Information commitments in Web-based learning environments

Abstract

This paper proposes the idea of 'information commitments' for Web-based learning environments. Information commitments are a set of evaluative standards which Web users utilize in order to assess the accuracy and usefulness of Web-based materials. As a result of interviewing two experts who specialize in Web-based instruction and 10 college students, this study proposes a framework for categorizing the information commitments. The framework describes a range of commitments from 'authority' to 'multiple sources' as the evaluative standards about the correctness of Web-based materials. A range of views from 'functional' (such as the ease of retrieving or searching information) to 'content' (the relevancy to the intended search) is used for assessing the usefulness of Web-based materials. The framework also reflects an information-searching strategy ranging from, 'match' to 'elaboration and exploration' (by metacognitive and purposeful thinking). The experts involved in this study expressed information commitments more oriented to 'multiple sources', 'content' and 'exploration and fit' while many of the college students held commitments more aligned with 'authority' and 'functional' and they utilized a 'match' searching strategy in Web-based environments.