Final Reflection
Preparing for Information Literacy
It was within the beginning realm of the class that I had the opportunity to prepare for information literacy. Essentially, the first three weeks of the class dealt with establishing a strong foundation in the realm of literacy, as the class readings and assignments dealt with topics that served as the groundwork for the continuum of a course based in technology.
As I take the time to reflect on the initial three weeks of class, as I learned the basis of how to prepare for literacy, I am able see the emergence of five distinct dimensions of learning and development. Initially within the first couple weeks of class, my confidence and independence were not very strong. At first I was very leery about the realm of technology and how it can be used as a foundation of literacy.
I gained a considerable amount of knowledge and understanding with the period of three short weeks. The first few weeks of class allowed me to gain “content” knowledge about subject material that would be needed as the course progressed throughout the semester. The first week of class, I learned a magnitude of factual information about the Multi-User Dungeon Object Oriented (MOO) database. A MOO database is like a “community” where its users can focus on different topics. There are certain behaviors and manners that are required while using the MOO database, and if one were to fail to abide by these expected behaviors, a user can report inappropriate actions to a designated authority. I also learned that there are several commands (including communication, navigation, and manipulation) which are necessary to employ when using the MOO database. Then within the course’s second week’s assigned reading readings, I also gained better knowledge about various aspects of the World Wide Web and e-mails. URLs are Uniform Resource Locators, which are a standard way of specifying the location of Internet computer files. There are different parts to URLs, each indicating a specific location or file description. It is critical to include all parts of a URL so it can successful find its designated location.
After I gained some knowledge and understanding about various subjects, I learned how to implement this knowledge through various skills and strategies. I learned how to do various tasks. I actually learned how to navigate through a MOO database, and implemented those skills later in class. I learned how to be a more effective internet researcher by learning helpful types, and I also became a more effective e-mailer through class readings that were pertinent about e-mail. The initial class coursework also helped me gain the skills subscribing to a mailing list that dealt with the research question that I would be targeting. This process was done by first e-mailing the mailing list I was interested in, and then a confirmation e-mail was received. When I responded to the confirmation e-mail, I became a member of the mailing list. By looking at different mailing lists and what they have to offer, I was able to find a mailing list that will help me for my research within this class.
As I began to get a foundation in information literacy, I was able to use a little bit of prior knowledge, but the vast majority of information was new to me. I had used the internet to do research before, but much of the actual “computer terminology” was foreign to me. At some points I was able to correlate the information that I new about using the internet with new terms that I gained from the first week’s course readings and assignments. The vast majority of the first coursework was a whole new experience.
Within the beginning of the course (as well as through the remainder of the course material), at the end of my period of coursework I had the opportunity to write a reflection, denoting specific aspects that I had learned within the week’s time. I also was able to consider the ways in which the topics learned would pertain to the future. The main theme that I noticed within the first weeks of class was that all of the information laid a critical foundation/framework for the rest of the semester. Each aspect of the class was going to build one element upon the next.
Information Discovery, Retrieval, and Management
Within the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh weeks of class, we delved into information discovery, retrieval, and management. This began a process of accessing and organizing resources to develop our multi-genre research project.
During this period, I gained a considerable amount of new knowledge and understanding about multiple topics. Initially within the fourth week, I learned about how to utilize search engines to their fullest potential when doing research. One actually does not “search the web” directly. One is able to use the computer to access search tools to find a collection of sites that match your inquiry (which shows only a relatively small subset of the entire World Wide Web). What you are able to do through your computer is access one or more of many intermediate search tools available now. The search tools provide URLs to other websites that contain pertinent information. There are different types of search tools (including search engines, subject directories, and specialized databases), and one should decide on these tools on the basis of what they are looking for. When searching for information on the web, it is good to utilize a five step strategy that consists of the following: 1. Analyze your topic to decide where to begin. 2. Pick the right starting place (search engine, subject directories, or specialized database). 3. Learn as you go and vary your approach with what you learn. 4. Don’t bog down in any strategy that doesn’t work. 5. Return to previous strategies better informed. I also learned that when considering what websites to use for research, it is not always good to follow links to sites recommended by heavy use or commercial interest. These websites may be visited with no relation to the information interest you are seeking, and many times the best websites may be undiscovered by the vast public. It is also critical to consider the credibility of websites. The World Wide Web is not filtered, so it is a personal responsibility to determine credible sources from questionable ones. When looking at various sites, one needs to consider the following criteria: accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. By considering these factors, a reader looks at information such as: if the author cites other sources, the type of information given about the author, consideration to if the site is referenced in a trusted document or website, and if the topics on the site are explored in depth, if the links provided are relevant, if the links are comprehensive or examples, and if the information provided for the topic area is useful. All of these criterion help a reader determine the legitimacy of a website.
Within the realm of knowledge gained, I also learned about foundation questions which provide the facts used to answer the essential question. A foundation question must be formulated in an attempt to build factual information, and will ultimately lead to the success of answering one main question. Typically a foundation question is a “what is” question, and it is used to help develop a keyword list for internet searching. There are typically about six to eight foundation questions, and as research is done on the topic, questions can be added to or subtracted from the original foundation questions.
I also gained knowledge about how to write a project prospectus (http://mupfc.marhshall.edu/~stalnaker14/prospectus.htm). This was a huge help to get me to organize my course work. It helped me determine the direction that I needed to go with my project. The project prospectus for this course included: research question and foundation questions, tentative point you plan to make, the genres you plan to include, discussion of how you anticipate integrating the genres so that your project becomes a comprehensive whole, and a listing of tentative resources.
After gaining this massive continuum of information, I was able to use this information to help me with skills and strategies. It was within these weeks of class that I actually began developing my website for my research, which would ultimately organize my research. The most difficult aspect of creating a webpage was actually publishing it. For this project I used a computer from Marshall’s librbary, so after I was finished with my site, I first went to “File” and then to “Save As.” I went to my V drive, and saved it there. When I first saved it, I did not realize that I saved it as an index file, so I therefore could not get my website to come up correctly on the internet. After figuring out the problem (which took a while), I drug all of the contents of my page to a “public_htm” folder within my V drive. My webpage then became published under the address http://mupfc.marshall.edu/~stalnaker14/. Within the following week I continued learning about how to create a website by performing alterations on my homepage. First, I learned how to add a link to my webpage that sends one to the CD 315 homepage. I did this by typing “CD 315,” highlighting this text, and left clicked on the highlighted text. I selected “Insert Hyperlink” and then typed in the address of the course homepage. After I figured out how to make a link, I was able to use Frontpage’s options to make the link look like a button, which once clicked, takes the viewer to the CD 315 webpage. I also learned how to create a webliography page that was linked from my homepage. While I was at my homepage within Microsoft Frontpage, I created my webliography page by clicking “Create New.” Then, I designed the page as I wanted it to appear on the internet. After I finished my webliography page, I went to “Save As.” I went to my V drive, and I then saved it under the V drive as “webliography.htm.” After I saved this, I went to “My Computer” under the “Start” menu. Since I was using one of Marshall’s library computers, I was able to see my V drive under “My Computer.” When I pulled up my V drive, I saw my public_html folder and all of the files that pertained to my webliography. I highlighted all of the files that went with my webliography, and then drug them to my public_html file. When I completed this process, I went back to my homepage and created a new link for my webliography by typing in “webliography.htm” as the link address. The link became: http://mupfc.marshall.edu/~stalnaker14/webliography.htm.
Within these weeks of coursework, I also gained better strategy in determining the legitimacy of web sources, and will not as readily use just any site I may stumble across in a web search. One needs to consider multiple factors about a search before they cite information, because the information you use will be a reflection of your capabilities to determine credibility of other sources.
I gained a skill of using Tabulas as my own personal weblog. First I went to http://www.tabulas.com and then went to the “register” link that was found on the left hand column of the main page. I created a username and password and then entered my email address. I read over the terms of service and then clicked on the button that said I agreed with Tabulas’s terms of service. When all of this information was done, I clicked on the “register account” button. Tabulas sends a confirmation email, and when you get the email, you click on the link within the email to activate your account. I was then able to login to the Tabulas page and create my own weblog. Within this weblog I was also able to post comments to fellow classmates.
I was able to use prior experiences as I first developed my website because I used Microsoft FrontPage. This program was somewhat like PowerPoint, which I had used multiple times. Although I had never used Microsoft FrontPage before this course, the previous knowledge that I had about PowerPoint helped me navigate through this system. I was able to pick from different themes which provided numerous backgrounds, colors, and fonts through different navigation toolbars, as I am able to do in PowerPoint. This proved to be a great help, saving time and frustration.
My confidence and independence during these weeks of coursework were still not very good. The first time that I created my homepage, I needed a considerable amount of help actually publishing my homepage. (I had to ask a man that worked in the library for his assistance). As I published my webliography, I felt slightly more confident about creating webpages, but I still felt far from proficient.
Processing Information
During the eighth week through the twelfth week of the course, the focus was on processing information. The main goals of these weeks were to continue to draft work for the multi-genre research project, continue peer reviews of others, and begin to analyze and synthesize data in order to answer research questions.
The processing information aspect of the class spanned over a considerable amount of the course. During this period, I learned a considerable amount of factual information which helped me to gain knowledge and understanding about various subject matters. I gained knowledge about PowerPoint presentations, learning that it needs to be addressed as though it is a story. Stories more effectively grab a reader’s attention and using a story can help one understand issues better as well. Presentations that are lacking the element of visual storytelling are going to bore the audience. I began to understand that I needed to present an extensive amount of visual and auditory interest to compensate for the word usage that is required since it is posted on the internet.
Within the processing information aspect of the course, I also learned about a very effective way to evaluate the work of peers. When making a comment about the work of someone else within this multi-genre research project, one should include voice, audience, say back, bless, and address. “Voice” is a comment about whose voice the piece is in, and “audience” is who the piece is written for. By commenting on these two aspects, the author can see if his/her voice and audience intentions for that piece of work match the view of his/her readers. “Say back” allows the reader to tell the author what he/she is conveying with the piece of work (what the author is actually saying). This feedback tells the author if his material is making sense and conveying the information he/she wants it to convey. “Bless” allows the reader to comment on aspects that they really liked about the author’s work while “address” allows the reader to comment on some aspect of their work that could be changed in order to improve the quality of the piece. The address aspect is extremely helpful to an author because it allows them to see aspects of the work that needs to be elaborated on or changed to make the piece more effective.
As I continued to do coursework for my multi-genre research project, I also continued to learn an extensive amount of information about stuttering and how it ultimately affects self-image. I was amazed how my understanding base of this topic continued to grow week after week, especially during the weeks where processing information was the class focus.
I developed multiple skills and strategies during this coursework. First I learned how to post a comment on Tabulas so I could peer review the work of my fellow classmates. Once the user is logged into Tabulas, he/she goes to the desired user whose work they wish to comment on. Under each section, there is a link that says “Add a comment.” You click on that link, and Tabulas then provides a space where the user can write a comment about that particular section of work. Once you are finished with your comment, you click on the “Post comment as <username>.” This will then post your comment so that others can see your views.
One of the greatest skills that I gained was making a digital movie. The way one can construct a digital movie is by first seeing if their computer has Windows Movie Maker. In this program, you are able to use pictures that you scan into the computer by going to “File” and then “Import.” Once you pick the pictures that you would like in the movie, you drag the picture down to the bottom of the screen where there is a thing that looks like movie film. The picture will then take up one spot on the movie reel. You continue this process until you have all of the pictures that you want for the movie. The length of time that the picture is shown can also be altered by going to “View” and then to “Timeline,” and you can drag the picture length to how long you want the picture to appear during the presentation. Narration can then be added by going to the little microphone button at the bottom of the screen by the movie reel, and when clicked, it says “Record Narration.” By using a microphone on the computer, narration can be recorded and then added to the pictures. When all of this is done, you can then save your movie (by going to “File” and “Save As”) and watch a movie that contains both pictures and narration. The site is: http://mupfc.marshall.edu/~stalnaker14/movie.htm.
I was able to use a little bit of prior experience as I worked on my digital movie because I already knew how to scan pictures into my computer. This was extremely helpful as I used scanned photos within my presentation. I also knew how to use a microphone on the computer to record different things, so this helped me do my narration for my project.
Within these weeks of coursework, I also gained better skills at working with FrontPage. I learned how to better my webpages through the use of horizontal dividers and fancy page transitions. The more I used FrontPage, the more proficient I became.
As the course continued, during this period, I began to feel a much greater confidence and independence about my project. It became a lot easier to work on my webpage because I became more proficient at using Microsoft FrontPage. I did not have to constantly look to others for help, and I started to add little details to make my webpages look better. As I started to reflect on my progress over the course of the class, I could see a substancial amount of growth.
Transferring Information
The thirteenth and fourteenth week of the class dealt with transferring information. The goal of these weeks were to think about copyright issues, peer review references pages, and to begin to think about the revision process in a deliberate way while making revisions to work.
Even though the course was coming to a close, I still continued to gain knowledge and understanding about multiple topics. I learned about the differences between the revision process and the editing process. Revision deals with the message of the piece while editing focuses on the mechanics within a piece. Revision is the process of determining the significant meanings within a piece, and then work to make those meanings clearer to the reading audience. One method of revising can be done by the SCAR method. S stands for substitute, which means that the author looks for other words that can be substituted within the piece to make its meaning clearer. C stands for cut in which the author looks for parts of the work that can be cut out to increase the clarity of the piece. A stands for add, where the author looks for items that could be added to increase understanding within the piece. R stands for rearrange, where the author looks for items that can be rearranged within the piece to improve its ability to convey a specific idea. With my prior experience of “revising,” I only considered fixing the grammatical errors and typographical errors. As I gained this new knowledge, I revised my way of thinking about the revision process versus the editing process.
I also gained a better understanding about copyright practices and website permissions. Any work is considered copyright protected when it is “fixed in a tangible medium,” such as on paper, recorded on a video or tape, excetra. A copyright symbol may be placed on your work, but if you register with the Copyright Office, you will get certain rights under the law that are not included if you merely place a copyright symbol under your work. It is also critical to remember that when you are using another’s work, even if a site does not have a copyright symbol, it is understood that copyright is automatically applied to anything put down in a tangible form unless it is specifically signed away.By doing the coursework in the thirteenth and fourteenth weeks, I continued to gain new skills. After learning about the SCAR method of revision, I was able to revise my genres within my multigenre research project more effectively. In order to do this process, I first printed out the genre I wanted to focus on from the computer. It is helpful to have the paper in tangible form so that you can write on it and visibly see the changes that you are making. I then went through and looked at each sentence one at a time to see if the sentence made sense and was arranged in the way that would be most appropriate and clear for the piece. After I looked at each sentence, I then looked at the overall paragraph to see how every sentence tied together to fit into the overall passage. As I looked at the overall paragraph, I first looked to see if there were any words that I could substitute to make a particular passage easier to understand. I then looked for words that could be cut from or added to the passage to improve clarity. Lastly, I looked at the overall piece as a whole and determined if there were parts that needed to be rearranged to improve the piece ability to convey my overall idea. I was able to use this process to revise each of my genres.
I also gained the skill of learning how to use constructive criticism to help make my work clearer and of better quality. After reading what I wrote, I read the comments of my peer reviewers. I looked for the parts in my work that my peer reviewer’s had addressed, and then I used their comments to change my work (to make it clearer/easier to understand). After I took the time to make changes, I re-read my work to make sure that all the sentences/word choices of my work made sense, and that the paper flowed effortlessly from one element to the next.
As I completed the course assignments within the last weeks of the course, I took the time to reflect about all of the information I had gained over the course of one short semester. I was amazed by the confidence that gained about computer literacy, and I actually came to the point where I felt proficient about my abilities to create a webpage. At the beginning of the course, I was so scared about making a website, and I actually had no clue about where to begin. As I now look at my completed project, I feel very proud and privileged that I was able to achieve completion of such a large project. I feel that I have gained knowledge about computer literacy as well as tons of information about stuttering and how it affects one’s self-image. The knowledge gained, the skills that I developed, and the confidence that I gained from taking this course will continue to follow me throughout the rest of my life.