Not Using Primary Sources–Guilty as Charged
So I’m not sure I would go so far as to say that I’m “another uninformed sheepie in the flock of society” or a “Ditto-head wannabee,” but Jim O’Hagan makes a valid point when noting that I took the word of Roy Mark in the previous post instead of going to the primary source, the 96-page report issued by the Crimes Against Children Research Center. Ironically, we were having quite a discussion about just this topic yesterday in a workshop which (thankfully) we can continue this morning as I bring up this “teachable moment.” In his comments on the post, Jim deconstructs the survey that the article cited to show, apparently, that the pool of respondents wasn’t quite the most “average” sampling, suggesting, perhaps, that the reality about Internet predators and parental monitoring isn’t quite as rosy as it appears. And he asks, in a world where we have access to primary sources, why didn’t I go there first?
Answer? Time. Laziness. The appearance of a trusted source, though I’ll admit I’ve only read Roy Mark on occasion. In other words, the same excuses our kids will give when their research is not up to par.
A couple of observations here. First, this is the power of the blogosphere to instruct and remind. Despite being taken to task for it, I do appreciate Jim taking the time to do the work I didn’t AND, even more importantly, share the result. Second, in terms of this particular study, even Jim doesn’t go so far to deconstruct the original survey done five years ago to see if the demographics of that study were the same as this one, which if so would seem to indicate that the trends cited are valid. Third, I wonder how I can effectively strike this balance in my own practice. As my time has become less available to reading and blogging, I find it more and more difficult to maintain the practice. So, I don’t dig. The decision then is whether or not I write less often because I haven’t had the time to fully vet a story or idea, to write less deeply and just do more linking, or continue to offer stuff up with half-hearted effort in the hopes that others will edit what I write. To be honest, neither choice feels great. But it’s a more complex issue for me than most, I think for a variety of obvious reasons. Fourth, how and when do we best teach our kids this concept of editing? My seven and nine year old should be learning this…they are not.
In general, I have not been very happy of late with the work I’ve been doing here. And, as I’ve pointed out before when I get this feeling, it’s because I haven’t had the time to read. Something has to give when that happens.
technorati tags:editing, education, teaching, literacy
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“Third, I wonder how I can effectively strike this balance in my own practice. As my time has become less available to reading and blogging, I find it more and more difficult to maintain the practice. So, I don’t dig.”
Perhaps your role is now to highlight these pieces of news & research, and if you don’t have the time, then ask the all-important questions that others with more time may be able to answer. Your node in this edublogger network is an important one but your role may be changing from “maven” to “connector”.
Will,
That last guy was a bit harsh, no? I’ve always found you to be open minded and thoughtful in your posts. Keep up what you do. Some of us appreciate the way you keep us thinking.
Don
I like you better as the “tech-hipster.”
Believe me, Will, I was not in any way implying you as one of the sheeple or a ditto-head-wannabee. My “rant” was more a warning of the dangers of taking for granted someone’s opinion who caries a lot of weight without examining the primary material first. You, Will, are a edu-blog powerhouse, and your opinion is respected by a lot of people. I read your work on a regular basis and think your are pushing our thoughts and dialogue in the right direction in regards of employing RW technologies into our schools and life.
You’re right in pointing out that I did not look at the 2001 source material, but my ranting was more about my worries that too many people aren’t critically thinking of these issues on a higher level. The Internet is allowing us the opportunity to raise the bar of the dialogue. You are a leader and have the ability to do that. I would just hate to see you become stagnant and reliant on the opinions of others, and would prefer your stay a leader.
My rant was more to motivate then to blast. You have a very good blog, and you provide excellent insight. Why do you think I am having you come to speak to our district about RW technology?
[…] Not Using Primary Sources–Guilty as Charged […]
No worries, James. But I seriously don’t mind the push…I wish it would happen more often actually. It make me take another look at what I’m doing, and that’s a good thing. And it also was a great opportunity to model the best of blogging for my workshop. Looking forward to working with you.
In one word, Will, “Relax!” Everything seems to be working as it should. None of us has time to check everything.
Now this is my opinion, but we aren’t journalists. We’re engaged in a conversation. We listen (read), we think, we share. Others listen, and think, and share, and we all learn in the process. We’re all going to get dinged. I think we just need to all relax, and realize that we’re going to get it wrong sometimes. It’s what happens in rapidly changing times.
About a penny’s worth!
Thanks Will for this post. I think that this is a huge issue. What kid thinks he has time to really check out his/her primary sources? Don’t we all hate to do that?
It is SO important though. The nature of communication has changed. It is VERY easy to read only blogs you are interested in and agree with and pass on the information from them that pleases you assuming that it is correct. We edubloggers need to be examples of a better way.
So many of us are listening to every word you say and so it is really important to point out times when you have not had the time to check your source material-but please don’t stop writing your creative ideas because of it. As David said you are engaging in a conversation. Hopefully what will happen is that someone reading will have the time to dig and come back with some more information that will be helpful.
Janice
[…] Not Using Primary Sources–Guilty as Charged “And he asks, in a world where we have access to primary sources, why didn’t I go there first? […]
[…] We all know how critical it is for us to demonstrate to students the importance of truth and accuracy in blogging and in more importantly in life. It’s been both humbling and powerful to watch Will deal with the issue of not using primary sources as well as not citing sources. Will was very forthright in his errors and even thanked those who called him out. Darren recently discovered the truth about the South African wiki project that many of us, including me have been touting. […]
Say what you will about “original” sources and research, but once it became so easy on the internet, I started doing less in depth research, not more. But I see this in a lot of print bibliographies too–author cites a secondary summary, rather than the original document.