Abstract
Over the past two decades, the internet has become a central platform affording lay-learners access to a multiplicity of experts. While these outlets empower lay-learners, they create competition amongst clerical and knowledge authorities. This article addresses the question: how is religious authority understood and negotiated by learners, and in turn, how do they evaluate authoritative sources. Twenty-six in-depth think-aloud interviews were conducted with Religious-Zionists in Israel on their internet sourcing practices. Findings uncovered four strategies employed when sourcing information online: (1) Generating a reliable source network based on the learners? social and primordial affiliations. (2) Complexity based sourcing practices stemming from learners? uncertainty in their ability to autonomously attain a satisfying answer. (3) Fitting an appropriate source to queries based on their availability and prestige. (4) Negotiating learner's autonomy in a particular field of knowledge based on the social or epistemic norms that govern it.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1-16 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Learning, Media and Technology |
Volume | 49 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | E-pub ahead of print - 24 Jan 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Epistemic authority
- Epistemic autonomy
- digital religion
- online learning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Media Technology