Web literacy practices of teacher education students and in-service teachers in Greece : a comparative study

In the expanding context of new literacies and multiliteracies, the abilities to know how to locate, to evaluate and to exploit Web information resources in order to construct knowledge, are acknowledged as extremely important worldwide. Current literacy curricula should encourage the development of such abilities, and  their successful implementation requires teachers themselves to be properly prepared. The present study reports the web searching and evaluating practices for educational purposes employed by both pre-service and in-service teachers. Data was collected via an anonymous online questionnaire. The comparative study  exhibis teachers' web practices with the purpose of identifying aspects of web literacy that require attention when designing and implementing relevant educational initiatives. According to the research findings, both pre-service and in-service teachers are based almost exclusively on popular search engines to locate web information resources, and they choose such resources without examining their wider context. In order to evaluate web information resources, they consider mainly morphological and design elements, rather than content features such as their origin and credibility. The findings raise the potential of applying critical literacy principles on the Web so that teachers can approach it critiquely.[1] when using its resources in educational settings. [1] learn to think “critiquely” (a word coined by James Paul Gee), that is, not merely consume information but also “understand and critique systems of power and injustice in a world that [people] will see as simply economically inevitable" (Gee, 2000: 62).: In the expanding context of new literacies and multiliteracies, the abilities to know how to locate, to evaluate and to exploit Web information resources in order to construct knowledge, are acknowledged as extremely important worldwide. Current literacy curricula should encourage the development of such abilities, and  their successful implementation requires teachers themselves to be properly prepared. The present study reports the web searching and evaluating practices for educational purposes employed by both pre-service and in-service teachers. Data was collected via an anonymous online questionnaire. The comparative study  exhibis teachers' web practices with the purpose of identifying aspects of web literacy that require attention when designing and implementing relevant educational initiatives. According to the research findings, both pre-service and in-service teachers are based almost exclusively on popular search engines to locate web information resources, and they choose such resources without examining their wider context. In order to evaluate web information resources, they consider mainly morphological and design elements, rather than content features such as their origin and credibility. The findings raise the potential of applying critical literacy principles on the Web so that teachers can approach it critiquely.[1] when using its resources in educational settings. [1] learn to think “critiquely” (a word coined by James Paul Gee), that is, not merely consume information but also “understand and critique systems of power and injustice in a world that [people] will see as simply economically inevitable" (Gee, 2000: 62)

Web literacy in education: teacher education students and web information practices

The main purpose of the present study is to explore the practices through which pre-service teachers search, evaluate and use web information resources, both as individuals and as potential teachers. In order to optimally serve this purpose, a one-phase study of mixed research methods was designed and implemented. Data were collected via concurrent triangulation design. Specifically, structured non-participatory observation, questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The research participants were 33 fourth-year students of the School of Primary Education of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh). The findings of the present study highlight the almost complete absence of a critical approach to web information. Overall, and regardless of the purpose and complexity of their web searches, students generally focus on short-term goals, without demonstrating any willingness for further research. They rely solely on a commercial search engine, Google, and gain access primarily to non-educational and scientific web content. In addition, they select and evaluate web information resources based mainly on a superficial browsing of form and design elements, rather than on a thorough examination of the source’s origin and its content reliability. On the other hand, the research participants appear ready to make use of web information in the classroom as it is without questioning it, neither themselves nor with their students. The present detailed mapping of teacher education students’ web information practices can contribute to the design and implementation of educational interventions so that students and future teachers can exploit the Web in educational environments, not just as a means of extracting information, but as a field for cultivating a critical stance towards online information itself.Βασικός σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι η διερεύνηση των πρακτικών μέσω των οποίων εκπαιδευόμενοι (φοιτητές) εκπαιδευτικοί αναζητούν, αξιολογούν και χρησιμοποιούν ιστοπληροφορίες, ως άτομα και ως εκπαιδευτικοί. Για τη βέλτιστη εξυπηρέτηση του σκοπού αυτού, σχεδιάστηκε και υλοποιήθηκε συγχρονική μελέτη μεικτών μεθόδων έρευνας. Μέσω μεθοδολογικής τριγωνοποίησης, αξιοποιήθηκαν συγκεκριμένα, δομημένη μη συμμετοχική παρατήρηση, ερωτηματολόγιο και ημιδομημένη συνέντευξη. Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν 33 τελειόφοιτοι του ΠΤΔΕ του ΑΠΘ. Τα ευρήματα της παρούσας έρευνας αναδεικνύουν την σχεδόν παντελή απουσία κριτικής προσέγγισης της ιστοπληροφόρησης. Συνολικά και ανεξάρτητα από το σκοπό και τη συνθετότητα των ιστοαναζητήσεων, οι φοιτητές εστιάζουν γενικά σε βραχυπρόθεσμους στόχους, χωρίς διάθεση περαιτέρω διερεύνησης. Βασίζονται αποκλειστικά σε μία εμπορική μηχανή αναζήτησης, την Google, και αποκτούν πρόσβαση κυρίως σε μη εκπαιδευτικό και επιστημονικό περιεχόμενο. Επιπλέον, επιλέγουν και αξιολογούν ιστοπληροφορίες προκρίνοντας ένα επιφανειακό ξεφύλλισμα στοιχείων μορφής και σχεδίασης, παρά μια ενδελεχή εξέταση της προέλευσης και αξιοπιστίας του περιεχομένου. Από την άλλη, εμφανίζονται έτοιμοι να αξιοποιήσουν διδακτικά ιστοπληροφορίες αυτούσιες και κυρίως χωρίς να τις θέτουν υπό κρίση ή/και αμφισβήτηση, ούτε οι ίδιοι, ούτε με τους μαθητές τους. Η παρούσα αναλυτική χαρτογράφηση των πρακτικών ιστοπληροφόρησης, μπορεί να συμβάλλει στο σχεδιασμό και εφαρμογή παιδαγωγικών παρεμβάσεων ώστε οι φοιτητές και μελλοντικοί εκπαιδευτικοί να αξιοποιούν τον Ιστό σε εκπαιδευτικά περιβάλλοντα, ως μέσο όχι απλά άντλησης πληροφοριών, αλλά ως πεδίο καλλιέργειας κριτικής στάσης απέναντι στα μηνύματά τους και στους φορείς τους