Hi guys!
How are you? Today I feel great.. finally the sun is shining!=)
What do you think about last week's lesson?I found it really interesting as we discussed and reflected on how to search for information on the Internet and how to adopt a critical approach to the information we find.
The Web is huge and full of information. However, is everything we find really useful, reliable and valid for our research and purposes?
I usually search the Internet if I need some explanations or material to work on for my studies but it's really easy to get lost or to waste time reading something I actually won't use. So, what to do? Following the suggestions given by Sarah, I prepared a checklist with the main criteria I follow when reading and evaluating online information. Basing on the 4Ws given by Tips from San Diego State University, here are the main steps:
- Who is the author
- What can be said about the content, context, style, structure, completeness and accuracy of the information provided by the source?
Is the content relevant to your information needs?
- When was the information published?
- Why was the information provided by the source published?
What are the perspectives, opinions, assumptions and biases of whoever is responsible for this information?
I think that these will be essential in order to skim and scan what we read for our research.
I'm also proud of my discovery of new technological tools to use. I didn't know Google was so diverse and accurate in providing systems of research. Now I know how to use:
- Google Blogs if you are looking for blogs about the topic you're interested in;
- Google Books if you're looking for some specific books;
- Google Scholar if you need some academic texts.
One never stops learning!! All these tools will be very useful for my future research.
Have a nice day!
How are you? Today I feel great.. finally the sun is shining!=)
What do you think about last week's lesson?I found it really interesting as we discussed and reflected on how to search for information on the Internet and how to adopt a critical approach to the information we find.
The Web is huge and full of information. However, is everything we find really useful, reliable and valid for our research and purposes?
I usually search the Internet if I need some explanations or material to work on for my studies but it's really easy to get lost or to waste time reading something I actually won't use. So, what to do? Following the suggestions given by Sarah, I prepared a checklist with the main criteria I follow when reading and evaluating online information. Basing on the 4Ws given by Tips from San Diego State University, here are the main steps:
- Who is the author
- What can be said about the content, context, style, structure, completeness and accuracy of the information provided by the source?
Is the content relevant to your information needs?
- When was the information published?
- Why was the information provided by the source published?
What are the perspectives, opinions, assumptions and biases of whoever is responsible for this information?
I think that these will be essential in order to skim and scan what we read for our research.
I'm also proud of my discovery of new technological tools to use. I didn't know Google was so diverse and accurate in providing systems of research. Now I know how to use:
- Google Blogs if you are looking for blogs about the topic you're interested in;
- Google Books if you're looking for some specific books;
- Google Scholar if you need some academic texts.
One never stops learning!! All these tools will be very useful for my future research.
Have a nice day!
Hi Francesca,
RispondiEliminaI am happy, too! It’s spring time and even if I am quite tired and busy in this period, I hope to be able to go out for a ride enjoying the sun.
I think that during our last lesson we learnt many things and started to be more aware of the fact that people may also write bad stuff (both on the Internet, in newspapers and in books, too!). In all honesty, I do not trust websites which have a lot of ads and I don’t think that a text with too many colours and/or fonts can be considered reliable. I also believe that finding information is just the first step, you then have to filter it. Moreover, I prefer reading something written on paper. Therefore, I have to print out the materials that could be useful for my research.
What I learnt during the last lesson was that, even if the Web is huge and can be considered as a hodgepodge, it also contains trustworthy articles and blogs.
As far as language is concerned, here I will try to give you some pieces of advice:
• Are you sure you wanted to say “finally” or did you mean “at last”?;
• I would say “about the lesson we had last week”;
• We discussed and reflectED on...;
• Towards THE information we find;
• I usually search the Internet (I think that you can leave “on” out);
• “So, what are we supposed to do?” is better than “so, what to do?”
• I think you wanted to say “based on the 4Ws...”;
• Maybe you forgot the ? after author;
• I think that these ARE essential (I’d use the simple present);
• I’d say “that I can use” or “that I can take advantage of” instead of saying “to use”;
• Variegated has a technical meaning (= having differently coloured spots or marks). It also means consisting of many different types of thing or person, yet in this case it is very rare and used in writing. What about “diverse” or “diversified”?;
• Academic and not achademic.
I am waiting for your comments and for your corrections.
Have a nice day,
See you tomorrow,
Francesca M.
Hi Francesca,
RispondiEliminaI feel I'm becoming so technological too =). The last week lesson was really useful, as when I search in the Internet I feel overwhelmed by the big amount of information. It is not so easy to pick up the information I need but up now we have new tools, that will be useful to skim and skip data found. I see you feel more confident now with all these new e-learning tools and I am open to discover something new also on the today lesson.
I found out only some mistakes such as "achademic" and I think it is better to say: "discuss and reflect on".
Elena M.