Looking for Critical Thinking in Online Threaded Discussions

By Paula San Millan Maurino

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“Threaded discussion forums have been a popular topic for the past few years in distance education research and studied as a factor in student participation, satisfaction, learning outcomes, social presence and interaction. Only recently has it been considered as a potential vehicle for the development of critical thinking skills and deep learning. Thirty-seven current studies on critical inquiry, deep learning, presence and interaction in distance education were synthesized. The studies were compared for findings about participation quality, participation quantity, critical thinking skills and deep learning, and recommendations. The synthesis revealed that current literature touts the potential for development of deep learning and critical thinking skills through online threaded discussions. For the most part, however, research does not show this happening at a high level or to any great extent. Confounding the issue is the fact that current research is predominated by examination of education and graduate level online classes and is mainly focused on student perceptions and outcomes. This is at odds with the profile of today’s €œtypical€? distance education student. The need for more instructor involvement and effort is indicated in much of the research, but bulk of the research has focused on students and not teachers.”

True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society

by Farhad Manjoo

“In 2005, Stephen Colbert catapulted the word €œtruthiness€?€€?the quality of an idea €œfeeling€? true without any backup evidence€€?into the public consciousness. Salon blogger Manjoo expands upon this concept in his perceptive analysis of the status of truth in the digital age, critiquing a Rashomon-like world in which competing versions of truth vie for our attention. Driven by research and study, the book relies on abstract psychological and sociological concepts, such as €œselective exposure€? and €œperipheral processing,€? though these are fleshed out with examples from American history, politics and media. For example, Manjoo demonstrates how the Swift Boat Veterans’ negative campaign derailed John Kerry’s 2004 presidential run. He also points out that the sheer quantity of 9/11 imagery has engendered more conspiracy theories, not fewer€€?demonstrating, he says, the disjunction between truth and proof. Manjoo rounds out his analysis by examining the workings of €œpartisan news realities,€? and he points out that the first casualty in these truth wars is a basic human and civic need: trust. Though several of the author’s ideas are repetitiously threaded through his narrative, Manjoo has produced an engaging, illustrative look at the dangers of living in an oversaturated media world. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, January 28, 2008) ”

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Networked Proximity:ICTs and the Mediation of Nearness

By ulises mejias

Abstract

“The network as a map of interconnected elements or nodes has become a favored metaphor for describing a wide variety of social systems in our age. But the network is transitioning from being merely a way to describe social realities to serving as a model for organizing them. The large-scale adoption of information and communication technologies is producing new architectures of networked participation in which the social subject becomes a decentralized node, unbound by location or physical space. Nearness (in terms of social proximity) acquires a new significance, since the distance between two nodes€€?regardless of their physical location€€?is practically zero, while the distance between a node and something outside the network is practically infinite. Thus, physical proximity is replaced by informational availability as the basis for experiencing social nearness, resulting in a form of networked proximity characterized simultaneously by a sense of renewed connectedness to the local (hyperlocality), and a sense of distancelessness that makes any point in the network readily accessible. Hence, critiques of networked sociality need to account for the fact that the network is neither anti-social nor anti-local: it thrives on making social connections, and is indifferent to where nodes are located in relation to the social subject (physically near or far). Instead, critiques need to focus on the epistemological exclusivity engendered by the fact that nodes are only capable of recognizing other nodes. In other words, the network imposes a nodocentric filter on the social, and only elements that can be mapped onto the network (the nodes) are rendered as real. This model is then used to institute a paradigm of progress and development in which those elements outside the network can acquire value only by becoming part of the network. The social becomes subordinate to the economics of the network, and the network becomes a model of subjectivation that prepares individuals for entrance into this form of sociality. In this context, the paranodal€€?the space between nodes€€?becomes an important site for disidentification from the network, correcting the nodocentric tendencies of networked sociality and providing alternative models of social engagement.”

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CFP: Journal Culture, Language and

Journal Culture, Language and Representation, ISSN: 1697-7750, seeks

contributions for its 2009 and 2010 issues.

The 2009 is an open call for original articles that engage in any relevant area

of cultural analysis: the Arts, literature, film, education, linguistics and

communication, cultural history, anthropology, sociology, etc. Theoretical

discussions as well as empirical analysis of specific cases or texts are

welcome.

The 2010 issue will be devoted to €žPopular Culture in the Age of

Globalization€°.

Deadline for submissions:

Articles for the 2009 issue should reach the Editors no later than 30th, October

2008.

Articles for the 2010 issue should reach the Editors before the 15th, September

2009.

For any enquiries, you may contact Jose R. Prado at prado@ang.uji.es

The guidelines for publication can be obtained from the Journal€šs web page:

www.clr.uji.es

Journal Culture, Language and Representation is indexed in the MLA, ABELL, ISOC

(CINDOC), and appears in the LATIN INDEX.

Please send two hard copies and a WORD or RTF document of your completed

manuscript to:

Jose R. Prado

Dept. Estudis Anglesos

Campus Riu Sec

Universitat Jaume I

12071 Castellon

Spain

Exploring the role of the reader in the activity of blogging

“Within the last decade, blogs have become an important element of popular culture, mass media, and the daily lives of countless Internet users. Despite the medium’s interactive nature, most research on blogs focuses on either the blog itself or the blogger, rarely if at all focusing on the reader’s impact. In order to gain a better understanding of the social practice of blogging, we must take into account the role, contributions, and significance of the reader. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of blog readers, including common blog reading practices, some of the dimensions along which reading practices vary, relationships between identity presentation and perception, the interpretation of temporality, and the ways in which readers feel that they are a part of the blogs they read. It also describes similarities to, and discrepancies with, previous work, and suggests a number of directions and implications for future work on blogging. ”

Eric Baumer University of California, Irvine

Mark Sueyoshi University of California, Irvine

Bill Tomlinson University of California, Irvine

Link

Speak Up 2007 Findings

Speak Up is an annual national research project facilitated by Project Tomorrow. The purpose of the project is to:

Collect and report the unfiltered feedback from students, parents and teachers on key educational issues.

Use the data to stimulate local conversations.

Raise national awareness about the importance of including the viewpoints of students, parents, and teachers in the education dialogue.

Over 319,223 students, 25,544 teachers, 19,726 parents and 3,263 school leaders shared their ideas through Speak Up 2007.

2007 Results