{"id":204,"date":"2018-09-29T19:02:56","date_gmt":"2018-09-30T02:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0041\/?p=204"},"modified":"2018-09-29T19:02:56","modified_gmt":"2018-09-30T02:02:56","slug":"the-eye-of-the-thai-ger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0041\/the-eye-of-the-thai-ger\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eye of the Thai-ger"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Not the Thai-tanic<\/span><\/p>\n

For this week\u2019s activity, exploring the pedagogy of abundance, Michael and Sue joined forces to explore an area of interest and report on the implications of the abundance of digital content. \u00a0Join us on our journey to find out more about the history of Thai food!<\/span><\/p>\n

Constructing our search<\/b><\/p>\n

We identified our topic asynchronously through Slack. Both of us have a love of Thai food and wanted to find out more about the history of how the combination of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter tastes that characterize Thai Food. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"If at first<\/span>\u00a0you do not succeed, try Thai again<\/span><\/p>\n

We agreed to conduct independent searches, using a variety of different search engines, and search parameters derived from <\/span>The history of Thai food.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We created a chart to record our results. \u00a0Before starting, we incorporated some of the suggestions from Will\u2019s post on <\/span>Considering your topic and constructing your search,<\/span><\/i> and created a list of synonyms and search parameters (W.Meredith, personal communication, September, 19, 2018). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Search \u00a0Engine<\/b><\/td>\nSearch parameters<\/b><\/td>\nNumber of results<\/b><\/td>\nTime to get results<\/b><\/td>\nComments<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thai Food<\/span><\/td>\n168,000,000<\/span><\/td>\n0.73 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Most had the same limited information such as countries of origin, \u00a0\u00a0taste, ingredients, variations by region etc.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Most sources seemed to restaurants with a brief historical blurb <\/span><\/li>\n
  • One scholarly article (2<\/span>nd<\/span> page)<\/span><\/li>\n
  • No references<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google Scholar<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thai Food<\/span><\/td>\n270,000<\/span><\/td>\n0.07 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Most articles did not pertain to the history of Thai food<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You Tube<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thai Food<\/span><\/td>\nN\/S<\/span><\/td>\nN\/A<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Documentaries about Thai food that did not include history<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Lots of amateur videos \u2013 no references<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Cooking shows with no history<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google<\/span><\/td>\n\u201cFood\u201d AND \u201cThai\u201d AND \u201cHistory\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n157,000,00<\/span><\/td>\n0.83 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Same links as previous searches on first page<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google Scholar<\/span><\/td>\n\u201cFood\u201d AND \u201cThai\u201d AND \u201cHistory\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n270,000<\/span><\/td>\n0.07 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Same results as previous search \u201cHistory of Thai food\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google<\/span><\/td>\nOrigin of Thai food<\/span><\/td>\n32,700,000<\/span><\/td>\n0.78 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Mostly listing of restaurants with reviews<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google Scholar<\/span><\/td>\nOrigin of Thai food<\/span><\/td>\n94,800<\/span><\/td>\n0.35 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Most articles did not pertain to the history of Thai food<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BING<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thai food<\/span><\/td>\n21,800,000<\/span><\/td>\nN\/A<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Similar results as Google<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Encyclopedia Brittanica<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thailand<\/span><\/td>\n1,730,000,000<\/span><\/td>\n0.74 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Much rich history of the people, culture, economics etc. \u00a0\u00a0Some information on the history of the food<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google<\/span><\/td>\nEvolution of Thai Food<\/span><\/td>\n17,500,000<\/span><\/td>\n0.35 seconds<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Similar results to previous searches<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Discovery<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thai Food<\/span><\/td>\n1161<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Covered food and Thai culture<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Discovery<\/span><\/td>\n\u201cHistory\u201d AND \u201cThai\u201d AND \u201cFood\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n1093<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Similar to previous search – mostly Thai culture and some cuisine<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Discovery <\/span><\/td>\n\u201cChronology\u201d AND \u201cThai\u201d AND \u201cFood\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n19<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Mostly about general information about agriculture in South East Asia<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thai Cuisine and influences<\/span><\/td>\n83,000,000<\/span><\/td>\n.65 sec<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Strong initial results indicating some information about the history of Thai food<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google<\/span><\/td>\nThai food history timeline<\/span><\/td>\n21,300,000<\/span><\/td>\n.7 sec<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Very similar to previous results<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google scholar<\/span><\/td>\nThai food historical timeline<\/span><\/td>\n7,680<\/span><\/td>\n.08 sec<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Poor results. Covered a wide range of topics about Thailand<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google Scholar<\/span><\/td>\n\u201ctimeline\u201d AND \u201cThai\u201d AND \u201cFood\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n7,590<\/span><\/td>\n.04 sec<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Similar poor results from previous search<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YouTube<\/span><\/td>\n\u201cThailand food\u201d timeline<\/span><\/td>\nNA<\/span><\/td>\nNA<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Starts off with relevant topic, but then quickly diverges into broader topics<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
YouTube<\/span><\/td>\nHistory of Thai food (also Thai food history)<\/span><\/td>\nNA<\/span><\/td>\nNA<\/span><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Almost exact same as previous results.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    As you can see, and as you learnt through your own experiences with the activity, when utilising search engines such as Google and Bing we retrieved millions of resources. \u00a0The challenge now was to weed through the massive amounts of resources and choices and determine which ones were valuable. <\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    I soup-pose this looks right<\/span><\/p>\n

    Evaluating the literature to ensure its validity.<\/b><\/p>\n

    What we learned is the quantity does not necessarily mean quality! \u00a0Much of the literature we encountered was <\/span>Produsage <\/span><\/i>or as Anderson (2016) defines \u201cuser-led content creation, consumption, and active production online\u201d (p. 41). \u00a0It was often of poor quality or intended to promote a business or product. Some of the criteria that we used to filter the massive amounts of information were:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Consideration would only be given to the first ten to fifteen results. \u00a0We rarely went past the first page.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • If there were duplications in concepts we accepted them as being valid.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Who was the author? Were they part of an organization?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Did they provide contact information on the webpage? \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Did the site look professional? \u00a0Were there errors in spelling?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Was there an opportunity for others to comment and share their knowledge and experiences? \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Did the site share reading lists through social bookmarking? (Weller, 2011, p. 228).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n


      \n<\/span>The last two points made up a large part of our criteria for assessing validity. \u00a0For as Anderson (2016), states \u201cIt is through the digital traces of others that learners may formulate connected pathways to accessible online learning resources.\u201d (p. 45).<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \"\"En-Thai-sing<\/span><\/p>\n

      Does abundant content enable learning?<\/b><\/p>\n

      Abundant content does not promote learning on its own. \u201cThe transition from scarcity to abundance introduces massive amounts of information and choice, challenging students and instructors to develop their judgment, comparison, and evaluation skills\u201d (Anderson, 2016, p. 41). \u00a0\u00a0Although our search was on an informal topic, it occurred to us that the skills and criteria we used to assess the validity of the content retrieved through our searches was largely gained through experience, not something that was taught to us. We learned through the painful experience of hours of searching for resources to support our topics in the libraries, online, and from our parents, teachers and friends. \u00a0\u201cIn this digital, networked age, how can we ensure that learning environments are created and used by learners to access, process, filter, recommend, and apply information with the aid of machines, peers, and experts within the learning network\u201d (Anderson, 2016, p. 43)? Weller (2011), posits that \u201cmoving to a more participatory, socially constructed view of knowledge\u201d such as, resource and problem based learning, constructivism, communities of practice and connectivism learning theories could assist in accomplishing this (p. 228). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Warschaeur (2007), postulates that learners must gain information and multimedia literacy skills to enable digital learning. He defines the two skills as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

      Information <\/b> literacy<\/b> \u2013 <\/span>refers to the ability to define what sorts of information are needed; locate the needed information efficiently; evaluate information and its sources critically; incorporate selected information into one\u2019s knowledge base; understand the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information; and access information ethically and legally <\/span><\/i>(p. 42).<\/span><\/p>\n

      Multimedia literacy<\/b> \u2013 <\/span>refers to the ability to interpret, design, and create content that makes use of images, photographs, video, <\/span><\/i> animation, music, sounds, texts, and typography<\/span><\/i> (p. 43).<\/span><\/p>\n

      He also believes that mentorship and modeling from faculty, parents, siblings and friends plays a large role in whether or not learners develop these skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

      As free content continues to grow in abundance, educators must be mindful to provide learning activities that focus not only on content, but also include opportunities for learners to hone their evaluative skills and support the new ways in which knowledge is created (Anderson, 2016).<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n

      Food that is to Thai for<\/span><\/p>\n

      Thank you for joining us on our journey, and that you wanted to wok this way. To Thai it all together we encourage you to be mindful in your academic searches in the consumption of knowledge. Thai to remember the importance of validity in the medium, otherwise when you write a paper you may find yourself tongue Thai\u2019d. <\/span><\/p>\n

      If you are too Thai-erd to read this blog, or you are short on Thai-m, you can learn about the history of Thai food through this video –\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n