Professor Tara Brabazon will give her inaugural lecture tomorrow, Weds 16th January at the University of Brighton, entitled “Google is White Bread for the Mind“.
She will argue that “universities must teach students to question, argue, debate and challenge, rather than accept the ‘facts’ from Wikipedia or the rankings of Google”.
“Wikipedia and user-generated content are creating an age of banality and mediocrity by providing consensual information and stifling debate. Students must be trained to be dynamic and critical thinkers rather than drifting to the first site returned through Google”.
Her views have already generated some interesting articles in the media:
The Telegraph writes: “Academic condemns ‘University of Google’”
The Times Online article “White bread for young minds says university professor” has sparked a number of comments from readers around the World.
Professor Brabazon has been teaching in universities for over 10 years and has a number of related publications, most recently a book entitled “The University of Google: Education in the (Post) Information Age” which was introduced in an article in the Times Higher in November 2007 in the article “Boomers in thrall to a Wiki Universe”
For those wishing to hear more first-hand, Professor Brabazon will be giving the keynote speech at The Librarians Information Literacy Annual Conferences (LILAC), 17th – 19th March 2008 at Liverpool John Moores University.
Personally I applaud Professor Brabazon for raising this debate, as the impact of the Internet on university learning and research is a vital area for research and analysis, given that so much has changed in the last ten years.
I would agree that Internet research skills should be actively taught as a formal part of the university curriculum. Students may well be savvy when it comes to using new Internet technologies, but they need help and guidance on finding and using Web resources that are appropriate for academic work.
Internet research skills fit well within Study Skills, Research Methods or Information Literacy modules. Our research suggests that while these skills are taught by some in some universities, there is not standard practice or strategy.
Is it time for Internet research skills to be added to the QAA Subject Benchmark Statements for all UK university degree courses?
Tags: Internet Research Skills
Paul Ayres says: January 15, 2008 @ 1:31 pm
While I agree that there is More to Life Than Google and there are some Myths About User Generated Content, I despair at the lack of nuance and shades of grey when these issues are discussed in the mainstream media. I’d counsel academics to embrace new technology and see that blogging, podcasting and even improving entries on Wikipedia can help them sidestep the misrepresentation of what they say and raise the level of public debate.
Mark Callan says: January 15, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
If you look at her book you’ll be very pleasantly surprised to find that she is so not anti-technology. Her line is, rather, that in itself the technology question is a red herring. What matters is enhancing literacies – i.e. ensuring that students know and understand what they’re doing and why. (I have a review of the book forthcoming in the Journal of Information Literacy: see http://jil.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JIL/index)
Sue Wood says: January 15, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
In response to the question about QAA Subject Benchmark Statements, I would say that it is time for Information Literacy Skills to be added, including Internet research skills.
Kanwal Virdee says: January 15, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
I agree with Sue’s comments above. Students need to develop an understanding of the information landscape and the skills to critically evaluate what they find from the Internet and other sources.
Bridget Shersby says: January 15, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
Sue Wood’s suggestion that QAA Subject Benchmark Statements should include Information Literacy Skills, is one I would support wholeheartedly. The assumption by some universities that the majority of their new students arrive with all the necessary study skills in place is mistaken. We have an increasingly diverse student population which can include mature returners with relatively few ICT skills, as well as techno savvy but information illiterate “youngsters” who think that “cut & paste” is the answer to everything.
Jim Wolf says: January 17, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
The issues she brings up are near spot on, not because Google has done us wrong any more than we did our kids wrong when we first gave them the keys to the car. Google is a portal to the world of human knowledge warts and all, and is turning out to be a fairly decent echo of us, warts and all. There is a unique rawness to the google knowledge base that is both liberating and sometimes dangerous. Anyone who relies on it must quickly become street wise on finding subject consensus and have a good B.S. filter between the ears. Academics like her would be better serve to teach these skill and better prepare students to asses all information for merit instead of reinventing Google with a new filter as they would like the world to be seen.