Improving Instruction: Metaliteracy Through Crowdsourcing in the Classroom
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Presentation at Indiana University Libraries Information Literacy Colloquium- August 1 2014 Presented research from Chris Gibson's summer undergraduate DURI project
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Improving Instruction: Metaliteracy Through Crowdsourcing in the Classroom
- 2. 4 • Explore –How Crowdsourcing Reflects Metaliteracy –How Metaliteracy Informs Crowdsourcing Today’s Learning Objectives
- 3. 5 “Metaliteracy expands the scope of traditional information skills (determine, access, locate, understand, produce, and use information) to include the collaborative production and sharing of information in participatory digital environments (collaborate, participate, produce, and share)” (p. 1)
- 4. 6 • Goal 3: Share information and collaborate in a variety of participatory environments • Goal 4: Demonstrate ability to connect learning and research strategies with lifelong learning processes and personal, academic, and professional goals Metaliteracy Learning Objectives
- 5. 7 Crowdsourcing is an “online distributed problem-solving and production model that leverages the collective intelligence of online communities to serve specific organizational goals.”
- 6. 8 What’s going on? A shift in how media travels across the culture. Distribution as we have traditionally understood it in the era of mass media where content flows in patterns regulated by decisions made by major corporations who control what we see, when we see it and under what conditions. Circulation, a hybrid system, still shaped top-down by corporate players, but also bottom-up by networks of everyday people, who are seeking to move media that is meaningful to them across their social networks, and will take media where they want it when they want it through means both legal and illegal.
- 7. 10 As the student landscape changes, so must education. Participatory culture and technology has created a new dimension to education. Crowdsourcing is a way to utilize the resources available to educators and students. This talk will focus on how changes in education methods with the ability to create success in the classroom and office. Summary
- 8. 11 • My Grandfather • My Parents The Smartest People I Know
- 9. 13
- 10. 14
- 11. 15
- 12. 16 • Distributive – Written Word – Library at Alexandria – World Book • Circulation – Internet • What’s Next? History of Media
- 13. 17 • Outdated • Educators Themselves • Students Ourselves – Already Participating Elsewhere Problems With Education
- 14. 18 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Zetta Exa Peta Tera Giga Mega Kilo Hecto
- 15. 19 • Outdated • Educators Themselves • Students Ourselves Problems With Education
- 16. 20 The shift towards a circulation- based model for media access is disrupting and transforming
- 17. 21 • “Rather, their untouchable quality has to do with the contexts within which we are introduced to these texts and the stained glass attitudes that too often surround them.”
- 18. 22
- 19. 23 • Educate the Educators • Add Technology to the Classroom • Change the Focus • Acknowledge the Changing Power Dynamics of Information How We Can Fix it
- 20. 24 • Use Other People to Help Find Information • Combining of Resources Crowdsourcing
- 21. 25 • Answer Systems • Working Together • Letting go of the Untouchable Quality of the Scholarly and the Academic How This Works
- 22. 26 • Never Work Alone – Not always working in formal environment • Create New Professional Interactions in Classroom • Questions Social Hegemony • Less Person to Person, More Person to Information Real Life, Professional Impacts
- 23. 27 • Crowdsourced Answer System for Purdue • Students Ask and Answer Each Other’s Questions • Intertwines Learning and Educating CrowdAsk
- 24. 28
- 26. 30 • Allow Students to Educate Teachers • Learning is not a One-Way Street • Utilize all Tools Available, Including Students What Now?
- 27. 31 • Versed With Participatory Culture and Technology • Learning is Easier at a Younger Age Why Students?
- 28. 32 Crowdsourcing Could Replace Single User, Learner What Does a Circulation Classroom Look Like? How is it Different From a Classroom Based on the Distribution Model? In The Future
- 29. 33 • Education, student, media changing – Distribution vs. Circulation Model – High v. Low Academic Participatory Culture • Crowdsourcing Reflects Metaliteracy • Metaliteracy Informs Crowdsourcing
- 30. 34 • Crowdsourcing Benefits Metaliteracy • Metaliteracy Benefits Crowdsourcing • Combination Benefits Students Conclusion
- 32. 36 • http://henryjenkins.org/2006/07/can_one_be_a_fan_of_high_art.html#sthash.wzOwwa8e.7RM7Pcz7.dpuf • http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/IUPUIphotos/id/6149/rv/singleitem • http://incitemag.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/large_lecture.jpgIMPACT PITCURE • http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/graphics/one_room_school_house.jpg • http://www.summeroflove.org/images/altman/how.do.sm.jpeg • http://www.housing.wisc.edu/media/photos/tlc_imacs2.jpg • http://www.fcps.edu/SunriseValleyES/tech/AllenLaptopsClass1.JPG • https://www.flickr.com/photos/shadows44/2899146693/in/photolist-9x7YM-5qbTiP-6v9qou-7hzVzt-ecDTJ9- hNPqvR-7xDRkt-6SVLqU-36c9Ss-2qcWRq-2k2DAk-4PNy4j-f5znFM-4PNxK7-4PJi1X-HZobr-5SrT8B-3AXJ3Z-YEg2o- 85FpbS-desc6m-7MFAH-bviuTp-dA9fPg-66huNZ-2NGm6A-fGEqGQ-c12P7L-PvbMo-grouAj-Kbko1-8MjasH- 52RshH-dVqp4X-aCtUm8-8Mjd4D-6ew98c-A6pFn-5ZjeK3-aTmoz4-4vAgep-2F1Jcq-hobayK-4T8Cja-aSoeiF- 55mGnG-mEisj-3c27hQ-cp4xWA-fjQQn4/ • http://www.otis.edu/library/craap-detection-criteria-evaluating-information • https://sites.lib.purdue.edu/crowdask/index.php?qa=questions&sort=hot • https://sites.lib.purdue.edu/crowdask/index.php?qa=68&qa_1=does-online-library-website-place-learn-cite- citation-format Image Credits
- 33. 37 • Brabham, D. C. (). Crowdsourcing. : MIT Press. • CRAAP Detection: Criteria for Evaluating Information. (n.d.). Otis College of Art and Design. Retrieved July 31, 2014, from http://www.otis.edu/library/craap-detection-criteria-evaluating-information • Flaherty, C. (2013, June 17). Data suggest baby boomer faculty are putting off retirement. Data suggest baby boomer faculty are putting off retirement. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/17/data-suggest-baby-boomer-faculty-are-putting- retirement#sthash.WhxzCajj.dpbsKepple, T. (2012, May 28). Gray-haired college faculty should make room for the next generation. PennLive.com. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2012/05/gray-haired_faculty_should_mak.htm • In 2013 the amount of data generated worldwide will reach four zettabytes. (n.d.). VSAT Global Series Blog. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://vsatglobalseriesblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/in-2013-the-amount-of- data-generated-worldwide-will-reach-four-zettabytes • Jenkins, H. (2006, July 26). Can One Be A Fan of High Art?. Confessions of an AcaFan. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://henryjenkins.org/2006/07/can_one_be_a_fan_of_high_art.html#sthash.wzOwwa8e.7RM7Pcz7.dpuf • Mackey, T. P., & Jacobson, T. (2014). Metaliteracy: reinventing information literacy to empower learners. London: Facet Publishing. • Megabytes, Gigabytes, Terabytes... What Are They?. (n.d.). Megabytes, Gigabytes, Terabytes. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://www.whatsabyte.com • Table 2.Average and median age of public school teachers and percentage distribution of teachers, by age category, sex, and state: 2011–12. (n.d.). Table 2.Average and median age of public school teachers and percentage distribution of teachers, by age category, sex, and state: 2011–12. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_002.asp Sources
Editor's Notes
- Welcome to our presentation on the use of technology in the classroom. The vast changes in literacy in the last decade have created a need for a new teaching model and we believe this will come as crowd sourcing in the classroom.
- Hi my name is Chris Gibson and I will be a senior at Purdue University this coming school year. I am a varsity rower for Purdue Crew and in my spare time I attend class for Political Science and History. After graduation, I would like to have a job that takes me to see the work, if not, I would be content with becoming a rowing coach.
- At the end of this presentation, we hope that you will have a greater understanding of metaliteracy and crowd sourcing. The relationship between the two. How metaliteracy is crowd sourcing and of how crowd sourcing is metaliteracy.
- Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners (Mackey and Jacobson, 2014). Based on concepts of metacognition, reflection.
- Brabham, Daren C. (2013), Crowdsourcing, MIT Press.pg 1
- The idea of viral media is a way that the broadcasters hold onto the illusion of their power to set the media agenda at a time when that power is undergoing a crisis. They are the ones who make rational calculations, able to design a killer virus which infects the masses, so they construct making something go viral as either arcane knowledge that can be sold at a price from those in the know or as something that nobody understands, “It just went viral!” But, in fact, we are seeing people, collectively and individually, make conscious decisions about what media to pass to which networks for what purposes with what messages attached through which media channels and we are seeing activist groups, religious groups, indie media producers, educators and fans make savvy decisions about how to get their messages out through networked communications.
- Online communities, called crowds motivated by a variety of goals
- Metaliteracy is a reflective process about where you get your ideas and I’m gonna start with where I start. I know this talk is about metaliteracy in the classroom, but first I want to talk a little but about the smartest people I know: my grandfather, mom and dad. My grandfather is a retired medical doctor who taught biochemistry at IU Medical School, is the Showalter Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and has authored a book. My mom is a medical licensing attorney for the Attorney General and my dad teaches high school physics. All three are incredibly smart individuals, but they cannot figure out how to do the simplest task with technology. My dad has a phone with only a number pad and the on/off keys. He still cannot figure out how to make calls. My mom cannot figure out how to answer calls and wonders what that weird noise coming from her phone, the ring tone, is. My grandfather cannot figure out how to turn caps lock off if he accidently turns it on. These are three people who are teaching the world. They may be smart in some areas, such as science and law, but they cannot interact with a large portion of it because they do not know how technology works. Previously, if you wanted to learn something from a person, the only way to was communicate was face to face. However, with technology, you can now do that over long distance with telephones and most recently with video or live streams. Theses technologies allow us to communicate with more diverse populations in more diverse ways then ever, but only if the educator understands how to use the technology. In many cases, they may not understand how it works and are limiting our educational opportunities. These people grew up in a time when there as a largely different view of participatory culture. If you wanted to participate or contribute it had to be done in person or written down in a book. However, modern technology has given us the convenience of being a part of this at our liersure. We can enter and exit it at will. All this media and culture relies on use rather than us requiring its use.
- Professors are retiring later and later or never plan on retiring. Between 2000 and 2011 the number of professors over the age of 65 has doubled. Research done by Fidelity in 2013, shows that 74% of professors between the ages of 49 and 64 do not plan on retiring at 65. 42% will not retire because they want to maximize their Social Security payouts and 41% do not want to give up the access being a professor gives them. While this may seem like a stretch connecting age to technological prowess, if I ask you to find a young adult in the same demographic, you would be hard pressed to find one who lacked this prowess. In addition, I’m willing to bet that if I handed my phone to somebody in this crowd and asked them to complete a task, it would take them longer than it would for me to complete the same task on their phone. These are generational differences. I am more adept at technology because I grew up with it. You are more adept at solving mechanical problems because you grew up in an era of mechanical wonders, not electronic wonders. Take the fax machine, it’s fifty years old, yet still used by many large corporations. Why? Because the people in charge are familiar with it. It is technology that they grew up using and understand how it works. This is the same with my generation and cell phones and the Internet. The current average age of teachers in the United States is 42.4 years old. This number is expected to rise as baby boomers continue to stay in the workforce. The largest demographic of educators, fifty four percent, fall in between the ages of thirty to forty nine years old. This number may not be concerning now, but in ten years, they will be forty to fifty nine years old and possibly ten more years outdated on technology. We are educated in our youth, in our twenties. It is near impossible to predict what they future will hold with accuracy. Depending on your age you may be ten, twenty, even half a century past when you were last in school. The teaching methods you learned by have evolved: white boards have replaced black boards. Classrooms have TVs now. It is time, once again, to reinvent education. Teachers nearing retirement age, or past, make up almost one fifth of all educators. These were born in the 1950s. Born before the first commercially available computer. These educators, these people who we expect to educate our students, my classmates are literally older than the technology they are expected to know how to use. I personally don’t know how a lot of the technology works, but I still have a basic understanding of how it works and the capacity to learn more. The younger you are, the easier it is to learn something new. That’s science. As such, younger generations are more adaptable than their elders to this new technology. Only fifteen percent of educators are under thirty years old. The millennial generation grew up with this technology is the most familiar with how it works. By growing up with the technology, they understand natively how it is used in everyday life and how it will evolve in the workforce. Now let’s look at what education looks like.
- This is where education fails the student, it still relies on old methods. Students, according to studies, retain less than half of the information presented to them in lectures. As a student, I can guarantee that we retain even less when the teacher is a bore. You’ll be lucky to even catch me paying attention when I find something interesting. It amazing how much fun spinning your phone is when the teacher is boring. And this, is no exaggeration what-so-ever. I also consider myself to be one of the better more dedicated students with the grades to prove it. Let’s take a look at what these students are doing. Some are texting, others sleeping. Many more aren’t paying attention. Someshow up to class because of attendance points, not because theywant to learn. That’s part of the problem. We students, are not engaged in the material and as such, are doing something that is engaging. The fault in this lies in both the teacher and the student. We’re not going to pay attention if the teacher is boring, but at the same time, we’re also bad students. We have a need to be connected to our friends at all times and social media helps us do this. But, if used properly this social media and technology can reinvent the way we educate.
- As students, this is how we perceive how education was in the past. Education was done solely face to face and in a modular sense. Teachers would stand in front of a classroom teaching students about whatever topic came next. Addition led to subtraction which led to multiplication and then to division. You’d learn about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock around Thanksgiving. It simply made sense. Education was done in a distributive manner. Teachers had the facts and they were right. Students were there to absorb knowledge from their superiors.
- This is how my generation likes to view themselves as students and how future generations of students will learn. This is more of a circulation based model. We learn from interacting with information from all sources, not just our teachers. Now let’s look at how information has changed.
- Since the beginning of written language, humans have been collecting and distributing information. From the Great Library of Alexandria to the World Book Encyclopedia, information has been collected and distributed in a static source. In the last thirty years, information sources have changed from static to very dynamic. The internet has allowed for users to edit information as it becomes outdated. It took over one thousand years for the majority of information to go from physical books and libraries to hosted on websites such as Wikipedia. And in the last five years, there is now something even easier than opening Google and typing it. You can simply speak into your phone and it will search for you. We have every bit of Internet accessible information in our pocket. And in this lies or primary problem with information gathering, and therefore, education. Up through the advent of the internet, information was based on a distributive method. Information came from a few well regarded sources and were given by higher these corporations. However, with the distributive model, we can use a more diverse sources that will provide a wider range of information. However, this model is not completely integrated into our education system.
- This is something students understand and are fully aware of. We were born into this technology and grew up with it. We know that we have the vast majority of all information ever collected at our fingertips. Our issue lies in determining which information is good. Which information we can use, which is correct; not if we have enough information. We tend to have too much. In 2012, it was predicted that there would be 2.7 zettabytes of digital information. How much is a zettabyte?
- This is a zettabyte. That is a single zettabyte. One thousand trillion bytes of information and we had 2.7 of them digitally stored in 2012. Five exabytes is the equivalent of all the words spoken by humans and there are one thousand exabytes per zettabyte. And as of 2013, there was 4 zettabytes of information available on the World Wide Web. Now that’s a lot of information and it is available for us to use anytime we want. And we have yet to fully embrace it. This is one of the largest follies in our education system.
- Educators largely have failed to adopt to the changing norms and keep relying on their own ‘tried and true’ methods. These methods are no longer true. Textbooks become outdated and In this digital age, educators need to be educated on how to use this technology to their advantage. For students to succeed, these educators need to see though new, younger eyes. They need to fully understand how to use the technology and systems of tomorrow. If our educators cannot educate their students for the future, they are not doing their job properly. I know this sounds harsh—because it’s supposed to. The truth hurts and if we don’t acknowledge this, we are resigning this generation, my generation, to mediocrity. And I refuse to accept that. Our education system is already mediocre at best. Many countries out pace us in hard sciences and many more in soft sciences. For the first time in a long time, as a nation, we have accepted mediocrity. We continue to used the supposedly “tried and true” methods while failing to embrace what has made the United States what it is. Technology is the future, but by not innovating, educators are creating insurmountable future problems. Us students are also to blame, we are as stubborn and stuck in our ways as any generation prior to our own, but we acknowledge that. We are trying to change, we are trying to change the world. This is where our problem is, we have too lofty goals for what we know. Our knowledge base is limited and we need help from our elders to accomplish what we want. We need to change how education is viewed in this country and move it into the twenty first century.
- The idea of viral media is a way that the broadcasters hold onto the illusion of their power to set the media agenda at a time when that power is undergoing a crisis. They are the ones who make rational calculations, able to design a killer virus which infects the masses, so they construct making something go viral as either arcane knowledge that can be sold at a price from those in the know or as something that nobody understands, “It just went viral!” But, in fact, we are seeing people, collectively and individually, make conscious decisions about what media to pass to which networks for what purposes with what messages attached through which media channels and we are seeing activist groups, religious groups, indie media producers, educators and fans make savvy decisions about how to get their messages out through networked communications.
- “It almost doesn’t matter whether the core material is high culture, low culture, or middlebrow culture as long as it allows everyone to participate from a more or less equal footing and as long as it provides an opportunity for each member to contribute a unique perspective to the conversation.” See more at:
- I am sure that there are lots of holes one could poke in the current ACRL standards with this shift. Most specifically, the fact the whole ACRL standards systems assumes a controlled distributed closed channel where information can be “accessed”, where sources are evaluated “critically” and then information is “used” spent up like a natural resource. But I think the more interesting critique we could make is how as the librarians first responses to the circulation model is to protect their users from it. This is a screenshot from someone’s page on the often loved CRAAP model. See how vehemently we support the era of mass media, even as circulation surrounds our students everyday lives. Through our instruction as librarians, we are protecting corporations by assuming a power dynamic that may not exist anymore.
- This is an over simplified way we can fix the education system. Now is the time for information services and educators to catch up with technology. If these groups fall behind now, there will be no catching up. Technology is always changing and at an ever increasing pace. Without adapting now, there will be an ever-diminishing chance of catching up. The environment that the current educators have grown up in has changed. Books are no longer necessary. While books still are of value, that value has diminished with the integration of the internet. The internet has become an fundamental aspect of my generation’s life. And I’m using the internet in the broadest of terms; encompassing everything from Facebook to BBC to JStor. If it can found online and then used offline, I am considering it part of the internet. My generation relies on technology more than any other generation, and will continue to increase our reliance on it as it becomes more widely available globally. This technology will become the basis of information gathering, if it hasn’t already.
- And crowd sourcing is this technology. It allows users to interact with the information in new ways. It requires us to be creative with our searches rather than looking at a book and maybe the ones on either side of it. Crowd sourcing has replaced the traditional method of information gathering. Individuals are no longer individuals. Rather, they are part of a larger group that works together to find information. These groups are much more effective and efficient at solving problems and finding answers. These are skills that students will need once they enter the workforce that has not be emphasized as much in pervious generations. As more and more information becomes available online, this group will only continue to grow and become more and more reliable. Students in the classroom are already connected to the internet through the phone in their pockets, it is time to embrace this advantage. By allowing students use all the resources at their disposal, we are allowing them the same tools they will have once they graduate. This new idea of metaliteracy does not need to include only non-living sources. People should also be considered sources of information in metaliteracy. Individuals are capable of doing the same thing as search engines. So long as facts are crosschecked, there should be no reason why people can’t be used as a source for information. This is what crowd sourcing is.
- Crowd sourcing is the next form of literacy. The ability to come together with other people will create a new dimension to learning. Already, sites such as Stack Exchange have created this environment. As a student, majoring in Political Science and history, my studies revolve around finding, organizing and interpreting information. However, I don’t use libraries. The vast majority of the information I need, can be found in online sources. It is easier for me to do my research in the comfort of my own apartment rather than traveling to the libraries. Since I don’t use libraries very often, I use librarians even less. As this trend continues with my generation, the role for librarians will change. They will no longer need to know how to locate physical sources, instead they will need know how to use databases and what search terms work the best. “There is nothing about high culture texts that discourages this kind of intimacy and participation. Many of them were part of popular culture at the time they were created. Many of them can be pulled back into popular culture when read in the right contexts. Rather, their untouchable quality has to do with the contexts within which we are introduced to these texts and the stained glass attitudes that too often surround them. “Gopalakrishnan has taught me that you can indeed be a fan of high culture. - See more at:
- Where students in past generations lived in libraries researching, I do not. I sit in my apartment hanging out with friends utilizing online resources instead. My research consists of Google searching, Wikipedia articles and its sources, and JSTOR. These sources have every piece of information I will need to complete all my assignments. Now, I don’t have to read entire books to find a single useful quotes, others who have found that quote useful have increased its visibility and cited it for me. Along with these sources, I use other people to find information. Stack Exchange, Yahoo! Answers and reddit are good starting points for finding topics to write about and other sources. These websites allow me to use others, who may be better educated, as a starting point for information gathering. Rather than relying on one, or a few librarians, I am using tens, hundreds, even thousands of minds to help answer my question. As the saying goes, “two heads are better than one”, one thousand heads has to be even better. Group mentality and hive mind will keep like-minded individuals entertained and contributing. This will be enough to keep individuals who don’t have anything to contribute away. And more recently, Purdue University has created its own crowd-sourced information sharing network: CrowdAsk.
- CrowdAsk is Purdue’s attempt at a localized crowd-sourced answer system. It has separate categories depending on the subject and class. Students ask questions about that class. Because it is an open system, students can answer each other’s questions; prevented educators from becoming bogged down by redundant questions. Because the users are Purdue students, it creates a highly knowledgeable group of individuals who are experts in their particular class. Users are encouraged to participate because it benefits them. The system rewards users for participating by giving them badges and points for asking and answering questions. By gamifing the system, users get a sense of accomplishment for helping others. This system is available for free on Github. If you have any interest in it, please feel free to talk to us about it after our presentation
- NEW SCREENSHOT
- Students are asking and answering each other’s questions. Information is not coming from a central source and being distributed to the students. Instead, students are contributing information and it is circulating between other students.
- The world is always changing and evolving. Those that don’t keep up are doomed to failure. If students are not allowed to use the resources that they will be in the future, they will not be prepared for the workforce. With metaliteracy becoming the new trend in education and information literacy, it is important for all to learn. The current generation of educators is more informed than students on many topics, and should teach them about these subjects. But often, students are much more adept and informed on technology and how to use it. Students should be educating the educators on how to use the tools of now, but more importantly, the future. Learning is no longer a one way street. Educators have to be wiling to accept that students may know more than them on certain topics and embrace it. This benefits both groups. Teachers learn something knew and students gain the benefits and experience of becoming an educator, if only for a short time.
- Understanding students is the ultimate tool in creating a system that best suits the needs of students. As a student, it is frustrating when professors cannot grasp the concept of how to use a computer. In our minds, it doesn’t matter how smart you are if you cannot understand how to turn a projector on. I took a class called OLS 252, ‘Human Relations in Organizations’ and like any other blow off class, I spent ninety percent of my time in that class either sleeping or on the internet. The other 10% were filling out worksheets This professor could not understand how to use his personal computer and as such, we the students, suffered. The reason I got an A or a high B, is because my recitation professor couldn’t have been more than 5 years older than myself. A graduate student herself, she had a greater level of understanding of us, because she was one of us. As a T.A, she was able to engage the class in ways that kept us active and alert at 9:30 in the morning where the professor had half the class sleeping at 3:30 in the afternoon. She was able to utilize us, her students, and technology in a way that created an environment that was conducive to learning. Learning in a way that we understood.
- Crowd souring allows users to share what they want to help others. It allows for experts to educate and inform rather than having students drudge their way through innumerable useless texts. The world has changed and with it, information gathering needs to follow suit. More and more, my generation is relying on the help of others to find out everything. From how to build a deck to what Ferdinand Foch said about World War I, more often than not, it is quicker and easier to ask a crowd sourced answer website like Stack Exchange, reddit, or CrowdAsk than look for the answer yourself. While this may seem like a degradation of learning and devalues knowledge, I would argue it does just the opposite. Crowd sourcing allows for users to specialize their knowledge. Those who enjoy astronomy can teach it to others interested in it. The Renaissance Man is no longer a necessity. Modern technology allows for specialization. Crowd sourcing is a method of this specialization. It allows users to connect with those who are knowledgeable and understand the topic. Crowd souring will move information literacy into the twenty first century.