information.”
Walking away from an experience with a
positive attitude is the best way to benefit from anything. Carol was positive at the end, even though
she went through the phase of frustration and irritableness. She worked hard and it payed off in the end. I don’t know if she got a good grade in
class but I do know that she walked with knowing very little and walked out
knowing more then the average person.
Section 2: Self-Observation Data
Form
Sheets:
I welcome you to come and read my forms I have complied for this report:
You can access them at http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2002/namihira/forms.htm.
Data Gathering:
I gathered this data by filling out a form at the
end of session. It consisted of 26
questions in each. Each questions asks
a specific aspect of the steps you go through while searching. These forms were filled out to help in
completing two other assignments. The
first one is my weekly forum discussion, the instructions can be viewed here:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy17/g17forum.html. In these discussions we are to look for Internet sites on certain
topics and report them to our fellow classmates. The other is for our annotated bibliography and the instructions
can be viewed here: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy17/g17bibliography.html. In the bibliography we were assigned to search for 10 sources
that complied our report.
Before each search session I would fill out the first half of the form. It asked predicting questions like how I think the search would go, would it be difficult and so on. I answered these questions as best as I could. While searching I had to remember things like: what search engines I used and if I changed my topic. In the last section it was like a self-report. I was questioned about my emotions and how the search affected me.
When I first heard about the details of the search it did influence the way I felt. I didn’t want to search of something that was too difficult because I thought that it would be harder to fill out the form. In actuality it was good because if I only had easy searches it would not be enough information to fill out the forms. The information given in the forms does show accurately how the search went. The questions are very detailed and they give a good account of what happened. If I got frustrated it explains why and also what made me so frustrated.
What the Numbers Reveal:
The thing that I thought would be the best information to analyze was the correlation between the emotional state and the success rate of how effective the search went along. I will be using the information given on the second half of the form. Questions 16-20 will be measured as the emotional part and questions21-24 will be used to measure the success rate.
|
|
Form |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
Ques. |
|
||||||||||||
|
16 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
9 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
7 |
3 |
|
|
17 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
9 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
9 |
6 |
10 |
5 |
4 |
|
|
18 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
5 |
7 |
4 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
19 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
7 |
6 |
9 |
5 |
10 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
|
|
20 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
21 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
22 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
23 |
7 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
9 |
3 |
10 |
|
|
24 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
7 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
|
|
|
Form |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
Mean: |
|||||||||||||
|
Emotion |
2.2 |
5.2 |
9.2 |
8.4 |
6 |
7.8 |
4.2 |
9 |
7.4 |
9 |
7 |
5.4 |
|
|
Success |
8.5 |
9.5 |
9.5 |
8.5 |
9 |
7.5 |
7.25 |
7.75 |
8.75 |
6.75 |
6.75 |
8.25 |
|
What it all Means:
As demonstrated above there is no correlation between emotions during the search and the success rate of how effective the search went. Although a lot were close in correlation it was not across the board. It seems as though no matter how angry, frustrated, or even irritated I got I was still able to complete the task at hand. Even though this did not work out the way I expected it to, it shows that I have good work habits. I’m sure there are a lot of students that are like me, I think that we have become accustomed to getting upset while on the computer and Internet.
I supposed that I could conclude that even though I do get angry while searching it does not affect me enough that I will stop doing my work. I think this is a learned behavior from using the Internet all these years. When I took this class last semester I used to give up because I got so frustrated, but now since I know a few more tricks I am better to maneuver on the Internet. It does take a lot of patience to stick with the Internet. But sticking to it and remember that it is just a machine will help you along.
Section 3: Counseling
Session
What
Happened?:
When I first went in I was asked to sign a waiver to release the right to use the research as they want. I was then asked to do a short survey asking things like how well do I think that I will do on this session. I was very unaware of what was going on so I listened very carefully to everything the lady had to say. She told me that I was to do three searches to answer questions about each one. They were to supply me with the topic and I was to search for it on Vivisimo. I thought that it was very simple and that I was not going to have any trouble with it.
She timed each search session. I allotted ten minutes for each search. I remember the first topic was about the Mona Lisa. I did that search the best. I went in it with a lot of confidence. I did not attain every piece of information required and it made me feel insufficient. As the search continued I felt awkward having her in the room watching me as I searched for the answers. I was not doing so well by the second search. By the third search I had a very difficult time and probably only found one of the answers.
At the end I was told to fill out a survey asking about the emotional process that I underwent. To me it was very frustrating not being able to use the search engine that I was a costume to. When I had finished filling out the survey I was dismissed and went about my way. I was quite puzzled though, because I thought that I was going there to learn how to search and not be questioned on how I search. The whole situation threw me off.
What I Learned:
To be honest I learned nothing but I do not like people watching me while I search. It makes me uncomfortable when someone is just sitting in back of me and not saying anything while they observe me. I didn’t learn anything on how to become a better searcher on the Internet, which I thought was the whole propose. I do wish that the lady could have given me some sort of feed back as to what I could do better. I know that I am no expert searcher and would like suggestions on how to get familiar with other search engines. The only one that I am familiar with is Google.
Suggestions for Future Students:
Although I have no suggestions given from the session I do have some of my own. I highly recommend just diving in heads first. My parents bought me a computer when I started high school, I did not become well acquainted with it until last year. The only purpose I had for it was e-mail and word processing. When I took Dr. James’ class last semester I had to learn from scratch on how to use the Internet. Although we discussed it in the class the most effective way I found to learn how to search is through trial and error.
Searching the Internet is something that anyone can learn. How effective you are is up to you. Practicing to learn which keywords are most effective and vise versa is by trying them all. I learned that keeping out words like: the, and, it, and so on, is not needed as keywords. The other thing about the Internet is not to get lost and always remember you r way back. Learning the functions key in the tool bar is a sure way not to get lost. I hope that this will help some of you.
Section 4: The Psychology of Information Literacy
Summary of Article:
The article that I am summarizing can be found here at Instructor’s Article. It is a ten-page article that discusses the General Curriculum. Dr. James explains that this "online generational approach is suitable for any subject field in any instructional setting." This article introduces a new and more effective way of learning. Learning in an active approach is the way that most students prefer. It is a hand on approach to learning the subject at hand and also becoming Internet Literate. This type of learning brings the individual from a beginner to an advanced status when it comes to navigating the web with their new found understanding and skills through searches, uploading in ftp, and html. The generational approach refers to the ongoing learning that happens through the years. We are currently in generation 17.
Here is what is expected of the students learn and the benefits that they will receive by learning in the manner. The approach has been around since thee seventies, before the Internet. The students were to type out the reports and they were then collected and stored in the appropriate sections. There are eight major things that are learned through this method:
Linn [1] identifies some features of an online environment that would support the development of autonomous lifelong learners:
(1) Helping students make effective decisions and creating new ideas;
(2) Helping learners recognize when, how, and why they learn new material;
(3) Helping students diagnose personal goals, strengths, and limitations, and select activities compatible with their goals;
(4) Providing opportunities for independent projects tailored to personal goals within an academic discipline;
(5) Encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning -- setting realistic goals for themselves, monitoring their own progress, reflect on their understanding, and seek guidance from peers as well as instructors;
(6) Creating activities that permit students to practice these skills.
(7) Making disciplinary knowledge, practice, and culture visible to students through autonomous learning activities that include linking ideas, comparing alternatives, reflecting on progress, critiquing ideas with guidance and support;
(8) Structuring courses so as to take advantage of the social nature of learning and social contributions to learning by engaging students in collaborative practices and providing for their mutual support as a helping community. These eight characteristics are according to Linn essential for creating autonomous lifelong learners in an online instructional setting. I believe that the online generational project I am describing here meets many of these desirable objectives.
Students become information literate, they also become self-directed learners and they exercise leadership and inventiveness. My research report incorporates knowledge from previous generations. It incorporates my own tracking of searches to help myself gain a better understanding of how I do research. And lastly it all brings this together in this last section where we are to explain to the readers the style of learning that we are doing. If I were to read students reports without knowing what they were doing, I’d be lost. However with the link to the Generational Curriculum it all ties this together.
Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Information literacy also is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources.”(this definition can be viewed at http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html) This Research Report, the Generational Curriculum and Information Literacy are all connected. Using the information literacy definition given above, each student was required to do this in order to complete the research report.
Instructions for this report say to pick out quotes, which is what being Information Literate is about. We were given the choice between 6 different reports and within those we had to pick out the quotes we feel, best fits our approach. We showed a development in every of the steps given by each student, as to what we consider when learning on the Internet. As students, we had to come to a decision what would be the greatest quote to get the point across as well as permit the reader to distinguish the progression through each stage.
Taxonomy of Instructional Objectives for the Online Generational Curriculum:
Table 1
Chart of the Nine Zones of Instructional Objectives
for Online Generational Curriculum
|
Phases: |
AFFECTIVE |
COGNITIVE |
SENSORIMOTOR |
|
Phase 3 |
A3
|
C3
|
S3
|
|
Phase 2 |
A2
|
C2
|
S2
|
|
Phase 1 |
A1
|
|
|
|
C1
|
S1
|
|
|
As demonstrated above these are
the phases that a student will trough while acquiring the ability to becoming
information literate. Since this is my second
time taking the class I finally feel as if I am between the phases of two and
three. It does take a while in the
second phase that is modeling. Modeling
was probably the biggest and most productive phase I went through. It taught me a lot. I learned from the previous
generations. I have nine reports all
together for these classes and I have finally come to the conclusion that
practice makes perfect.
Table 2
Internalization of Instructional Objectives
through Community-Classroom Approach
of the Online Generational Curriculum
|
phases |
Instructional |
Community-Classroom |
|
Phase 3 |
Becoming leaders and inventors |
through generational loyalty |
|
Phase 2 |
Becoming self-directed autonomous learners |
through generational modeling |
|
Phase 1 |
Becoming information literate |
|
|
through generational identification |
|
|
This table here illustrates the Educational Principles of the
Online Generational Community-Classroom.
This principle of part of a five principle theory. Principle 1: Mining Hypertext as a Learning
Resource; Principle 2: Creating Community-Building Forces Among Learners: (a)
Intentionality: (b) Generational: (c) Organicity; Principle 3: Maintaining a
Focus on Learning Skills: (1) Information Literacy Skills, (2) Scientific and
Scholarly Skills, and (3) Leadership and Citizenship Skills; Principle 4: Students as a Cyberspace Learning Community;
and Principle 5. Creating Ethnographic Instructions.
The ability to link knowledge and what you find is the power that the Internet brings to this type of learning. With the classroom working together on a community project brings the power of knowledge to a higher level, by finding motivation to complete the task within each other. The third principle comes into play by learning skills that will be beneficial to the students for years to come. By learning this sort of information they can take it and use it for all sorts of other things. All these works are collaborated on an online page directory that students of the current generation and previous generations can access. The learning of this kind will never stop. Even when I am finished with this class I am still able to go back and review my work and see the new ideas that are in the new generations.
The instructions for these
reports are very meticulous. They seem
to be very planned out and take you step by step. After reader this article I have found that Dr. James actually
has done the work himself and is better prepared to help us with our
questions. I have never known a teacher
to do something like this. It makes me
as a student feel like I can really relate with my teacher. Since UH is a big university, I makes me
satisfied knowing that there are teachers who really take the time out to try
and understand the students. Here is a
quote that demonstrates exactly what Dr. James does, “I found through much experience that besides
providing a community-classroom atmosphere, a second essential component is the
creation of what I call "ethnographic instructions." To prepare
these, I go over every single activity students must go through, and witness
myself executing the micro-steps. I record these steps in their sequence and
exactitude, and instruct students to step through them in this identical way. I
indicate the steps by number so they can keep track of each one in its own
right. A report may have as many as 50 steps specified and each must be
addressed by the student. This is an effective learning procedure insuring a
positive outcome even with the least prepared students.”
