Feedback and New Learning from Hicks' Chapter 3: Composing Web Texts

I really enjoyed last week’s readings from Hicks, and I believe that there are many applicable lessons for the school library. For my blog this week, I want to talk more about what I learned from chapter three of Hicks and how I may apply those lessons in my future career.

In chapter three, Hicks talks about criteria for identifying credible web texts. As a future librarian, I know I will have students who turn to the first site they see on Google and believe it’s a credible source. Hicks talks about “filter bubbles” (p. 33) that Google uses to serve us information based on our previous search history. Although I recognize that ads I see on social media are related to my Google searches, I never realized that my searches themselves carried a bias.

I think it’s important to make sure my future students understand how filter bubbles work, and I will teach them to verify information with other sources. Hicks cites Rheingold’s research that recommends questionable information be backed up by at least three separate sources (p. 33). I will teach my students to “think like journalists,” and always check their facts! Since Google filter bubbles function based on the user’s search history, I would ask my students to log-out from any open accounts (Google, social media etc.) when doing their research so that they are not finding filtered information. This would be more important to do at home as schools may block these sites anyway but students are more likely to be “signed-in” at home.

In this same chapter, Hicks gave valuable advice for responsible posting on social media (33). Hicks always encourages students to think like digital writers, considering their audience and purpose whenever writing posts, comments, or sharing other content. Doing so will avoid mindless posting that serves no purpose. While using social media smartly would be a great general lesson for a group, I know that students often create social accounts for their clubs (example: yearbook committee, student government etc.). I would love to invite clubs that have social media posting responsibilities

into my library to give them a lesson on crafting quality content that is purposeful for the intended audience! This same lesson could apply to teachers that want to start using social media as an extension of their classroom community, but aren’t sure how to craft copy. An elementary teacher using Instagram or Facebook is probably sharing photos for parents to see what they are doing, while a middle/high school teacher using Instagram or Snapchat may be writing content that’s intended for the students to see and interact with. I’m looking forward to reading chapter 7 of Hicks which talks more about crafting social media copy and thinking about how I could apply the lessons in my library.

Today’s classrooms require more and more students to compose web texts. However, students may fall into a trap where they are only composing what Hicks calls “digitally convenient” texts (p. 34). While these texts are published online, they lack links, photos, videos, and other multimedia elements that would enhance the piece. Looking at my blogs this semester, I am going to make more of an effort to create digitally enhanced texts that serve my purpose and audience. In the future, I would welcome the opportunity to teach students how to transform their digitally convenient texts into digitally enhanced texts that serve the audience and the purpose for the writing. Or, I could offer this lesson to teachers so that they can apply it back in their own classrooms. Through conversations with other library media specialists and teachers, I’m learning that teachers often shy away from technology they don’t understand, while students are eager to use it but may be using it improperly. I look forward to being the kind of librarian that both teachers and students trust for reliable information as they develop as digital writers and keen researchers!

Sources outside class texts
Rheingold, H. 2012. Net Smart: How to Thrive Online. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Note: Images in this blog were gathered from Google and licensed for reuse.