The web opens up so many new avenues to learning - like realtime discussions taking place between people thousands of miles apart. Like being able to communicate with the author of a book about his or her work. Thats a great use of technology.
I really like using google documents or wikis to track research - what an ingenious way to deal with online research.
I must say for most of these ideas presented I just read, look, and say, "Wow, cool, I'll have to try that someday." I feel like the train is passing me by, though, and if I don't put these newly learned techniques to use I will never do it, I will continue to be somewhat apprehensive of new technology. My approach to this tends to be both idealistic and pragmatic - idealistic in that I want to share the ideas with people I think could use them. Pragmatic in that if I can't think of an application for it in my immediate circumstances, I discard the idea.
The question it all raises for me is how much of this is just a new spin on something that's been around for awhile, and how much of this is really innovative learning? Kids writing on blogs instead of paper - well, I'm sure at one point paper was quite novel, and before that, the slate, and before that, the wax tablet. But has what we're writing, or the level at which we're writing, changing? Is it using technology to be cool and 21st century, or is it using technology to help in learning?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Module 6 Activity One – search engines
The point of this lesson was to teach us to better use search engines, to expose us to the wide variety of search tools available on the web, and ultimately to help us become better users of the web so we can help our students become better web users.
This mod frustrated me greatly. I do not consider myself ignorant or unadept at technology, but I must confess to feeling ignorant at several points during this module – not to mention hesitant to engage in it. What is it that makes us fearful of new technologies? I do not fear technology is going to take over the world, I do not fear buying a new gadget. But I can find them intimidating or overwhelming – and I think that is the case with the internet: its sheer magnitude, complexity, and non-linearness combine to create a labyrinth of information. Like living in a city with no map, you simply learn routes that take you where you need to go and then get you back home with no regard for the rest of the city. Perhaps this is what truly distinguishes the native from the immigrant. The native knows the city, its transportation systems, the shortcuts to take when traffic is bad. The immigrant simply knows how to get from A to B and sometimes C. If that system fails to work, the immigrant is stuck.
I learned from this module. I learned about different types of search engines, I learned that searching online can take more time than searching in a well-stocked library (although you have nowhere near the amount of information at your disposal). Most of the information skills I used today I learned in real libraries, so I learned there is value in going non-digital. I also learned about my own fears, apprehension of never “getting it all,” never developing a comprehensive grasp of the internet and its potential, what’s out there, my unending desire to find my own “God theory,” to borrow Einstein’s title for that which will make sense of everything in existence. Perhaps, to continue the city metaphor from the previous paragraph, the difference between cities and the internet is that cities reach a finite size, and even though they grow and change, it’s nowhere nearly as rapid as the growth and change of the internet. Moreover, one senses that the longer one lives in a city, the more familiar one becomes with its geography, even without a map, and that learning the city is a real possibility. I think there is no possibility of ever mastering the geography of the internet. We will all, to some extent, remain immigrants, some of us more fluent than others, but all of us subject to the ever-changing patterns and overall incomprehensibility of the online world.
With that said, here was our assignment:
Choose a topic that you teach. You may choose to use the "problem" you identified in Module 4, and expand it into a Quick Quest for your Module 7 project. Research it using the search tools listed above, as appropriate. Some may be better suited to your topic than others. Compile a pathfinder (annotated list of resources you find) for use by your students from your search results. Submit your pathfinder to the Dropbox for grading, AND copy/paste your pathfinder on your blog.
Your pathfinder should:
1. Include at least ten resources
2. Include the url (web address) of the resource
3. Include a brief (1-2 sentences) annotation describing the resource
4. Tell which search tool you used to find the resource
5. Include a list of the search terms you used
6. Conclude with a paragraph explaining which search tool gave you the best results, and which tool was the least effective for your search.
Here is the chronological account of my work on this mod:
TOPIC: analyzing the Epistles of Paul
1. What topic do I want to choose? What do I want them to be able to do? I want them to be able to study the epistles of Paul by themselves, determine its structure, determine his purpose in writing, the problems he was addressing, and how those solutions can be applied to us in the 21st century church.
a.Possible search terms:
i.Pauline Epistles
ii.Analyze
b.What am I looking for?
i.A do-it-yourself article
c.Using: DOAJ.com
i.Got a bunch of useless crap, offers for airline tickets, etc.
ii.Did a second search – again, pointless – I am not figuring this site out
iii.I clicked on the searchexplorer.com option, and was booted to an organized search page where I can click on anything from ringtones to realestate – no thank you. Not helpful – giving up on this.
d.Using scholar.google.com
i.Did a search – not sure how it finds things – clicking on “Help”
ii.Found an article available thru JSTOR; could only see the first page. Went to UW-STOUT library to access Jstor, did that, could not find the article. Read “Help” page. Used Article Locator. Did not find article, even though on another tab I can see the article’s first page, author name, and journal name. Read the warning that UWStout may not subscribe to a collection containing that journal. Clicked on the UW Stout collections, used “find on this page” feature of Explorer to search for keywords in the publication title – apparently the publication is not available. Another bust. Went back to the webpage showing page 1 of the journal article – clicked on “About the journal” and discovered it is part of J-store’s arts & sciences III, which UW Stout does not have.
iii. Going to try “Pauline Epistles Overview”
1.It seems “Google Scholar” is a great way to locate books or articles – but it seems you would have to be well-grounded in library skills, understanding how information is classified, to sort through this. Not user-friendly like the main google page.
2.Found an article – must be a subscriber
3.http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
4. http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
5. http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
iv.Searched findarticles.com – turned up the same fairly useless stuff that doaj.com did – links to books for sale, free ads, links to completely useless things like mortgages and ringtones.
v.Trying a9.com – skeptical, since it says it searches e-commerce sites and I don’t want to find information on a product. This is research stuff. VOILA. I like how this site will supposedly allow you to see information about the link before you click on it, but that didn’t work for me.
1.http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
2.http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
vi.Using Clusty.com – I like how this organizes its sites by clusters, and how I can see which are .com, .edu, etc – this helps me analyze the site before looking at it. Especially using the drop-down feature
1.http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
2.http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
3.http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
4.http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
5.http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
6.http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
vii.Kartoo – freaked me out. To non-linear for me…
Conclusion
Before I began this mod I determined to use resources our instructor recommended rather than my familiar tools. This, I reasoned, would broaden my digital horizons. Therefore all of the sites I found were found using a fairly limited range of tools. Of all of them, I found Clusty the most comfortable – probably because of its appealing linear organization pattern. Google scholar was second because of the usefulness of its content (although some of it was inaccessible and therefore frustrating). The least useful were the Directory of Open-Access journals and Findarticles.com. These returned absolutely nothing but useless junk absolutely unrelated to what I was looking for. I do not know whether or not they might be useful for a journal search about something as non-specific as Pauline Epistles, but I suspect they will continue to return attempts at personalized content, mortgages, ringtones, and plane tickets.
The Pathfinder
http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
This mod frustrated me greatly. I do not consider myself ignorant or unadept at technology, but I must confess to feeling ignorant at several points during this module – not to mention hesitant to engage in it. What is it that makes us fearful of new technologies? I do not fear technology is going to take over the world, I do not fear buying a new gadget. But I can find them intimidating or overwhelming – and I think that is the case with the internet: its sheer magnitude, complexity, and non-linearness combine to create a labyrinth of information. Like living in a city with no map, you simply learn routes that take you where you need to go and then get you back home with no regard for the rest of the city. Perhaps this is what truly distinguishes the native from the immigrant. The native knows the city, its transportation systems, the shortcuts to take when traffic is bad. The immigrant simply knows how to get from A to B and sometimes C. If that system fails to work, the immigrant is stuck.
I learned from this module. I learned about different types of search engines, I learned that searching online can take more time than searching in a well-stocked library (although you have nowhere near the amount of information at your disposal). Most of the information skills I used today I learned in real libraries, so I learned there is value in going non-digital. I also learned about my own fears, apprehension of never “getting it all,” never developing a comprehensive grasp of the internet and its potential, what’s out there, my unending desire to find my own “God theory,” to borrow Einstein’s title for that which will make sense of everything in existence. Perhaps, to continue the city metaphor from the previous paragraph, the difference between cities and the internet is that cities reach a finite size, and even though they grow and change, it’s nowhere nearly as rapid as the growth and change of the internet. Moreover, one senses that the longer one lives in a city, the more familiar one becomes with its geography, even without a map, and that learning the city is a real possibility. I think there is no possibility of ever mastering the geography of the internet. We will all, to some extent, remain immigrants, some of us more fluent than others, but all of us subject to the ever-changing patterns and overall incomprehensibility of the online world.
With that said, here was our assignment:
Choose a topic that you teach. You may choose to use the "problem" you identified in Module 4, and expand it into a Quick Quest for your Module 7 project. Research it using the search tools listed above, as appropriate. Some may be better suited to your topic than others. Compile a pathfinder (annotated list of resources you find) for use by your students from your search results. Submit your pathfinder to the Dropbox for grading, AND copy/paste your pathfinder on your blog.
Your pathfinder should:
1. Include at least ten resources
2. Include the url (web address) of the resource
3. Include a brief (1-2 sentences) annotation describing the resource
4. Tell which search tool you used to find the resource
5. Include a list of the search terms you used
6. Conclude with a paragraph explaining which search tool gave you the best results, and which tool was the least effective for your search.
Here is the chronological account of my work on this mod:
TOPIC: analyzing the Epistles of Paul
1. What topic do I want to choose? What do I want them to be able to do? I want them to be able to study the epistles of Paul by themselves, determine its structure, determine his purpose in writing, the problems he was addressing, and how those solutions can be applied to us in the 21st century church.
a.Possible search terms:
i.Pauline Epistles
ii.Analyze
b.What am I looking for?
i.A do-it-yourself article
c.Using: DOAJ.com
i.Got a bunch of useless crap, offers for airline tickets, etc.
ii.Did a second search – again, pointless – I am not figuring this site out
iii.I clicked on the searchexplorer.com option, and was booted to an organized search page where I can click on anything from ringtones to realestate – no thank you. Not helpful – giving up on this.
d.Using scholar.google.com
i.Did a search – not sure how it finds things – clicking on “Help”
ii.Found an article available thru JSTOR; could only see the first page. Went to UW-STOUT library to access Jstor, did that, could not find the article. Read “Help” page. Used Article Locator. Did not find article, even though on another tab I can see the article’s first page, author name, and journal name. Read the warning that UWStout may not subscribe to a collection containing that journal. Clicked on the UW Stout collections, used “find on this page” feature of Explorer to search for keywords in the publication title – apparently the publication is not available. Another bust. Went back to the webpage showing page 1 of the journal article – clicked on “About the journal” and discovered it is part of J-store’s arts & sciences III, which UW Stout does not have.
iii. Going to try “Pauline Epistles Overview”
1.It seems “Google Scholar” is a great way to locate books or articles – but it seems you would have to be well-grounded in library skills, understanding how information is classified, to sort through this. Not user-friendly like the main google page.
2.Found an article – must be a subscriber
3.http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
4. http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
5. http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
iv.Searched findarticles.com – turned up the same fairly useless stuff that doaj.com did – links to books for sale, free ads, links to completely useless things like mortgages and ringtones.
v.Trying a9.com – skeptical, since it says it searches e-commerce sites and I don’t want to find information on a product. This is research stuff. VOILA. I like how this site will supposedly allow you to see information about the link before you click on it, but that didn’t work for me.
1.http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
2.http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
vi.Using Clusty.com – I like how this organizes its sites by clusters, and how I can see which are .com, .edu, etc – this helps me analyze the site before looking at it. Especially using the drop-down feature
1.http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
2.http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
3.http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
4.http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
5.http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
6.http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
vii.Kartoo – freaked me out. To non-linear for me…
Conclusion
Before I began this mod I determined to use resources our instructor recommended rather than my familiar tools. This, I reasoned, would broaden my digital horizons. Therefore all of the sites I found were found using a fairly limited range of tools. Of all of them, I found Clusty the most comfortable – probably because of its appealing linear organization pattern. Google scholar was second because of the usefulness of its content (although some of it was inaccessible and therefore frustrating). The least useful were the Directory of Open-Access journals and Findarticles.com. These returned absolutely nothing but useless junk absolutely unrelated to what I was looking for. I do not know whether or not they might be useful for a journal search about something as non-specific as Pauline Epistles, but I suspect they will continue to return attempts at personalized content, mortgages, ringtones, and plane tickets.
The Pathfinder
http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
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