The process of preparing and sharing my remarks gave me fresh insight into the role of passion in learning and the importance of providing students passion-based learning experiences.  Although the slideshow and accompanying resource page discuss these in more detail, I think a few points are worth featuring in this space:

Invisible Expertise

Students possess incredible knowledge and skills that we may never see because we never take the time to ask.  All children have deep-seeded interests that motivate them but our hectic daily schedules, over-stuffed curricula, and focus on assessment data often precludes us from engaging them on anything not related to the course syllabus.  How can we profess to inspire life-long learning when nearly the whole of our emphasis is on the short-term acquisition of “core content”?

Students First

If we expect students to explore and understand our passions (i.e. our subject matter) they must first come to explore and understand theirs.  The relevance and  meaning that we strive to create/attach to our lessons cannot be fully appreciated by learners if they have never experienced them before in a truly personal context.  Intellectual empathy cannot be taught, it must be discovered.

Context –> Mastery

The knowledge and skills acquired in a passion-based learning experience are mastered more completely and thus can be more readily applied to new situations.  Research has clearly demonstrated that motivation influences learning, yet we consistently expect students to transfer concepts and processes that were “learned” in less than optimal settings.  Students don’t care if it will “be on the test” as much as whether they can actually use what they’ve learned in real life.

Expression Styles

Utilizing different learning styles can help students learn but they do not help them demonstrate what they know.  Essays and oral presentations are not the only measures of cognition.  The concept of Expression Styles, as described by Kettle, Renzulli and Rizza, provides students options for sharing knowledge in a format that best suits them.  What is the purpose of trying to “reach all learners” in terms of input but then limiting the methods by which we assess their understanding?

Thanks for Coming…

I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who attended the session in person today (what a fun and thoughtful group!) and hope that readers find these materials useful.  As always, please dive in and use whatever you like to your benefit; sharing it what it’s all about!

Now that Digital Literacy 2010 has drawn to a close, it’s time to look back on the teaching-learning process that brought us to this point. For each topic in the course, I have included (1) a link to an earlier post with more detailed information and (2) some general reflections/suggestions for improvement. Whether you are new to this space or have followed this series over the last 10 weeks, I appreciate your readership and hope you can apply some of the lessons learned here to your students.

Session 1: Passion-Based Learning The Digital Literacy course, which meets once every six days for a total of nine sessions, was originally conceived three years ago in response to the advent of our 1:1 Tablet PC initiative. For the first two years of the program, I taught what we as a middle school perceived to be essential technology skills. This year, in an effort to provide more coherence to the curriculum, I elected to incorporate a research project focused on Passion-Based Learning. Much has been written on the subject, but drawing on the work of John Seely Brown, Konrad Glogowski, Will Richardson, Lisa Nielsen and others, I’ve come to understand P-BL as an experience that empowers students to Discover and Consume, Communicate and Connect, and Create and Produce based on their deep-seated interests. In our setting, every student was exposed to the same set of indispensable skills, but applied them to the unique content of their choosing.

Helping adolescents discover their passion can be a difficult task. Some of my students, even after completing an Interest-A-Lyzer and reflecting extensively on the results, could not identify anything in their lives that inspired true passion; they have no idea what they like to do or what they do best. What greater purpose could we serve than helping students uncover their latent interests and abilities?

This talk on talent, passion, and achievement from Sir Ken Robinson provides an entertaining and inspiring look at why it is so important for all of us to discover the point where natural talent meets personal passion:

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Session 2: Social Networking

One of the outcomes for this course was for students to understand that learning can be informal, social, and networked. According to Pew Internet, 65% of teens 12-17 use online social networks as of February 2008, up from 58% in 2007 and 55% in 2006, and this upward trend is likely to continue. To help students experience the academic aspects of networking firsthand, I created the Digital Literacy Learning Network (DLLN). Powered by Schoology, the DLLN is a private community that provides (1) a space for student resources and learning activities and (2) an interface for exploring social networking.

The students’ first exercise within the DLLN was to create their online profile. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of today’s youth have a solid understanding of what personal information should, and should not, be shared. Although our walled-garden prevented anything inappropriate or confidential from being publicly displayed, it’s important for adolescents to develop good habits early so they are accustomed to being cautious when interacting in wide open networks. As one of the students observed, “What happens in the DLLN stays in the DLLN. If we do something something stupid here, nobody else will know. If we do something stupid on Facebook, everyone will know.” Smart kid.

Session 3: Social Bookmarking

In a 1:1 environment where computers are routinely reimaged, saving bookmarks locally just isn’t a viable option. While this would be reason enough to avoid “favoriting” sites, the social and organizational aspects of web-based bookmarks should not be overlooked. Folksonomies allow users to collectively classify and find information, and in an age of information abundance, are invaluable. Although many of our students have not yet come to fully appreciate the power of tags, they will as their use of and dependence upon the Internet grows.

To date, Delicious has been our tool of choice, but recent changes in their Terms of Service (they now require users to be 13 and register for a Yahoo! account) have given us cause to explore other options. Diigo for Education looks promising, and allows management capabilities, restricted access, and automatically connects learners in the same network; all positives for working with a middle school population.

Session 4: Effective Search Strategies

As I’ve said on many occasions, of all the topics in our 7th grade Digital Literacy course, Effective Search Strategies is easily the most relevant to daily life; everyone searches the Internet. Unfortunately, most students do not search well and left to their own devices, will not become proficient. Resources such as the 21st Century Information Fluency Project, Internet Search Challenge Blog, and Boolify provide structured, intentional practice with corrective feedback.

There is no one “best” search engine for students, but we’ve focused our efforts on developing fluency with Google because (1) it is arguably the best general purpose engine available and (2) most skills can be applied to other search tools.  Simple strategies, such as performing an Advanced Search, can greatly improve query efficiency.  The Wonder Wheel, which places your keyword in the center of a concept map and related terms around it, helps address the content-specific vocabulary that most students lack.  In the recently published Teaching the iGeneration, Bill Ferriter explains the Wonder Wheel in detail and shares tips for using it with students.  This reproducible worksheet from the book, courtesy of Solution Tree, is an excellent introductory activity for the classroom.

Image Source: technobuzz.net

In previous years I’ve devoted at least two class periods to search strategies; this year I only budgeted time enough for one and it was not adequate.  Thankfully, several of my colleagues are reinforcing the effective use of Google in their courses.  With persistent and consistent effort, students can become search experts.

Session 5: Website Evaluation

The cliché  “you can’t believe everything you read”  has never been more true; much of the information on the Internet is less than trustworthy.  And lest one believe this problem only applies to sites like Wikipedia or doesn’t affect well educated adults, consider the 2008 news story, which, based on a misdated source, caused United Airlines stock to plummet and cost investors millions.  Even the Bloomberg News Service gets fooled sometimes.

To guide our students, we utilize elements of New Mexico State University’s Evaluation Criteria as outlined by Susan Beck and adapted into this Website Evaluation Form:

• Authority: Is the author(s) of the site identified and qualified?
• Accuracy: Is the factual information correct and are the sources cited?
• Objectivity: Is the site free from bias or does it try to sway your opinion?
• Currency: Is the content up to date and do all the links work?
• Coverage: Is the information useful, detailed, and in depth?

Though far from foolproof, using a common set of criteria, and requiring students to evaluate each and every source they wish to use, does promote being a critical consumer.  Much like effective searching, website evaluation may take years to master but is vital for navigating our information-rich world.

Session 6: Copyright and Fair Use

If the “everything you read” adage had a corollary, it would surely be “not everything on the Internet is free for the taking.”  Of all the topics that comprise our curriculum, the intricacies of copyright, fair use, Creative Commons, and the public domain are among the most challenging for students (and teachers) to grasp.  Copyright law is complex, fair use guidelines are fluid, and what educators deem “fair” varies widely throughout the profession.   Shortly after teaching this lesson using the familiar “10% or 30 seconds” approach, I attended a workshop with Joyce Valenza who, as always, inspired and challenged my thinking.  Regardless of how liberal or conservative one may be with the use of media, it’s vital that we view students as content creators and make every effort to understand, model, and teach the proper use of creative works.

On a practical level, this means we should (1) require that students cite any creative work they use and (2) employ the Center for Social Media’s Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, which represents the education community’s current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials.

Session 7: Networked Learning

With ~150 students in 10 sections working on specific (although frequently overlapping) topics, there was no possible way for me, as their teacher, to serve as a content-area expert.  Thankfully, our Digital Literacy Learning Network included a “groups” feature for connecting members and leveraging the idea of networked learning that we first explored at the beginning of the year.  Learning groups (similar to online study groups) were created for each research topic, and the students encouraged to join the group(s) related to their passion.  Members could post links, status updates, and share files and ideas with other students in the group.

Unfortunately, of all our endeavors this trimester, the learning groups were, in general, the least successful.  Most had minimal activity and for the few that did spark online conversations, much of the banter was of limited value.  In hindsight, time may have been a contributing factor; our students lead full lives and an optional activity such as this may not have sufficiently enticed them.  In addition, the notion of learning being informal, social, and networked is relatively new for them; these concepts are not typically valued or reinforced in most schools.  That said, this is definitely an area for future growth and will require the support of my colleagues.   Students need, in the words of Will Richardson,  “The ability to create, grow and navigate personal learning networks in safe, ethical, and effective ways” and we have to provide them with opportunities to make that happen.

Session 8: Differentiating via Student Expression Styles

In addition to letting the students base their research topic on their passion, I wanted them to be able to choose the form of their final product.  Because this is Digital Literacy, they needed to use some form of technology with the stipulation that PowerPoint was off limits.  To help them identify a suitable approach, I employed the concept of expression styles.  Unlike learning styles, which focus on how students acquire and process information, expression styles reflect the types of products students prefer to create to demonstrate their understanding.   The My Way…An Expression Style Instrument, developed by Karen Kettle, Joseph Renzulli, and Mary Rizza, identifies 10 broad categories of products/forms of expression:

• Written
• Oral
• Artistic
• Computer
• Audio/Visual
• Commercial
• Service
• Dramatization
• Manipulative
• Musical

After completing the questionnaire, students were presented a list of technology options relevant to each expression style.   In reviewing the final distribution for the class, it was interesting to note that nearly 70% of the students fell into one of three preferred styles: computer, audio/visual, and artistic.  The noted absence of writing stirred quite a discussion among our English faculty, but I hope it will also generate conversation about the types of assessments we use in all disciplines.

If the DLLN groups were our weakest link, the expression style preferences were definitely the strongest.  We now have a window into every seventh grade student, and I daresay this approach to differentiation has opened a door for rethinking (or at the very least expanding our view of) assessment.  I highly recommend using the My Way instrument with your students; it could be the best 20 minutes you spend this year.

Session 9: Final Projects

Grading nearly 150 final projects, covering scores of unique topics, created with dozens of unique tools, made for a busy week.  However, the process was greatly aided by using a common scoring rubic. While some projects demonstrated more care than others, all were worthy of a passing grade for this pass/fail course.  The real motivation, though, was not to earn a “P” on the report card but rather to create something of which to be proud.  Below is a but one example; others are available here.

Expression Style: Computer
Passion: Reading
Technology Tool: Alice

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Over the next few months, each student will have an opportunity to share his/her creation in advisory and in doing so, an important piece of themselves.  I can think of no better way to capstone what I hope has been a valuable and memorable learning experience for the Class of 2016.

The first trimester has ended and with it, Digital Literacy 2010.  The journey that began more than 10 weeks ago has culminated in nearly 150 student projects that reflect the various passions and expression styles of the Class of 2016.  While all the final products will be shared through advisory in the coming months, I want to highlight a few here that I feel capture the spirit of the endeavor.  At some point in the near future I may compose my reflections on the course in general, but for moment, I invite you to enjoy these rich and varied creations.

Expression Style: Artistic
Passion: Animation
Technology Tool: Pencil

Expression Style: Audio/Visual
Passion: Dance
Technology Tool: Prezi

Expression Style: Computer
Passion: Video Game Design
Technology Tool: Sploder

Expression Style: Oral
Passion: Baseball
Technology Tool: Audacity

Expression Style: Musical
Passion: Tennis
Technology Tool: Mixcraft

Expression Style: Written
Passion: Creative Writing
Technology Tool: Myebook

As the result of our exploration of Passion-Based Learning, each student in Digital Literacy 2010  will use his/her passion as the focus of their final research project.  Regardless of the topic, every project must address these essential questions:

1. What is your passion?
2. Why is it more than a mere interest for you?
3. What would other people need to know about your passion to understand it?
4. Which aspects of your passion are the most important to share?
5. How does your passion affect and reflect you as a person and a learner?

Although it is not uncommon to differentiate content in this way (i.e. student choice), it is equally important to also consider how best to allow for differentiated assessment.  Not wanting to read ~150 formal papers or endure dozens of identically formatted presentations, I instead leveraged the concept of expression styles.  Unlike learning styles, which focus on how students acquire and process information, expression styles reflect the types of products students prefer to create to demonstrate their understanding.   The My Way…An Expression Style Instrument, developed by Karen Kettle, Joseph Renzulli, and Mary Rizza, identifies 10 broad categories of products/forms of expression:

• Written
• Oral
• Artistic
• Computer
• Audio/Visual
• Commercial
• Service
• Dramatization
• Manipulative
• Musical

To help the students identify their strengths and discover how best to “show what they know,” they completed the instrument and self-scored the results.  Here is a simple raw data representation of how their expression preferences were distributed (click image for larger view):

And again viewed proportionally:

Although all ten categories did elicit responses, it’s worth noting that nearly 70% of this (albeit limited) population fell into one of three preferred expression styles…and writing was not among them.  While this is by no means an indictment against written expression, it should give us reason to reflect on our assessment strategies.  The value of the five paragraph essay will hopefully never diminish, but these results suggest that (1) the majority of students would, if given the opportunity, choose other means by which to convey their knowledge and (2) technology can play a vital supporting role in the process.

Technologies that Support Expression Styles

Because the My Way…An Expression Style Instrument was developed more than a decade ago, the majority of the student products suggested by the authors reflect an absence of technology (as further evidenced by the inclusion of “computer” as an expression style).  In an effort to update their approach, I created an open-access Google spreadsheet and invited readers to share their suggestions for  projects and tools that would support these various forms of expression.  Using their input and that of my teaching colleagues and students, I identified several technology resources for each of the ten categories:

Written Expression:

• Blogs A blog is a type of website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
• Publisher Create, personalize, and share a range of professional-quality publications.
• Myebook Online book creator that lets you design, publish, and share your work.
• ReadWriteThink Printing Press Create a brochure, booklet, or newspaper online.
• Wikispaces: Wikis are simple web pages that groups, friends, and families can edit together.

Oral Expression:

• Audioboo Allows you to record and upload audio for your friends, family or the rest of the world to hear.
• Audacity: Free, fully-functional multi-track audio editor.
• Photostory 3: Create a slide show of images with narration.
• Podomatic Tool for creating and hosting audio podcasts.
• VoiceThread Share and discuss your images, documents, and videos.

Artistic Expression:

• ArtRage Draw and paint using your stylus as a brush.
• Comic Life Software for creating comics and graphic novels.
• DoInk Create and share Flash-style animations.
• Kerpoof Make animated pictures and movies.
• Pencil Create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics
• Storybird Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make to share.
• ToonDoo Online comic strip creator.

Computer Expression:

• Alice Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create animations.
• Atmosphir Create 3D platform games that display in your browser.
• Google Earth Design custom Google Earth tours that include rich media.
• Scratch Create and share interactive stories, games, music and art.

Audio/Visual Expression:

• Adobe Premiere: Video editing software; also consider Windows Movie Maker.
• Animoto Create unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music.
• Glogster Interactive posters made from images, text, music and video.
• Manyeyes Data visualization tool.
• Prezi Create zooming presentations live and on the web.
• VoiceThread Share and discuss your images, documents, and videos.

Commercial Expression:

• 3D Box Shot: Turn 2D artwork into a 3D box for your product. (N.B. Free to try, $10 to buy)
• BizKids: Provides you an opportunity to open a business, have some fun, and make some cash!
• Ponoko: Ponoko is an online marketplace for everyone to click to make real things.
• SmartStocks: SmartStocks.com provides a live stock game using real stock quotes.
• Weebly: Create a free website and blog without technical knowledge.

Service Expression:

• Blogs A blog is a type of website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
• Change.org: Change.org raises awareness about important causes and empowers people to take action.
• Social Actions: Connecting people and organizations to niche “communities of action”
• Wallwisher: An online notice board maker that can include text, images, and video.

Dramatization Expression:

• Adobe Premiere: Video editing software; also consider Windows Movie Maker.
• Celtx: Celtx helps you produce all types of media – film, video, documentary, theatre, and however else you choose to tell your story.
• GoAnimate: On GoAnimate you can make your own animated characters,direct your own cartoons and watch others’ creations.
• Xtranormal: Make text to speech movies with 3D characters.

Manipulative Expression:

• Gogofrog: Create and share a 3D website.
• Google Earth Design custom Google Earth tours that include rich media.
• Google Sketchup: You can use Sketchup to create, modify, and share 3D models.
• Zooburst: A digital storytelling tool that is designed to let anyone easily create their own customized 3D pop-up book

Musical Expression:

• Aviary Roc: Create music and beats completely from scratch and right in a web browser.
• ccMixter: Listen to, sample, mash-up, or interact with music in whatever way you want.
• GarageBand: Compose music on your Mac.
• Mixcraft Multi-track recording studio with free trial.
• TrakAxPC: Create music and video mixes on your PC.

Students were asked to investigate the options relevant to their preferred expression style, decide upon a form for the final product, and select a tool with which to work.  As I stressed to them in class, this first effort at categorization is far from perfect and merely reflects the developmentally appropriate resources at our disposal that I am personally able to support.  Although they were not limited to my suggestions, under no circumstances could they use PowerPoint because nothing kills passion like PowerPoint.

To date, I have students developing webpages, interactive posters, musical compositions, animations, videos, electronic art, computer games, eBooks, audio recordings, and scores of other creative works.  All the projects should be completed in the next few days, and I hope to share a few examples of their work, as well as the assessment rubric, in this space.  In the meantime, if you have a suggestion for a technology that can support an expression style, please consider leaving a comment and I’ll add it to my growing list.

As I noted at the beginning of the school year, the focus of Digital Literacy 2010 is Passion-Based Learning.  Although I have selected the technology skills that comprise the curriculum, the course content is specific to each student’s passion.  As they’ve learned to search effectively, tag and share websites, evaluate sources, and comply with copyright and fair use, they’ve done so through the topic of their choosing.  This approach has enabled them to explore something of great personal importance and acquire what are frequently referred to as 21st century skills.  Embedded among those skills is the idea of Network Literacy, which, in the words of Will Richardson, is “The ability to create, grow and navigate personal learning networks in safe, ethical, and effective ways.”

With ~150 students in 10 sections working on specific (although frequently overlapping) topics, there is no possible way for me, as their teacher, to serve as a content-area expert.  While some topics such as soccer or geology are well within my domain of experience, I know nothing of Irish folk dancing, mountain climbing, the violin, or many of their other interests.  And this limitation, as it were, creates the perfect opportunity to empower students to experience the benefits of networked learning.

Image Source: http://www.squidoo.com/socialnetwork-it

To actively foster this concept, we have employed Schoology as a private network where students can truly create, grow, navigate, and perhaps most importantly, connect with their peers.  Learning groups were created for each research topic, and the students encouraged to join the group(s) related to their passion.  By designing a safe, controlled environment, students are free to experience the important but frequently overlooked social, informal, and networked aspects of learning.  Unburdened from the pressures communicating in a public space, they are discovering how to post status updates, create discussions, and share links and files in safe, ethical, and effective ways.

While some of the learning groups have been more active and successful than others, this endeavor has connected students in meaningful ways.  A pair of girls who didn’t know each other discovered they both enjoy interior design, have become friends, and are trading ideas for the final project .  One of my most reserved boys found his voice online and is a regular and respected online contributor.  The students in the Video Game group have exchanged dozens of links, tips, and tricks, and have arranged to meet outside of school to play and discuss their game creations.  When viewed through the lens of the traditional 3R’s curriculum, these examples may seem trivial at best.  When viewed from the perspective of adolescents who live in a hyper-connected world, they demonstrate the power and potential of networked learning.

Yes, such an undertaking does not come without its challenges.  Some students will behave inappropriately.  Strong personalities may dominate a discussion at the exclusion of others.  The number of friends in one’s network can become a popularity contest.  Much of the content posted is often little more than electronic chatter.  But given that these students are or will soon be interacting in social networks that are beyond our influence, is it not better to learn these lessons within the confines of a secure, supportive environment?

If you haven’t yet afforded your students the opportunity to develop their network literacy, I would encourage you to explore the possibilities; there is much we can teach them, and even more they can teach each other.

Image Remixed from http://creativecommons.org/

Students as Content Creators

As I noted last week, according to a recent  EMC Corporation report, the amount of digital information created in 2010 is estimated to reach 1.2 Zettabytes.  While much of that “information” is mere electronic chatter, a considerable amount is useful, purposeful content that, unless otherwise specified, is protected by copyright.  And while it is nearly impossible to determine what percentage of newly created media is copyrighted vs. licensed under a Creative Commons agreement, it is safe to assume that the vast majority of the images, videos, writings, and recordings we so readily produce, and in turn consume, are not available for unrestricted use.

As a simple example, consider Flickr Creative Commons.  Last March, when the site reached 100 million CC-licensed images,  Metawelle analyzed how those licenses were distributed and found that “33% of them are equipped with the most restrictive CC License, BY-NC-ND. That means that over 32 million photos are available to download, display publicly, and distribute, as long as the author is attributed and no changes are made to the original image. The second most frequent license is BY-NC-SA. It allows derivative works for non-commercial purposes as long as those resulting works are made available under the same license. 29%, or 29 million images, can be used in this manner.  Thus it would seem that the bulk of photos are licensed rather restrictively.”

While it could be argued that tens of millions of attribution-only artifacts (not to mention the immense public domain) should more than meet the needs of students seeking content, copyright is still king.  And although Fair Use does allow for small portions of copyrighted materials to be used for educational purposes, these guidelines are often presented as a legal loophole.  Consequently, students may never truly understand or appreciate what it means to repurpose someone else’s work.

The ironic shortcoming in all of this is that while today’s students are being heralded as prosumers for whom creativity is paramount, very few (and this generally applies to their teachers as well) have experienced these issues from a content creator’s point of view.   They may be producing, and ideally even sharing, but by and large their work is not being used and adapted by others.  At least not yet.

Privacy, quality, and accessibility may be limiting factors, but hopefully at some point every student will create something that is reused/remixed by another.  As we encourage creativity and teach responsible use, we must do so not simply with a focus on “taking and making” but rather with an eye toward raising awareness of their rights as content creators.  How would they feel about someone else excerpting their work?  Do they wish to retain full copyright or adopt a Creative Commons license?  Does the creator-mindset alter what they perceive to be fair use?  These questions can move the teaching-learning process beyond the “10% or 30 seconds–whichever is less” mentality and foster a sense of empathy, ownership, and responsibility.

Understanding, Modeling, and Teaching

Copyright law is complex, Fair Use guidelines are fluid, and what educators deem “fair” varies widely throughout the profession.   That said, it is still important that classroom teachers–not just librarians–have at least a rudimentary understanding of these topics so they can properly guide their students.  Although such an overview is beyond the scope of this space, Carol Simpson’s Copyright For Schools, the The Copyright Site at the University of Alabama, and Copyright & Fair Use from PBS Teachers are excellent resources for thorough information.  In addition, Rodd Lucier’s recent K12 Online Conference 2010 presentation, Creative Commons: What Every Educator Needs to Know, provides an excellent introduction to the millions of free images, audio files, video elements, and written materials that allow the creation of unique multimedia products.

For those wanting a more condensed approach, the Center for Social Media’s Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education represents the education community’s current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials.  According to the Code of Best Practice, teachers can:

• make copies of newspaper articles, TV shows, and other copyrighted works and use them and keep them for educational use
• create curriculum materials and scholarship with copyrighted materials embedded
• share, sell and distribute curriculum materials with copyrighted materials embedded

Learners can:

• use copyrighted works in creating new material
• distribute their works digitally if they meet the transformativeness standard

The “transformativeness” standard can be hard to understand and model, but Kristin Hokanson and Renee Hobbs have created a Tool for Supporting the Fair Use Reasoning Process. This freely available and user-friendly document guides students and teachers through the process of determining if a use of copyrighted material is considered fair.  Similarly, the Fair Use Visualizer from Copyright Website provides an interactive, visual representation of the infringement-fair use scale.  While neither constitutes a legal interpretation of acceptable use, both are solid frameworks for consideration.

Teaching students about copyright and fair use should begin at an early age and within the content-area classroom.  Here are but a few selected resources for elementary, middle school, and high school students:

• Fair Use–Beg, Borrow or Steal? A fictional student project cases study from Cablevision
• Taking the Mystery out of Copyright Video presentation tutorial from the Library of Congress
• Copyright with Tim and Moby BrainPop movie on the basics of copyright
• Teaching Copyright Comprehensive set of tools to educate students about copyright
• Copyright Website Case studies involving copyright violations for movies, music, and the web

Although laws and interpretive guidelines frequently change, it’s important that we make a concerted, good faith effort to foster the proper use of creative content.  With persistance and continued education, we can set the standard for thoughtful compliance, and that’s a goal worth achieving.

The much referenced information overload/filter failure debate aside, in this post-Gutenberg age, when anyone and everyone is a publisher, web evaluation is a critical,  life-long skill that students must master.  Even though sites like the ever-popular Wikipedia do benefit from peer review, and researchers are developing new algorithms to detect misinformation, the ultimate burden of quality control still falls to the learner.  Fortunately, there are a number of excellent resources available for website evaluation, including those created by Kathy Schrock and Joyce Valenza.  To guide our students, we utilize elements of New Mexico State University’s Evaluation Criteria as outlined by Susan Beck and adapted into this Website Evaluation Form:

• Authority: Is the author(s) of the site identified and qualified?
• Accuracy: Is the factual information correct and are the sources cited?
• Objectivity: Is the site free from bias or does it try to sway your opinion?
• Currency: Is the content up to date and do all the links work?
• Coverage: Is the information useful, detailed, and in depth?

As an introductory exercise, this Internet Search Challenge from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy drives home the point that information should not be used until verified.  Take a moment to follow the image-link and try the exercise yourself:

Hopefully you fared better than the 99% of my students who readily accepted the answer found in this caption.  Lest you feel too badly, it’s worth recalling that two years ago United Airlines stock lost over a billion dollars in value in less than an hour because of a false bankruptcy report that spread to Bloomberg News.

Because they lack content-area knowledge and are still developing their critical  thinking skills, students need guided practice identifying and evaluating these elements.  For those wanting to implement a thorough literacy program, the Evaluation Module from Information Fluency provides a free and easy solution appropriate for middle school.  For more advanced learners who have moved beyond the familiar (and hopefully obvious) hoaxes like The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Center, there are numerous sites available for honing their skills.  Here are a handful of my favorites; please note that by describing a site as “legitimate” I am in no way endorsing the site but rather merely indicating it is not an intentional hoax/fake website.

• Boilerplate: The Victorian Era Robot: Hoax site complete with references to Amazon.com and endorsements from leading publications.
• FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform):  Legitimate (non-hoax) site that claims to be non-partisan but demonstrates lack of objectivity.
• Jacopo di Poggibonsi: Hoax site detailing the life and times of fictitious medieval artist Jacopo di Poggibonsi.
• Martin Luther King JR–A True Historical Examination: Legitimate (non-hoax) revisionist history site hosted by White Nationalists.  Note: This site is not suitable for younger students.
• RYT Hospital: Hoax site for the world’s most innovative and extraordinary healthcare.
• Texas Indians: Legitimate (non-hoax) site that lacks bibliographic documentation and seeks financial donations from students and teachers.

Just as learning to search effectively takes time, so does perfecting the art of evaluating  the information found.  Left to their own devices, most students  will accept as fact the results returned (just ask anyone who thought the Transformer sculpture was a Citroen C2).  Regardless of your discipline or grade level, if your students use the web I hope you’ll make an effort to actively engage them in becoming critical consumers.  The resources I’ve shared are only a starting point; please add your suggestions to the comments below.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, it’s a Citroen C4.

• Google: 88 billion per month
• Twitter: 19 billion per month
• Yahoo: 9.4 billion per month
• Bing: 4.1 billion per month

Searching and effective searching, however, are two very different tasks.  With more than 1 trillion unique URLs (as verified by Google and Magestic12), the enormity of the ever-expanding web is nearly unfathomable.  Consequently, for students today, the skill of locating information has become as important as the skill of memorizing information.  To begin our journey toward proficiency, we explored (1) how search works, (2) how to use a Search Box Strategy, and (3) the basic and advanced features of Google.

How Search Works

Becoming a search expert begins with understanding, at least on a rudimentary level, how search engines work.  Most students (and adults) are generally surprised to learn that when they perform a web search, they are not actually searching the web:

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Different search engines work in different ways, but they all utilize the same basic principles of algorithms and keywords.  As WiseGeek noted earlier this month, though, concept-based searches are on the horizon:

The newest trend in search engines, and likely the future of search in general, is to move away from keyword-based searches to concept-based searches. In this new form of search, rather than limiting a search to the keywords the searcher inputs, the search engine tries to figure out what those keywords mean, so that it can suggest pages that may not include the exact word, but nonetheless are topical to the search. This is still a developing field, but so far seems to have a lot of potential in making searches more relevant, making the web an even easier place to find exactly what you’re looking for.

While this trend is promising ( the ~ operator has been used for years to find related terms and Google has a related searches view), keywords are still, for the moment, the key to effective searches.  Employing a Search Box Strategy can greatly improve the efficiency and efficacy of any keyword query.

Search Box Strategy

The 21st Century Information Fluency Project suggests that “using a search strategy is the difference between browsing the Internet and searching the Internet. One systematic approach is called the Search Box Strategy.  When you enter something in the search box, see what you get, and continue the process until you find what you are after. Searchers who have refined the Search Box Strategy will carefully choose keywords, do a preliminary search, scan the results for clues, and persistently revise search terms until they find what they seek.”

Image Source: Information Fluency

The greatest challenge for students in this process is the “revising”  of search terms, particularly when performing a school-related search; they simply lack the content-area/subject matter vocabulary.  Knowing how to use a search engine’s basic and advanced features, however, can compensate greatly.

Google Basic and Advanced Search

Each year I informally survey my students regarding their knowledge of basic and advanced search techniques.  Invariably, less than 10% have any familiarity with options beyond the search box.  Because Google is widely regarded as the most popular general-purpose search engine, we focus our efforts on some of its more useful tools, including the Wonder Wheel and Google Advanced Search.

The Wonder Wheel (which is only visible/available when Google Instant is turned off) is an interactive Flash app which places your keyword in the center of a concept map and related terms around it. Clicking on a related term creates a new, connected circle with more related terms:

In the recently published Teaching the iGeneration, Bill Ferriter explains the Wonder Wheel in detail and shares tips for using it with students.  This reproducible worksheet from the book, courtesy of Solution Tree, is an excellent introductory activity for the classroom.

Despite being the favorite search engine of many students, most are completely unaware of Google’s advanced search features.  Simple techniques such as using quotes to locate an exact phrase or limiting results to a specific domain can filter millions of results down to a handful.  Google’s Search Help provides a quick overview of the advanced options, this extended guide covers Advanced Search in considerable detail, and Nancy Blachman’s excellent Google Guide provides online tutorials for Novices, Experts, and Teens.

Intentional Practice

Although homework and in-class exercises provide students ample “opportunities” to search, much of this type of practice is unguided.  Trial and error can be effective but is inefficient and often frustrating.  Resources such as the 21st Century Information Fluency Project,  Internet Search Challenge Blog, and Boolify provide structured, intentional practice with corrective feedback.  Incorporating these search activities into the curriculum can improve any student’s skills and make navigating the near-endless depths of the Internet a productive, enjoyable experience.

For Middle School students, mastering the art of tagging (i.e. choosing keywords wisely) and managing the social aspects of bookmarking (i.e. building a useful network) can be challenging.  Social tagging and folksonomy dominate the web, and John Falls’ The Practical Guide to Content Tagging in Social Bookmarking suggests that users should keep it simple, keep it the same, periodically review, and don’t bookmark everything.  Developing an effective network is a formitable task but one that students can achieve over time.  Connecting with classmates and teachers is an important first step, and teaching students how to search and browse Delicious will help them discover excellent content and potential contacts.

There is far more to Delicious (and social bookmarking in general) than most realize, and resources abound for new and veteran users.  The Huge List of Delicious Tools, Plugin, Scripts and Mashable’s Delicious Toolbox: 80+ Updates Tools and Resources can help anyone make better use of this versatile tool.  A few of my favorites include Tasty for the iPhone, Fresh Delicious for checking broken links, and Delicer (terrible name-wonderful tool) for account management.   All are simple, free, and definitely worth a few a minutes of your time.

Options and Considerations

Although Delicious has served our students and faculty well, there are numerous other social bookmarking options, including Digg, reddit, Clipmarks, and Diigo.  Of these, Diigo is perhaps the best suited for students and teachers.  As noted on their help page, “Diigo is much more than a simple web annotation or social bookmarking service — it is a new kind of online research and collaborative research tool that integrates tags and folders, highlighting and clipping, sticky notes, and group-based collaboration, enabling a whole new process of online knowledge management, learning, and teaching in the information age.”

Diigo offers special premium accounts provided specifically to K-12 and higher-ed educators.  Unlike Delicious, which requires users to create a Yahoo! ID , be at least 13 years of age (or have parental permission), and generate a “public” account visible to all Delicious users, Diigo for Education allows management capabilities and restricted access:

• Teachers can create student accounts for an entire class with just a few clicks (and student email addresses are optional for account creation)
• Students of the same class are automatically set up as a Diigo group so they can start using all the benefits that a Diigo group provides, such as group bookmarks and annotations, and group forums.
• Privacy settings of student accounts are pre-set so that only teachers and classmates can communicate with them.

Whichever tool one chooses, here are a few considerations that can ease the transition into social bookmarking:

Check Terms of Service: As mentioned, Delicious/Yahoo! requires parental permission for younger students.  The approval process is cumbersome–the parents must have a Yahoo! ID and provide their credit card information–and should be communicated up front to families.

Capture Usernames: Because social bookmarking sites are global, students may be forced to select an unfamiliar user ID (which they will invariably forget).  Having students complete a simple Google Form (such as the one we used) will capture this information and serve as a handy resource when login issues arise.

Share Usernames: Diiigo for Education builds classroom networks automatically, but tools like Delicious require knowing specific user IDs.  If a Google Form is used to capture usernames, it can be shared as a Google spreadsheet on the web and expedite the formation of a network.

Make in an Annual Event: Although user accounts only need to be created once, social bookmarking toolbars and bookmarklets will need to be reinstalled every time a computer is reimaged (and because these tools are profile-related, they can’t easily be preinstalled).  Create a solid set of directions (or at the very least point to a good external tutorial) so that social booking doesn’t become a one-time event.

If you have not yet experienced the organizational and collaborative benefits of social bookmarking, I would encourage you to explore a few of the aforementioned tools and see what you’ve been missing.  Common Craft is right; social bookmarking really does make the process of saving sites more useful and fun!

1. How does your passion affect and reflect who you are as a person and learner?
2. How does technology affect and reflect who you are as a person and learner?

To begin answering these questions, students must come to understand that learning can be informal, social, and networked.  Social networking, the topic of our second lesson, binds these ideas together and is of vital important to Generation Y:

According to Pew Internet, 65% of teens 12-17 use online social networks as of February 2008, up from 58% in 2007 and 55% in 2006, and this upward trend is likely to continue.  Consider these recent findings:

“The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University recently interviewed 895 technology leaders as part of a series of surveys on the evolution and social impact of online technologies. Participants previously opined on the social impact of the Internet by 2020 and the future of cloud computing.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents believed that information sharing will prove to be more than a passing fad for Generation Y as the habit has grown to become an integral part of how burgeoning and young adults find information, seek help, sustain and nurture friendships and remain engaged with their communities.”

While the relevance of online socialization to Millennials is clear, the role and presence of social media in the classroom is imprecise at best.  Students frequently venture into virtual spaces with little or no sense of what constitutes proper behavior, the consequences of their naivety can be severe, and as educators, we need to assume a degree of responsibility.  Just as classroom expectations are introduced, reinforced, and ingrained from an early age, so too should the principles of digital etiquette and responsible use.  And just as classroom rules and procedures are best learned in the classroom, the intricacies of online behavior that can facilitate informal, social, and networked learning are best acquired in a secure yet authentic online environment.

Digital Literacy Learning Network

Every student in my course is a member of the Digital Literacy Learning Network (DLLN).  Powered by Schoology, the DLLN  is a private community that provides (1) a space for student resources and learning activities and (2) an interface for exploring social networking.  As I explained to the students, it is a safe environment–a virtual walled garden–where we can learn together without the pressures of the outside world.  As such, parents, teachers, and administrators are not yet part of the process.  Our first steps (and missteps) will be ours alone to experience; we are a newly-formed team and holding closed practices.  Although some may question that decision, social networking is built on relationships and trust.  Students need to get to know and trust me, and each other, before moving to a wider sphere of influence and interaction.

In social networks, user profiles are essential for establishing  relationships.  As a first activity and introduction to the DLLN, students completed their online profile.  As the students began detailing their interests, hobbies, and extracurricular activities, the question of what types of information should/should not be shared invoked lively conversation.  While everyone was quite familiar with the expression TMI, many were unaware that divulging identifying information (e.g. school, age, address, etc.) is unwise and potentially dangerous.  Although there is nothing in the Schoology profile that would be considered questionable, establishing the “TMI mindset” now will hopefully prevent problems later when such safeguards are not in place.

The students and I still have a long way to go in developing our DLLN; learning to make “friends”, post status updates, send messages, form and join groups, and other networking activities will all come in good time and foster the teaching-learning experience.  For the moment, though, we have taken the first step toward establishing an online space that is engaging and instructional rather than simply didactic and prescriptive.  Social networking IS more than a passing fad; hopefully our efforts will help ensure that responsible online sharing becomes the rule, not the exception.