getting information to easy
i find student now can get the answers to questiones to fast and without working for it. they don't hold onto the answer if they can just goole it and move on. i would sit for hours trying to fine a answer
and when i did find it a i stored it in my brain for as long as
possible
I think that infomation at the click of a mouse is great as long as the learners are taught how to research, consider their sources, and differentiate good from bad information. The amount of knowledge available to students and their access to it is a wonderful thing, but these students still need to learn how to apply this knowledge to larger concepts and real-life situations.
Hilary,
well said! I agree that the availability of the information is not the root problem, but the ability to discern & evaluate & analyze is crucial.
Dr. Ryan Meers
The biggest problem I see with technology's get the answer now, is the reliability of the information. There is so much miss information available
How do you teach someone to retail information they have not worked for
Andy,
yes the ease of access too often translates to the misperception that the information is reliable. We must teach discernment.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Andy,
unfortunately I think this comes down to the student has to "own" his/her education & want to retain this information.
Dr. Ryan Meers
The problem I've come across regarding the ease of research is that it often leads to plagiarism. I believe the students think I'm an unable to tell the difference between their writing and what comes from a more "informed" source. I've explained about documenting and giving credit to the sources, but I almost think they don't "get it". How can I get them to understand that I want them to read the information that is available, but come up with their own conclusions? It's almost like they think "why bother coming up with my own ideas when so many are out there already."
Mis-information is out there in droves. I try to teach my students that just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's accurate. They need to learn to be better judges of veracity, and be more skeptical. They also suffer with the sheer volume of information out there. You can drownd in it if you are not careful and don't learn how to do some research.
toni,
this is an excellent point. I've heard some say "well, how can I trust the info in libraries more than the internet?" Legitimate question to which my response is: generally the information in journals & books has been reviewed by others who are knowledgeable in the field before it is published/printed. We have to help our students learn to research.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Charla,
I would agree that this is a challenge. I've found I need to spend more time in discussing pulling from others' ideas & synthesizing their information, not just repeating it. What does it mean to you? is a great question for the students to ask themselves.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I tell my students that once they have a firm grip of the subject at hand they will be positioned to better gauge the accuracy of information they may come across. I like to show examples of technical information being presented on internet message boards and then have them judge the usefulness of that information based on what they've learned about the subject.
Many have come to realize that just because someone on the internet has a high post count, or may come across as an authority, does not necessarily make their information accurate. Knowing how to do the necessary research, and finding useful sources of accurate information, is going to be very important as we move further into the technology-assisted future.
Some Gen Ys have a tendency to focus, truly focus on their technology, to the extent they are oblivious to their surroundings. Almost trance-like. They often "believe" the material without taking a closer look as to see who placed the information on the web. Sources must be credible and reliable. Sometimes information is not thorough or complete. Information technology may be extremely valuable if you know how to weed through it. Obtaining information too easy, I believe, is a good thing as long as you know where to search.
David,
yes, one of the greatest lessons we can teach to this generation is how to become wise & careful consumers of the vast amount of information that is out there.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I find this as a problem as well, in addition to the down play of plageurism. The information gleemed from the internet has been too oftenly copied and pasted into papers without proper referencing. In addition there is a lack of scrutinization about the accuracy of information. Perhaps this is a result of the Gen Y's perception that finding required information should be fast and easy (immediate gratification) when it actually takes time and persistence, with cross referencing etc.... Very frustrating and dissapointing when I started to grade papers.
