EME5404: Stupid is as stupid does, sir.

In my wanderings this week to find resources for my journal, I stumbled down the path we explored in Instructional Computing I: Is the internet making us stupid? I don't want to completely veer off onto that path, but considering that question does help to further understanding of how digital technologies have changed the way we access, consume, and process information. In the previous course, I stated that my reading patterns have changed. I now tend to skim material rather than read it closely. My attention span is maybe a few pages at a time. In an online article, if the author doesn't grab my attention and keep it within the first few paragraphs, I'm gone. So, as Carr (2008) believes, we humans are sacrificing our capacity for deep thought and linear processing. Rather than taking in high quality information in a logical way and processing it in a linear fashion, we now grab bits and pieces from various sources, clicking from link to link to link – and we LIKE getting this constant flow of new information. To put it in more common terms, we've been formally dining at the Waldorf Astoria for millennia; now we are grazing at the Golden Corral.

Alang (2010) believes this shift in human thought and processing is not necessarily a bad thing. He argues that this change in thought patterns may be necessary – and even beneficial – for the complex, multi-layered world in which we live. He further suggests that our world is so interconnected that we need to be able to navigate through the web of information, and linear thinking just won't serve that purpose.

Okay, so where does that take us in terms of accessing and evaluating quality information? Obviously, the web puts a plethora of information at our fingertips. Some of it is excellent, but quite a bit is garbage. I think I can address the issue of quality and put it in the context of changing thought patterns, and tie it all back to this week's reading. Hear me out, because I'm going to jump around a bit.

Let me first start with the issue of eBooks and changing thought patterns. Electronic publishing is on the rise, and much of the impetus is provided by textbook publishers (Miller, 2010b; Young, 2009). It only makes sense; publishers can cut costs and increase revenues by selling more eBooks. That's not the only incentive, however. As Miller notes, some education entities – California, for example – are establishing mandates to move to eBooks, citing in part reduced costs for students. From a student perspective, I can see additional advantages beyond cost savings. Modern eBooks aren't just electronic copies of the paper text; many are interactive, media infused learning experiences that function in the non-linear fashion that more of us tend to think. Students can bookmark, highlight, notate, and even share comments. They may be able to access a linked podcast or simulation, or possibly even an interactive assessment. So publishers are responding to the "new way of thinking" by creating non-linear, cross-connected electronic texts (Young, 2009).

That brings us to finding and consuming valid, reliable, high quality information. Another movement that has been afoot for a while and continues to grow is open source, or open access, digital publishing. This refers to collections of texts, journals, multimedia, and learning objects that have been developed by knowledgeable professionals and, in most cases, vetted by a panel of experts via peer review. The technology infusion of these resources may vary, but they offer a valid and reliable alternative to both expensive commercial products and non-peer reviewed resources. Many good examples are available from the Open Educational Resources Center for California, which was set up to support legislation in California that requires textbooks to be available in electronic form by 2020 (Miller, 2010a; Miller, 2010b).

As always, I want to leave you with a couple of videos to consider. This week, I have two. The first, from Money Talks News (1:24 mins), addresses the high cost of college textbooks by suggesting a few ways students can locate cheap or free resources. The other is from Texas Curriculum (1:36 mins) and addresses legislation that establishes a foundation for adopting open source textbooks in primary and secondary education. I think this second one is particularly important, because we often think of open source publishing in terms of higher education (I do, anyway). With the budgetary challenges faced by the nation's primary and secondary schools – both public and private – open source materials may provide one way to stretch finances further without compromising instructional integrity.

What are your thoughts or experiences with open source materials? What about your thought processes? Has the internet changed the way you find and use information?

 

Money Talks News (Producer). (2010, January 4). 3 Places to get free textbooks [Web video]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/HxryAJ6N67o

 

Texas Curriculum (Producer). (2011, February 3). Open source textbooks [Web video]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/YRLvCoq_BjI

References

Miller, M.H. (2010a, February 9). New web site lists free online textbooks. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogPost/New-Web-Site-Lists-Free-Online/21165/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Alang, N. (2010, June 15). For better and worse, the web is changing how we think. Techi. Retrieved from http://www.techi.com/2010/06/for-better-and-worse-the-web-is-changing-how-we-think/

Carr, N. (2008, July/August) Is Google making us stupid? The Atlantic Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

Miller, M. H. (2010b, January 14). California law encourages digital textbooks by 2020. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogPost/California-Law-Requires/20526/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en