“It is equally important to recognize that change will be slow and not move only in a straight line, but it will appear more like a spiral with “fits and starts” that may seem slow” (p. 24) Schrum and Levin (2009). (systemic changes in education in terms of technology)
In the era of technology, everyone uses the internet as a tool to access a broad range of information. The information obtained through the internet is referred to as online knowledge. Especially for the young generation which has grown up in a Tech-Influenced environment, computer and internet are probably the most convenient and familiar tools to gain certain information. Then, several questions would be raised in the educational field: how does this online knowledge influence leaning not only for students but also teachers? Is it credible? And how are standardized tests changed in terms of expansion of online knowledge? Here are some resources that we can think about.
What’s good about Online Knowledge?
As online knowledge is becoming widely available to various demographic groups, many recent studies show how online knowledge affects different demographic groups. For students, scholars focus on the influence of this new knowledge on learning especially for kids. Without a doubt, there are both positive and negative effects on education. Online knowledge certainly provides overflowing information with various, sometimes very unique, perspectives and second-handed experiences to young students. It enhances their creativity and enriches their thoughts and feelings. Ferguson mentioned in her article that on the OECD's PISA international standardized tests, students exposed to online information frequently show better achievement especially in Math and Science than those who are not exposed to the online-environment(2005). Also, Tenopir discusses in her article that students frequently surfing online have the tendency to be motivated in their work and having a well-organized mind and a broad range of knowledge in various fields (1987). For these reasons, many organizations, including for profit and non-profit, try to provide and share this open opportunity of learning using various sources available online. For example, in 2005, Google launched an academic service called “Google Scholar” and “it is the product of cooperation between Google and a number of academic publishers including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Online Computer Library Center. The service provides access to peer-reviewed papers, books, and technical reports, as well as information about locating scholarly work that is available at libraries but not online (Educause Review, 2005)”
Then, What are disadvantages about Online Knowledge?
However, on the other hand, there are negative views on the usage of online knowledge. As wide a range of information is accessible to anybody, unintended plagiarism is a concern in academics. Young students lack acknowledgement and understanding that all information available in the internet world is someone else’s idea, and that a copyright of the idea actually exists. Proper orientation of internet copyrights to students is becoming more necessary than ever before. As a result, some colleges in the U.S such as the schools in the University of California system have joined in announcing notices of copyright infringement. Also its website automatically blocks any connections attempting illegal file trader (Educause Review, 2005).
Not only internet plagiarism but also inefficient usage of online knowledge is another main concern of online information. Students tend to use online knowledge for personal entertainment and do not really try to connect it to their academics. Even if they do, due to the influx of a massive amount of information, students are lost in the flood of information and use the information insufficiently. According to the survey conducted by Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann of the University of Munich among students taking the PISA International Testing, frequent exposure to information technology interferes with learning (Ferguson, 2005). Ironically, it helps them to think in an organized way and to be lost at the same time. Ferguson also mentions that online knowledge causes less personal interaction and consequently causes low achievement in reading which requires personal interaction between a teacher and a student (2005).
Is online information reliable?
Another aspect that we need to think about is the credibility of online information. Is the online knowledge reliable? Also, do we rely on this new knowledge without questioning the credibility? Kim and Johnson argue that different cultural groups show a different level of reliance on various types of media including online information. Germans rely on traditional newspapers and television over online information while Middle Eastern countries show very high reliance and credibility on the internet. The Chinese strongly accept online information with credibility for similar reasons as Arabic people: strict control by the government on media. Korean internet users show the highest level of trust in online knowledge followed by US internet users (2009). The reliance and trust level show differently depending on the cultural and political aspects of different nations. However, regardless of nationality and culture, the young generation generally shows high reliance on online knowledge not because of the fairness but because of the depth of the information (Kim & Johnson, 2009). As the internet becomes more available in terms of accessibility and simplicity due to rapid growth of technology, the young generation uses the internet as a medium of expression and to share their interest with others. In other words, they do not really care about the fairness of the information but about the opinion of other internet users regarding the information. One widely used online knowledge service, Wikipedia, also notes that:
Wikipedia is an online open-content collaborative encyclopedia, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information. That is not to say that you will not find valuable and accurate information in Wikipedia; much of the time you will. However, Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here (Wikipedia: General disclaimer).
It clearly shows that online knowledge is mostly for peer information sharing in depth, and the internet is a venue for sharing thoughts and ideas.
Online Literacy
If it is so, can online literacy be considered as an important literacy in terms of education? According to Kenney, only few students apply online literacy to educational purposes despite its widespread usage among the young generation (2006). The implementation is not well developed compared to its rapid growth, and this has been pointed out by many scholars and librarians. Considering its multimodal aspect, the potential of online literacy cannot be ignored (Alvermann, 2008). Alvermann strongly believes that adopting online literacy to the classroom is unavoidable while the young generation pushes the boundaries of research and practice by creating new contexts using multimodality of online knowledge. If online literacy is adopted in the classroom, there should be some way to standardize the methodology of online literacy in the classroom. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) introduced a new standardized test, ‘iCritical Thinking Certificate’, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Assessment which “proves that you can combine your analytical thinking with knowledge of digital technology to efficiently solve real-world problems”, says ETS (iCritical ThinkingTM Powered by ETS). Also, Purdue University implemented an online literacy standardized test in order to see how students apply online literacy to their leaning efficiently (Carlson, 2005). Carlson raises a question of efficient usage of online knowledge among the young generation compared to the amount of information accessed online. It requires “transformation in learning” to achieve such skills of integrating online information with other learning skills (Young, 2004). However, the ICT (information and communication technology) Literacy test still has a limitation of only focusing on the skills of using and accessing online information and not on using the information in creative problem solving.
Effects of Online Literacy on Standardized Tests
Academic achievement of students has been measured by standardized tests for decades. As technology evolves, questions about the suitability of standardized tests for the online generation are raised by professionals such as teachers and scholars. In her article, Au argues for culturally responsive instruction as a dimension of new illiteracies that although standardized tests have been changed over time, teaching to the test would narrow curriculum and hinder the creative thoughts and critical thinking ability of students (2001). It is a dominant opinion of critics that standardized tests only show a limited level of certain knowledge such as reading and writing and fail to represent students’ interpersonal abilities and other skills required in the 21st century. Being adopted in education, online literacy plays an even greater role in teaching and learning compared to the past, and the role of standardized test in education is reduced. At Helium, an online debating community, a very interesting debate was posted: whether standardized tests actually measure the ability of students in the internet age or not. Regardless of the side chosen, all debaters agree that standardized tests alone are not good enough to measure knowledge and ability of the online generation, and other methods which can measure in-class activities and interpersonal abilities should be used together (Harrison, Mataba, Dunn, & Hofmeister, n.d.). In order to overcome its obvious handicap, some countries adopted a new scale of standardized tests for more comprehensive assessment than common standardized tests. For example, New Zealand operates a national literacy test including “reading rate, error rate, strategy rates, comprehension, self-correction rate, and oral fluency within set passages of text” (Credaro, 2004). Without this kind of self-evolution, standardized tests will lose their space in the technology era.
How are Educators’ Roles Changed?
Accepting online literacy in education seems to be unavoidable. Then, educators’ role should be changed in terms of legal and ethical aspects. In order to implement online literacy successfully in education, teachers’ and librarians’ roles as moderators in assisting students to use the information with the right understanding in legal and moral aspects, is crucial (Kenney, 2006). Teaching the ethical aspect of using online information to students is becoming more important in education due to its rapid intrusion in the classroom. Also, in order to ‘not to get behind’, professionals such as teachers and librarians need to study and introduce the right implementation in the classroom using new methodologies and analytic approaches that students are already familiar with (Alvermann, 2008).
