Week 1

This week we will introduce ourseves and reflect on our experience doing research on the internet.

Post a message (reply to this one) and tell us a little bit about yourself - who you are, where you live, something about your background.

Then tell us about your experience online.

You can tell us about: your favourite kind of website,

or: what you do not like about the internet,

or: the advantages and disadvantages of doing research online,

or: something new you learned online and where you learned it,

or: the weirdest website you have ever seen,

or: ....?

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Week 2

This week we will look at some websites and reflect on “whose knowledge counts”.

Some people say that the internet is a very democratic form of media because anyone can have their say. Before the internet, if you were not a journalist or a scholar, it was difficult to get your opinion published. Some people say that journalists and scholars are losing their authority and power because of the internet.

What do you think?

Let’s compare some websites and see what we think about the difference between traditional media and new media.

Traditional media are things like newspapers, dictionaries, and encyclopedias and text books.

New media are things like websites, blogs and online discussions.

If you want to compare news in the traditional media and new media, click on NEWS to find the websites and questions.

If you want to compare encyclopedias in the traditional media and new media, click on ENCYCLOPEDIAS to find the websites and questions.

If you want to compare popular culture in the traditional media and new media, click on POPULAR CULTURE to find the websites and questions.

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Week 3

Last week we looked at “whose knowledge counts”… how power and authority is different in traditional media and new media.

We saw that in new media, regular people have more power. They can post on the new media sites and have their opinions and ideas heard. Also, we can read the opinions and ideas for free.

People in this course thought that traditional media still has more authority when it comes to factual information because the writers have experience and qualifications.

This week we are going to look at whose experience counts.

How do we know what bias a website (or any media) has?

CAN YOU FIND AN EXAMPLE OF BIAS OR DISCRIMINATION ON THE INTERNET?

The sites below promote MEDIA LITERACY – how to read the media critically and how to assess media for corporate or government influences and racism, sexism, classism and other discrimination.

Article about Media Literacy (Canadian)
(Warning: If you scroll down past the article, there is a link to a magazine called "Brill's Content." The magazine no longer exists. Another company is using that address to advertise websites. Some of these websites are porn websites. You can probably tell which ones are the porn links. They are called erotica and cuckold. If you click on these links, you will find a list of links to sites with porn. This kind of thing is very common on the internet. If a company stops paying for their "domain name" -- the name of their website -- another company can buy it and take advantage of the links that will bring people to their advertising site.)

Challenging sexism in the media (Canadian) ---- MediaWatch
They also have a site for youth.

Promoting critical thinking in young people about the media (Canadian) ------ Media Awareness Network

Looking at what influences news reporting (American) --- FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) - Click on What's Wrong With the News?

Assessing the News (American) --- Grade the News

Looking at the way we interact with the mass media and working to reclaim the way in which meaning is produced in our society (American) --- Adbusters

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Week 4

We had a conversation last week was about links and where we can end up as we click from link to link.

Part of that conversation was about the responsibility of Alpharoute to make sure that Alpharoute students cannot click on links to sites that are not allowed by programs and computer labs.

Alpharoute staff is deciding what to do about this and how to do it. It is a complicated issue.

In each course, a new issue comes up and we have to learn new things to make the next course better. I have found that Alpharoute students are very patient and support our learning. Thank you Alpharoute students!

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For this week, tell us your advice and tips for people who are new to the internet.

What do you think is the most important thing for new users to know about evaluating sites on the internet?

And please, do not forget to do the evaluation.

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