Dennis OConnor's List: Libraries, Web 2.0, Fact-Checking

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• FactCheckED.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center supported by a grant from the Flora Family Foundation.
  

• I don't speak Spanish, but can usually figure out the meaning of traveler's information printed in a couple of languages. My insufficiency became evident when searching online for information on La Posada, a Mexican Christmas tradition.
• The paradoxical thing about information and searching is that the more of it there is, the less of it we will see. The results we retrieve will be a smaller and smaller sample of what's actually available. And I don't see how this trend can be reversed.
  
• I wanted to know if there was traditional music for this Mexican celebration. I think I would have found it right away if there weren't other meanings and spellings for 'la posada.'
  

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• Here’s a roundup of the

• Evaluating Digital Information  

  Part Five of the series Five Things Today's Digital Generation Cannot do   (and what you can do to help) discusses how searchers have to invent their own evaluation standards because schools are not teaching them.
• Workshop Tutorials 

  The section on Investigative Searching is loaded with new ideas and activities to teach careful evaluation. Consider ways to use this resource in your class.
• Teacher's Guide: Personalized Evaluation Searches  

  How to use Rollyo, Swiki and Google Co-op to create personalized search engines for safe Web page evaluation practice at all grade levels.
• Teacher's Guide to Action Zone Evaluation Games  

  Recommended uses for the Bad Apple and Use It! or Lose It! evaluation games in this Kit, including tips and answers.
• IMSA Evaluation Wizard  

  How to use our Evaluation Wizard to assess how well students evaluate what they find online.

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

• “Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years of American Independence” – headline from The Onion, July 26, 2006

   

  

   

  A collective gasp and shudder went palpably through the entire room of library media specialists when I first heard a conference presenter describe how Wikipedia (http://wikipedia.org) entries are written—by anyone, at any time, on nearly any topic. No editors or editorial process. Instantaneous changes.  Faith that the “lay” viewer of the entry will correct any inaccurate information found. Wikipedia flaunts every rule our library schools taught us about the authority of a reference source.

• Overview     After reading or viewing a text, students are introduced to propaganda techniques and then identify examples in the text. After discussing these examples, students explore the use of propaganda in popular culture by looking at examples in the media. Students identify examples of propaganda techniques used in clips of online political advertisements and explain how the techniques are used to persuade voters. Finally students explore the similarities of the propaganda techniques used in the literary text and in the online political ads to explain the commentary the text is making about contemporary society.
   
   In this lesson, some specific references are made to Brave New World as examples. A text list suggests additional novels, short stories, plays, and movies that will also work for this activity.
  

• Do you hear the buzz? The new vocabulary of ed-tech talk bursts with keywords like blog, podcast, wikis, webinar and the ultimate umbrella term: Web 2.0.  Web 2.0 describes a second generation of websites where the tech literate can read, write, publish and respond to information. Blogs, wikis, podcasts and webinars are the publication tools that make it all happen.  Web 2.0, dubbed the Read/Write web by visionary educators and thinkers gives everyone with access to the Internet a truly international voice. (By last count a billion people are online.)

   

  Yesterday we could use search engines, subject indexes and the deep web to locate, evaluate, and use digital information. Today we can do all that while juggling a remarkably diverse set of new user friendly web based applications to create and publish a custom tailored world of digital information. 

• Straight from the Horse's Mouth:
    Nonfiction, Technology and Information Fluent Thinkers

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

   

   

   Fact checking is essential in a (mis) information rich environment. 
• Brilliant resource from the Annenberg Public Policy Center
• FactChecked.org
   Luckily, FactCheck.org also has a highly developed classroom section that provides in-depth lesson plans and media links. These are highly polished materials for educators seeking a way to teach critical thinking and evaluation skills to their students. The Lesson Plan Archive ( http://www.factchecked.org/LessonPlans.aspx ) will intrigue any educator looking for a way to engage students. These plans are edgy and up to date. If you've been looking for a way to teach thinking and evaluation of media.

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• This is the best time in history to be a teacher-librarian. Major shifts in our information and communication landscapes present new opportunities for librarians to teach and lead in areas that were always considered part of their role, helping learners of all ages effectively use, manage, evaluate, organize and communicate information, and to love reading in its glorious new variety.
    
   A school’s teacher-librarian is its chief information officer, but in a networked world, the position is more that of moderator or coach, the person who ensures that students and teachers can effectively interact with information and leverage it to create and share and make a difference in the community and beyond.

• Virtual library collections, or databases, give students access to trusted content and research tools with links to authoritative information that has been vetted by subject-matter experts. Today's 21st-century school libraries make use of virtual collections while also giving students ample opportunities for enhancing their digital literacy, research, and collaboration skills which are essential in a globally connected world.

   

  With the generous support of Questia School, the editors of eSchool News have compiled this collection of stories from our archives, along with other relevant information from around the web, to help you transform your school libraries for the 21st century.