eIQ? | EDUCAUSE

Created by David Penrose (San Juan College) on July 3, 2005

While reading my daily dose of RSS, my interest was peaked by an article titled "New test would measure students' Web wisdom." I realize that the average high school student has more experience with the Internet, chat, instant messaging, p2p file sharing, and other common online experiences. However, I believe that the average teenager (and typical internet user) does not know how to separate the wheat from the chaff (online).

Just because you can find it in print does not make the information credible. For example, in a recent course (Ph.D.), a peer lifted a quote from the Internet. The citation was a URL, although the quote was taken from John Dewey! I was suspicious about the accuracy of the quote, since the source was actually a quote of a quote. Using print.google.com, I tracked down the actual quote and found the actual page number. The online source was incorrect.

My point is, just because students can use the Internet (more specifically Google) does not make them Internet smart. With more and more books being searchable, I suggest that it is increasingly possible to conduct great research online. I believe that if students have access to some of the most powerful research tools today, including a) EBSCO; b) EndNote - Library Connections; and c) PRINT.google.com. The bottom line, students need to learn how to master these tools rather than rely on Internet sources which amount to (in most cases) OpEd from the fringes.

David

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		eIQ? Created by David Penrose (San Juan College) on July 3, 2005 While reading my daily dose of RSS, my interest was peaked by an article titled "New test would measure students' Web wisdom." I realize that the average high school student has more experience with the Internet, chat, instant messaging, p2p file sharing, and other common online experiences. However, I believe that the average teenager (and typical internet user) does not know how to separate the wheat from the chaff (online). Just because you can find it in print does not make the information credible. For example, in a recent course (Ph.D.), a peer lifted a quote from the Internet. The citation was a URL, although the quote was taken from John Dewey! I was suspicious about the accuracy of the quote, since the source was actually a quote of a quote. Using print.google.com, I tracked down the actual quote and found the actual page number. The online source was incorrect. My point is, just because students can use the Internet (more specifically Google) does not make them Internet smart. With more and more books being searchable, I suggest that it is increasingly possible to conduct great research online. I believe that if students have access to some of the most powerful research tools today, including a) EBSCO; b) EndNote - Library Connections; and c) PRINT.google.com. The bottom line, students need to learn how to master these tools rather than rely on Internet sources which amount to (in most cases) OpEd from the fringes. David Net Generation Learner \| Rants David's blog Login or register to post comments 3132 reads
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