Just recently we were focusing on Information Fluency.  It was interesting to consider since technology these days is so rapidly changing.  I found it useful since one day I will be teaching kids who will be using the internet as a resource for research.  It is important to know exactly what it is we are searching for and how to use keywords to narrow down the search.  This is something that I have learned to master since I am constantly using the internet to search for answers.  It reminds me of the time when I worked with to friends, Chelsea and Khrystie, on a multi modality project.  We were all searching for images to use and I was really good and finding valuable images because I knew just what to search for.

Once a search is narrowed, it is extremely important to consider the resources that you come across.  Our students need to know which websites look reliable and where to look to find credibility.  One thing we were always told as students was to STAY AWAY from Wikipedia. We were told that Wikipedia was not reliable because it can be changed by anyone.  I recently found out how to look at the revisions to the page – very interesting!  I also think it is important to take what you read on a Wikipedia page and compare it to another website to see if the information is similar / the same.  When citing from a source, we need to know that what we are using is a source that has credibility.  Otherwise it is a waste!

Finally, it is SO important to not only take the information and make it our own, but to cite where we found it.  Credit needs to be given where credit is due.  There are all these resources out there for us to use, but we need to be mindful of what we are taking!