This document summarizes research on using wikis in classrooms to support information literacy. It finds that having students publish information for others can influence how they assess information sources and reason about citation. Students developed new heuristics for evaluating credibility of sources. Publishing also encouraged deeper engagement with content and reflection on the nature of knowledge. Wikis provide affordances that can support learning processes in communities.
1. Learning in Public: Information Literacy and New
Social Technologies in Schools
Andrea Forte
College of Information Science and Technology
Drexel University
2. If you wanted to ďŹnd information about
environmental issues, what would you do?
3. âOh, well, Iâll probably look at government sites
ďŹrst. âCause I know I can trust thoseâŚâ
â Anne, high school junior
4. âOh, well, Iâll probably look at government sites
ďŹrst. âCause I know I can trust thoseâŚ
...anybody can write on google, not anyone
can write on government sites.â
â Anne, high school junior
6. Overview
Information literacy
Wikipedia
New publishing model
Informal learning environment
Wiki in the classroom
Designing new tools
How wiki publishing can support information literacy skills and writing-to-learn
in classrooms
Penn, August 2, 2010
7. Information Literacy
Reading
Finding and interpreting messages from advertisers, government agencies,
educational institutions and other sources
Writing
Using information to participate in the construction of new resources and new
knowledge
American Association of School Librarians 1998; Association of College and Research Libraries 2000;
Buckingham 2003; Eisenberg 2008; Flanagan and Meztger 2007; Flower 1994; Rieh and Hilligoss 2008;
Agosto 2002; Bilal 2000 & 2001; Kafai and Bates 1997
Penn, August 2, 2010
8. Information Literacy
and User-Generated Confusion
New social technologies mean new forms of information
production, new publishing models and new access
modelsâŚ
Penn, August 2, 2010
9. âAlgorithmic Authorityâ and âDisintermediationâ
âpeople trust new classes of aggregators and
ďŹlters, whether Google or Twitter or Wikipediaâ
-Clay Shirky, 2009
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12. Wikipedia
How can this possibly work?
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13. âThe problem with Wikipedia is that it
only works in practice.
In theory, it can never work.â
â New York Times, 2007
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14. Contributions
Wikipedia Studies, 2004-present
Wikipedia as a communityâjoining is a process of legitimate peripheral
participation
(Bryant, Forte, & Bruckman 2005)
Wikipedia governanceâit has highly reďŹned policies, social norms, technical
infrastructure that support decentralized quality control processes
(Forte & Bruckman 2008)
Wikipedia as a learning environmentâcontent is agreed upon through
consensus building discussions that include features of knowledge building
discourse.
(Forte & Bruckman 2006)
Penn, August 2, 2010
15. Contributions
Wikipedia Studies, 2004-present
Wikipedia as a communityâjoining is a process of legitimate peripheral
participation
(Bryant, Forte, & Bruckman 2005)
Wikipedia governanceâit has highly reďŹned policies, social norms, technical
infrastructure that support decentralized quality control processes
(Forte & Bruckman 2008)
Wikipedia as a learning environmentâcontent is agreed upon through
consensus building discussions that include features of knowledge building
discourse.
(Forte & Bruckman 2006)
Penn, August 2, 2010
16. Wikipedia as a Learning Environment
Talk pages support discussion and consensus building
Assertion Challenge Support Resolution
Information literacy is an important aspect of participating in
discussions about Wikipedia content: âHow do we know
this?â
Penn, August 2, 2010
20. âThe process is really messy. It means thereâs a lot of
conďŹictâsome interpersonal conďŹicts, some conďŹicts over
content, a lot of conďŹict over emphasis. But in the process
it means that people are exposed to ideas and information
and perspectives that they wouldnât be otherwise.â
â Allison (Wikipedian)
Penn, August 2, 2010
21. Wikipedia as a Learning Environment
Knowledge Building Discourse (Scardamalia & Bereiter)
Based on sociology of science (Latour and Woolgar)
Messy, cyclical, often emotional process of making claims, peer-review,
publication
Students as producers of knowledge
CSILE, Knowledge Forum
âSecond-order learning environmentâ where each person builds on the
contributions of peers
Wikipedia discourse includes features of knowledge
building discourse
Penn, August 2, 2010
22. âI look up and read books about the subject and Iâll look
something up. Itâs not that Iâm doing all of this in order to
develop an encyclopedia, although I am, itâs more that Iâm
doing this because I want to learn and you have to learn in
order to contribute knowledgeably to Wikipedia.â
â Chris (Wikipedian)
Penn, August 2, 2010
23. Learning and Wikipedia
ReďŹecting on information, nature of knowledge
In the process of writing, Wikipedians reďŹect on
How they know what they know
How well accepted different theories and ideas are
What constitutes a reliable information source
How an article should be written to educate readers
Learning content
Wikipedia is a motivating context for writing-to-learn
Penn, August 2, 2010
24. Create opportunities for Wikipedian-like reďŹection and
learning in formal education
Penn, August 2, 2010
25. Create opportunities for Wikipedian-like reďŹection and
learning in formal education
Classrooms are not online communities,
theyâre different.
Penn, August 2, 2010
26. New Wiki Tools for Classrooms
Pilot study, 2005 (n=42)
Undergrad American government class in which students published resource
about policy
Q. How does publishing for a real audience affect studentsâ writing and use
of information sources?
Q. What are the design and research challenges associated with using wikis
to support information literacy skills in the classroom?
Data and Analysis
Analysis of revision histories
In-depth interviews
Penn, August 2, 2010
27. Pilot Study
Students did not perceive the resource as public (Forte &
Bruckman 2006)
Local audience of peers affected argumentation and use of
information sources
â[Someone] mentioned something about one of my sources having a liberal
bias⌠I cited an ABC article, which quoted a Pentagon ofďŹcial. So instead, I
could never ďŹnd the Pentagon quote, but I went to a Supreme Court document
that cited the same thing so I could have a less biased quotation.â â Jeff
(Undergraduate Student)
Penn, August 2, 2010
28. Pilot Study Design Guidelines
Classroom wiki needs to:
Support citation
Support social relationships in classrooms
Make it easy to ďŹnd peersâ, studentsâ work but also protect student privacy
Used open source MediaWiki as infrastructure and built
new features to support classroom use
Penn, August 2, 2010
47. Classroom Studies
Q. How do students write and reason about information
when contributing to an information resource for others?
Q. What role do the wiki tools play in supporting and
inďŹuencing their writing and information use?
Penn, August 2, 2010
48. Two Iterations of Design and Fieldwork
Collecting process data
Iteration I (n=19)
8 months (Sept 06 â May 07)
Two advanced placement environmental science classes; highly-ranked public school
Teacher former scientist, wiki enthusiast
47 observation days; 21 interviews; wiki history;
pre-post DBQs (incomplete data)
Iteration II (n=14)
3 months (Feb â May 08)
Honors biochemistry class; private school
Teacher former scientist
6 observation days; 36 interviews; wiki history; pre-post DBQs
Penn, August 2, 2010
49. Studies â Analyzing Process Data
Interviews
Unstructured; semi-structured; structured
Findings from interview data
Grounded Theory
(Glaser and Strauss 1967; Strauss and Corbin 1987)
Inductive approach to building explanations of phenomena
Iteration I yielded data about what students did
Iteration II yielded denser data about how and why they did it
Penn, August 2, 2010
50. Findings
Assessing Information
Students paid attention to non-traditional features of new media; used their
publication experiences to reďŹect on characteristics of other information resources
(Study I & II)
Value of Citation
Publication changed the meaning of citation in schoolwork (Study II)
Content Engagement
Publication encouraged metacognitive engagement with content (Study II)
Affordances for Learning
Wiki as a medium has features that support processes of learning in communities
(Study II)
Penn, August 2, 2010
51. Studentsâ Assessment Strategies Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Suggest New Heuristics Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
⢠âhad what I was looking forâ
⢠based on Google page rank
Utility/Relevance ⢠based on URL name (not sufďŹx)
⢠presentation/readability
⢠media was licensed for reuse
Based on Content
⢠subjective assesment/prior knowledge
⢠cited other sources
⢠consistency with other sources
Based on conditions of production
Credibility ⢠authorial credentials
⢠expert review
⢠publisher/publication type
⢠role of publication in science
⢠activitsm/political agenda
⢠number of editors/potential reviewers
Access ⢠ease of obtaining material
⢠teacher-directed source use
Following Rules ⢠familiarity with school/other rules
Penn, August 2, 2010
52. Studentsâ Assessment Strategies Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Suggest New Heuristics Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
⢠âhad what I was looking forâ
⢠based on Google page rank
Utility/Relevance ⢠based on URL name (not sufďŹx)
⢠presentation/readability
⢠media was licensed for reuse
Based on Content
⢠subjective assesment/prior knowledge
⢠cited other sources
⢠consistency with other sources
Based on conditions of production
Credibility ⢠authorial credentials
⢠expert review
⢠publisher/publication type
⢠role of publication in science
⢠activitsm/political agenda
⢠number of editors/potential reviewers
Access ⢠ease of obtaining material
⢠teacher-directed source use
Following Rules ⢠familiarity with school/other rules
Penn, August 2, 2010
53. Studentsâ Assessment Strategies Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Suggest New Heuristics Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
⢠âhad what I was looking forâ
⢠based on Google page rank
Utility/Relevance ⢠based on URL name (not sufďŹx)
⢠presentation/readability
⢠media was licensed for reuse
Based on Content
⢠subjective assesment/prior knowledge
⢠cited other sources
⢠consistency with other sources
Based on conditions of production
Credibility ⢠authorial credentials
⢠expert review
⢠publisher/publication type
⢠role of publication in science
⢠activitsm/political agenda
⢠number of editors/potential reviewers
Access ⢠ease of obtaining material
⢠teacher-directed source use
Following Rules ⢠familiarity with school/other rules
Penn, August 2, 2010
54. Studentsâ Assessment Strategies Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Suggest New Heuristics Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
âI just would not go Wikipedia ďŹrst, because it is an edited
source. It is just like I am writing my own, so people are
writing their own thing on that.â
â Diane, junior
âWikipedia, itâs like, known that it possibly could be wrong
but so many people read it that they can correct it that it
kind of like checks, itâs like checks and balances⌠and like
thereâs a giant list of references at the bottom... I guess itâs
like Science Online maybe.â
â Alli, junior
Penn, August 2, 2010
55. Studentsâ Assessment Strategies Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Suggest New Heuristics Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
âI just would not go Wikipedia ďŹrst, because it is an edited
source. It is just like I am writing my own, so people are
writing their own thing on that.â
â Diane, junior
âWikipedia, itâs like, known that it possibly could be wrong
but so many people read it that they can correct it that it
kind of like checks, itâs like checks and balances⌠and like
thereâs a giant list of references at the bottom... I guess itâs
like Science Online maybe.â
â Alli, junior
Penn, August 2, 2010
56. Studentsâ Assessment Strategies Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Suggest New Heuristics Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
âI just would not go Wikipedia ďŹrst, because it is an edited
source. It is just like I am writing my own, so people are
writing their own thing on that.â
â Diane, junior
âWikipedia, itâs like, known that it possibly could be wrong
but so many people read it that they can correct it that it
kind of like checks, itâs like checks and balances⌠and like
thereâs a giant list of references at the bottom... I guess itâs
like Science Online maybe.â
â Alli, junior
Penn, August 2, 2010
57. Studentsâ Assessment Strategies Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Suggest New Heuristics Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
âI just would not go Wikipedia ďŹrst, because it is an edited
source. It is just like I am writing my own, so people are
writing their own thing on that.â
â Diane, junior
âWikipedia, itâs like, known that it possibly could be wrong
but so many people read it that they can correct it that it
kind of like checks, itâs like checks and balances⌠and like
thereâs a giant list of references at the bottom... I guess itâs
like Science Online maybe.â
â Alli, junior
Penn, August 2, 2010
58. Responsibility for Content Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Affected Reasoning about Citation Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
Penn, August 2, 2010
59. Responsibility for Content Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Affected Reasoning about Citation Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
Students positioned themselves as mediators in the cycle
of information consumption and production
They felt a responsibility to assess sources that went
beyond the grading rubric; this affected how they reasoned
about what makes citation valuable
Citation legitimized contributions and protected them from
critique
Penn, August 2, 2010
60. Responsibility for Content Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Affected Reasoning about Citation Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
âI have no credibility behind my name, Iâm a student still.
But all the work that I wasâall the information I put up had
sources, had everything, had a credible background to it.
So I think if itâs going to be so open for other people to use,
your work should be credible. You just donât want to lead
people wrong.â
â Jerry, high school senior
Penn, August 2, 2010
61. Opportunities for Metacognitive Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Engagement with Science Content Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
Students adopted mediator role, this time between the
scientiďŹc community and laypersons
Needed to identify their own knowledge gaps and ďŹll them
in order to simplify scientiďŹc language for their readership
Penn, August 2, 2010
62. Opportunities for Metacognitive Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Engagement with Science Content Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
âSo I mean, I had to take words and I mean, I wanted to
make it readable for people too, because I knew other
people were going to look at this, so I was not going to use,
like, huge words, just kind of make it simple.â
â Lina, senior
Another student noted 40% of his effort: âwas collecting
information. 60% was actually trying to understand what on
earth are we talking about.â
â Jerry, senior
Penn, August 2, 2010
63. Assessing Information
Value of Citation
Wiki Supports Learning Processes Content Engagement
Affordances for Learning
Wiki as a transparent, incremental publishing medium
supports learning in communities
LPP: low barrier for contribution makes legitimate peripheral contributions
possible
Cognitive apprenticeship: features like history pages, discussions, open editing
make peersâ and expertsâ process visible
Penn, August 2, 2010
64. Summary
Assessing and using information take on new meanings for
students when their school work becomes an authentic
public resource
Wiki publishing affords opportunities for learning and
becoming more savvy information consumers and
producers
The right wiki tools were critical for getting this kind of
activity to work in the classroom
Penn, August 2, 2010
65. Unprecedented Opportunity and Need for
Information Literacy Learning
More and more people are participating in production of
information
59% of youth are content creators online (Pew, 2007)
Responsibility for assessing information is increasingly
distributed
Disintermediated/apomediated information environments
Penn, August 2, 2010
66. Education is not preparation for life, education is life.
- John Dewey, 1938
Penn, August 2, 2010
67. Some Implications...
Production and Participation - Students need access to
practice in schools
Open Access - Students need materials to work with
âWeb Credibilityâ is not a sufďŹcient concept - Educators and
researchers need to develop increasingly nuanced views of
online resources
Penn, August 2, 2010
the things that young people can do online today can contribute to the real intellectual work of the world. Formal educational experiences should encourage them to think of their activities online as a form of public life, to take joy in that and also to take responsibility.
We are well on our way to perfecting the “Read-Only” internet – that network in which every bit of culture can be bought in a single click, but bought with the rights to consume only” (Lessig 2005). For the new information literate, participation implies creation and consumption; this underscores a need for resources that students can reappropriate and remix to build new media creations.
We are well on our way to perfecting the “Read-Only” internet – that network in which every bit of culture can be bought in a single click, but bought with the rights to consume only” (Lessig 2005). For the new information literate, participation implies creation and consumption; this underscores a need for resources that students can reappropriate and remix to build new media creations.