internet literacy among young people in the 21 st century nancy cheever, communications department...
TRANSCRIPT
Internet Literacy Among Young
People in the 21st Century
Nancy Cheever, Communications Department
Larry Rosen, Psychology Department
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Western Psychological Association Conference
Portland, OR ● April 24, 2009
Introduction
Young people use the
Internet, more than
any other source, to
seek out information
and entertainment
Introduction
Popular websites’ information becomes most important
• Top five websites for 13- to 17-year-old boys (2008):– YouTube– Facebook– Google– Yahoo– ESPN
• Top five websites for 13- to 17-year-old girls (2008): – Facebook– Google– YouTube– MySpace– Yahoo
Introduction
How accurate is
the information
they are receiving?
Do they understand
the messages and
information they
seek and find?
Background
• Internet = modern “wild, wild, west” – very little regulation of content– accuracy levels vary widely
• Accessibility of Internet information makes it
easy for young people to locate information
• But are they locating and using the best information available?
Background
21st Century young people trust
Internet information
• They use Wikipedia even
though they may be aware that
its information may be flawed
• They trade opinions online and
trust their peers more than
printed published opinions
from experts
21st Century Young People
• Children are more
susceptible to media
messages because they
process them differently
than adults – (Strasburger & Wilson, 2002)
Five mental tasks involved when child interacts with
Internet (Piaget, adapted from Singer & Revenson, 1996):
1) child selects the important information for processing
2) child takes information and applies it to previous messages
3) child draws inferences from the implicit cues in the message
4) child must draw on past experiences and memories to explain the cues in the messages
5) child evaluates the message and decides whether it is positive or negative
21st Century Young People
Related Studies
• Students do not possess optimal
Internet skills, both in searching for
and evaluating websites
• In test of literacy, students had either
too much information to wade
through, or simply did not take the
time to find the best information
– (Bond, Fevyer & Pitt, 2006)
Related Studies
• Students lack skills to critically analyze
found information
• They assume that all the information is
equal, truthful, and has the same value
– Wood (2004)
Related Studies
• Students tend to “self learn” how to search for
information using the Internet
• Self learning does not help them learn basic search skills
• Self learning does not support problem-solving skills
– Bond, et al (2006)
Children lack experience from which to draw and
process information
Young people have fewer points of context from which
to draw and process information
Children’s evaluative aptitude lacking
Not sophisticated enough to make sound judgments
about content value
21st Century Young People
Purpose
How can parents and educators teach
children how to have Internet literacy
when young people implicitly trust the
Internet and believe all the information
they seek?
21st Century Young People
• Learn differently than previous generations
– they are multi-taskers
– they enjoy social networking
– they interact with several types of technology at once
– they want to be entertained
– they need a multi-media approach to education
Young People Use Wikipedia• Usually appears in first five results of Google search
• 8th most trafficked site on Internet– Britannica.com ranks 4,430th
• Employs no experts
• Brittanica.com– 4,000 expert contributors– 100 Nobel Prize winners– more than 100 full-time employees, including highly
trained editors– not free
Young People Use Wikipedia
• Content written and edited by anyone
– no authors listed
– both experts and non-experts write and edit
information
• Material is in constant state of revision
• Company acknowledges its limitations and lack of
accuracy in various entries
• Strides are being made to inform public of varying
levels of accuracy
Young People Read BLOGS
• Written by anyone
• Material is not vetted through editors– unverified information– bloggers can frame issue any way they please
• Challenges traditional journalism because of its ability to
change minds
• Blogs are not a major news source– (Hargrove & Stempel, 2007)
Credible Internet Sources
• A credible online source, or website, defined:
– one that provides correct information without bias– contains material written by experts who are
trustworthy
• Source credibility adds to increased use of websites – (Greer, 2003)
• Diversity of information increases perceived credibility of Internet sources – (Choi, Watt & Lynch, 2006)
2008 Internet Credibility Study
Percentage of respondents who are likely to use various sources when searching for information about a topic_________________________________________________
Source % who are likely to use _________________________________________________
General website 91% Wikipedia 77% Library book 58% Online book 46% Printed Encyclopedia 43%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
First linkonly
First twolinks
First fivelinks
First tenlinks
All links onfirst page
Links onany of first2-3 pages
Links onmore than 3
pages
Percentage of respondents who use various numbers of Google links searching for information about a topic
Other
2008 Internet Credibility Study
• Young people are willing to use unreliable and unverified
material because it is free and readily available
• Trusting individuals trust unverified information sources
• Website credibility not often checked
• Source credibility creates a false sense of validity and
believability of information
So What?
• Potentially creating an information
illiterate generation that cannot evaluate
information
• Could contribute to the “Dumbing Down”
effect already attributed to news media
Approaches
• Published approaches to this problem include:
– librarian-written manuals helping students become literate in online information
– guides that help students identify credible
sources from a variety of search engines
• (Henry, 2006)
SolutionsWE …• Cannot change content
• Cannot go back to demanding use of verified printed sources
WE …
• Can change the way we teach young people to interact
with content
• Can understand that in many cases this generation
learns differently than the people educating them
Solutions
• Understand the content young
people are exposed to and
seek out
• Become more involved in
young people’s Internet
activities
• Explain Internet credibility
Solutions
EXPLAIN WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON INTERNET SITES:
• Information that includes names of authors and their
credentials.
• Does the author of the material have authority,
credentials, qualifications or credible affiliations?
• Are the authors experts in their field or simply passive
observers?
• Be sure author’s contact information is included
Solutions
• Look for detailed information that has credible, peer
reviewed references
• Look for information that is comparable to similar print
resources
• Look for objective information
• Look for current information
• Text should be free of spelling and typing errors
Solutions
• Understand differences between:
– Corporate, business or marketing websites (.com)
– Another type of organization such as a news organization (.com)
– Advocacy group promoting a point-of-view; non-profit
organization (.org)
– Personal web pages (-)
– Informational page by an educational institution (.edu)
– Informational page sponsored by a governmental agency (.gov)
Solutions
• When explaining Internet
credibility issues to young
people, understand they:
– are multi-taskers– are social networkers– interact with several types of
technology at once– want to be entertained– need a multi-media approach
to learning