In Internet we trust...or not?

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When I have to search something on the Web for academic purposes, such as writing an essay or similar, I'm usually a bit sceptical about what I find because on the Internet there are too many things, to many authors, too many articles, too many ideas! The problem - but also the beautiful aspect of the Internet - is that anyone can publish or write something and the reader cannot easily understand if the information is trustworthy or not. If one day someone want to frighten all the world with an invented information, he/she has just to write something on a Web site!!! The same is for the information we search: are they serious or not?

Usually, when I look for information on the Web I check the author of the site: if it is an association, a well known personality or just someone unknown. I admit that the look of the site influences my idea about its seriousness. If I see a well structured site and, on the other hand, a simple and not accurate page, I choose the first one. I don't usually loom if the author is clearly shown or if there is his e-mail. Sometimes I look at the last up-date of the page, but not always.

The sites which I visited on this topic gave me some interesting points on which I should think the next time I'm looking for something on the Web.
For example, I had never thought to the possibility of looking at the Document Uniform Resource Locator (URL), including an institutional identifier. Moreover, I had never looked if there is a bibliography or if there is the indication of the source of the information. Another interesting point I had never thought about is what the purpose of the site is, or who the audience intended is. I think these are important things because we have to have a critical eye before to accept everything from the Web.

I found this site http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html which I think interesting and it contains, on its URL ".edu" so it indicates that it is an educational institution. Try to have a look at it!!

a video for me..

Hi! I want to be sincere with you: it is really difficult to find a video for me in this period...it is not one of the easiest periodS of my life! So plese, don't consider this video a representation of my personality, but simply something I need in this moment! I have to be strong!!! So sometimes I listen to this song to find strength! I'm sure I will be better in a few time!


In the future I will search a video that represents me..for example something to laugh or something that recalls the fact of staying together with lots of people...for the moment...I need to be STRONG ENOUGH!! ;)

see you!!

Youtube

What do I think about Youtube? I don't know...if on one hand I can say that it is funny and interesting because you can find videos about everything, on the other hand I think it is not so useful because there are so many stupid videos.
One can spend a lot of time in searching a video he/he needs before to find the right one because there are too many videos...probably there should be a control system or something similar (I'm not an expert of Youtube so I don't know if it is already so). However, it is also a mean of communication and every kind of people can publish something on it so..probably I should erase my prejudices!! If you want to have fun and if you have time, it is the right place!!
Obviously you can also find interesting and good videos on it but, for this case, TeacherTube is better! Here you can find very interesting videos who teach you something...every kind of topic, every kind of level! I really like it!! For students like us, there are
some interesting videos for language leaning but there also many other interesting topics!
We have discovered a new tool that can be useful for our English...at the end of this course we should speak as well as a mother tongue speakers!!!;)
See you!

help!

Hi!
I have problems with photos...I cannot publish them on the blog! Probably is because they are on my pc but how can I put them on the Internet??? If someone can help me, I will be happy!
thank you!
Elisa

English Podcasts

Hi guys!
This week we discovered the world of Podcasts..I had never heard them before, but now we have another mean of learning! I spent lot of time in the world of podcast and, at the end, I chose these three sites:
http://www.oculture.com/2006/10/foreign_languag.html
http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/
http://epnweb.org/
The first one contains lots of interesting material for the learning of English with audio files but the thing that I mostly like are "audiobooks". I think that they are very interesting and useful and one can put together his/her love for reading with his/her intention to improve his/her English.
The second one gives several podcasts on different topics and you can choose your level. However, it gives also worksheets, vocabulary tasks etc only for members.
The third has a great number of podcasts too and they are divided for level and subject. The negative thing is that, sometimes, some podcasts have problems and I could not listen to them. These podcasts are mostly created by teachers so, I think the quality is good.
In my opinion, podcasts are useful but they should be always followed by exercises on the text, so one could effectively check his/her skills.
That's all


Elisa

del.icio.us

Hi!!
Every week we discover a new technology! Last week we used an online bookmarker, Del.icio.us. Actually, it is a social bookmarker because, thanks to this site, you can not only see always (if you are not using your pc) your favourite sites or blogs, but it also gives you the possibility to share with other people them and to see other person's preferences. So, you can use it as a "filter" for your researches because you see which are the most visited and "posted" sites by the other users. I like the fact that you have tags and so, when you visit another person's page, you see all the topics he is interested in. This could allow you to extend your research with other linked topics! Maybe, Del.icio.us is not very easy to use at the beginning and, for example, for the first site I posted, I put a comma after my "key words" (tags) and so now, I have some problems with my tags (but the site explained how to correctly write! I admit that it was my error). Another problem I have with Del.icio.us is that my descriptions are three lines long but you cannot see entirely them. I liked to see my classmates' sites because they are useful and they show how much we try to learn English!!! ;-) Moreover, I could understand some of their interests and what they like. In the future, when we will add other sites, del.icio.us will become a way to know each other!!
Byeee

comments on feeds and feed aggregators

Hi!
Yesterday, during the lesson, we learned how to use feeds and feed aggregators. In particularly, we used Bloglines and, although at the beginning it seemed difficult , after few minutes of disorientation we reached our goal!! Now, each one of us can log in on Bloglines and, without spending so much time, can easily see if his/her “favourite” blogs or sites have been updated! Obviously, in our cases, our “favourite” blogs are those of the people of our group and so, for the moment, they are not so much, but we could see the positive aspects of this technology already! Thanks to Bloglines we can see on one single page if our favourite blogs have been updated and it is surely a saving in time! For somebody, it can be a small saving in time but for me..it is completely another way of working! At home I have in fact a very, very, very slow computer (not only it is old, but it also has a slow internet connection) and, in order to open a blog, it can spend also 1 or 2 minutes…you can imagine how wonderful is to navigate in this conditions! The simple procedure of opening four blogs can transform a good day in a awful one! But now, just opening one single page, I can see directly if my classmates’ blogs updated their blogs, so I can avoid to open those which have not been updated!! It is simply fantastic! Instead of spending 8 minutes, I spend only 2!!  In conclusion, I’m happy to have learn this possibility of the web (I had never heard of it before) not only because I have learned something new that I can use, but also because it is really useful for me! Thank you Bloglines!!!

bye