We are a group of educators who for the past 7 months did an extensive research about on-line research and the education world. According to studies most students (and teachers) have difficulty conducting an efficient on-line research and most do not understand how Google or other search engines work.
Students, well versed in IM and SN (Social Networking) stumble when they conduct on-line research.
Students, well versed in IM and SN (Social Networking) stumble when they conduct on-line research.
We hope this blog will be used as an "online" petition to be forwarded to Google to ask them to spearhead the development of a comprehensive Information Literacy curriculum. The curriculum can be developed by experts, educators and students from around the world. The reason: to empower students and online users.
We also dream of a search engine that is unique to the education community. Search engine where the resources will be identified, contributed and monitored by educators in phase one and Middle School / High School students in phase two. Search engine that will offer different search options to accommodate the needs of students.
To make a difference, we need librarians, teachers and students to talk about the day-to-day difficulties of navigating the web. We need the education community to speak up so we can show that there is a real need not just plain statistics.
If you feel the same way please take a vote and leave a comment to have your voice and opinion heard.
Together we can make a difference
52 comments:
I teach a class called Research2Technology. We definitely need a user friendly education-based search engine for students AND also for teachers.
Schools Filters - By mandating schools restrict internet access CIPA and other federal and state legislation intend to guard students' safety online - but all they may be doing is keeping vital education technology out of the classroom
"Abstinence from technology is a losing battle. To not teach technology use responsibly is neglecting the charge of universal education (Don Knezek, International Society for Technology in Education)
not allowing students access to sites that have information you need for teaching or accessing blogs takes us a step backward. Change can take time so in the interim we need a search tool that brings back results from credible resources AND we need to teach students about responsible use of the internet, not avoid it.
I think it makes complete sense to have a search engine geared towards students and educators. It would save us a lot of time and agitation in trying to procure decent results that really address the educational needs for the teachers as well as the instructional aspect of the internet.
I teach social studies and it is very difficult when trying to get students to navigate through so much information that we aren't sure is credible. The fact is, we need the Internet AND then our students will be able to use the info wisely. We will teach our students to be cautious, but we need your help. Our future is in their hands. Help us help them.
It would be amazing to have a safe tool to search for accurate and useful resources by text and images. As teachers we can (and are morally obligated to) teach students to evaluate resources and focus search terms, but Google could make it a whole lot easier!
We certainly need to have a website the students can use for reliable research. I teach my students to limit the domains to .edu or .gov sites.
I would like to have access to more education based search engines. Quite often when searching for resources I stumble upon websites that charge for resources etc. This is frustrating. It would be great if there was an abundance of resources available online for every day use free of charge.
We certainly need to have a website the students can use for reliable research. I teach my students to limit the domains to .edu or .gov sites.
If google can provide this then our students will be more empowered to do their research. It will enable them to work on their own without much assistance from teachers. This will be great!
It is just right that we use technology in education. However, there must really be some way to be assured of access to internet connections as well as filter the "not so good" words or images that some people post. As old as I am I find technology fun and useful so the "young once" should not be afraid to use these new gadgets.
Teaching with technology is essential in the learning process.
By providing appropriate, reliable, safe, credible, educational, etc., internet resources makes teaching and learning fun and productive.
Everyday,we work with technology but if we refer it to our students? They are limited by the language, vocabulary and context. We need resources to be checked for context and language. We need our students to have the ability to search data and use it without constant assistance from a teacher working with 20-25 students.
I agree that educators need a search engine geared towards classroom use. We need access to a wide range of age appropriate and reliable information that students will find interesting and engaging,yet safe, as well. Students should be able to use search engines assured of information that's interactive and differntiated, but mostly reliable.
I think technology is a phenomenal tool for students. It has help to differentiate instructionand activities in the ever diverse classrooms. Additionally, it is important to safeguards students identities and to make sure they are using the apropriate search engines, but this should not be the sole reason to deny them of the privilege of technology as education is characterized by technology for this era.
However, if we as educators develop more student friendly research engines for our students, they will be more focused and will spend less time navigating on the web. Sometimes they end up on these websites because they are searching for the correct resources, and end up exploring other things.
Students should not be denied a technology education because of the fear of online identity theft. User friendly search engines should be the way for our students.
I remember growing up being warned of the possible harmful effects of using technology in the classroom. Things like children losing their ability to relate to other human beings; students being dependent on technology; and them finding inappropriate materials.
This might also be the case with the invention of the printing press, radio, and television. All of these can be used inappropriately but we can’t deny the fact that all of them have given humanity unbounded access to information which can be turned into knowledge. Appropriately used-- interactively and with guidance-- they have become tools for the development of higher order thinking skills.
Yes, it is good to guide students safety on line. Many us know the extraordinaries things and reseaches that we can get through google, but some links limitations need to be secured for our students. Pornography and other web sites are not controlled; perphaps, these are becoming a seriuos issue for our students.
I think students should be given web sites that they can manipulate and use for their assignments. STEM instruction is a vital part of technology, therefore technology should be a must for students.
I have emailed Google SEVERAL time asking for basically the same thing-a kid friendly search engine. Even suggested calling it.. Googley Eyes---putting little eye balls in the o's. A safe search site- I bet they coud even get educators to check out sites and rate them for free.
I have to pres-search EVERYTHING-even with the content filters on and a rating system employed. I get booted off sites like Asterpix where I have worked to embedd education linls and notes and the kids managed to go right to some horrible sites. I now have a HUGe list of Proxy sites I had to input individually so students couldn't use them to get around the blocks...
Wow is there a need for this
Kelley, until some other solution comes along, use could try some kid-safe search engines (that use Google search with STRICT safe preferences and some other filtering) - like OneKey and Boolify (a new one that also teaches kids Boolean Logic and how to search that is being developed by some of my friends at the Harvard Grad School of Education).
-Shuchi Grover
Technology is an important tool for every classroom. However, we need a tool that is geared toward students. If I bring my students to the computer lab and ask them to conduct research, many have frustrations while navigating the web. It is difficult to ensure that every student is finding reliable resources when they are given the opportunity to choose their research project.
I am the webmaster for my school website. In years past, I've created the links that I thought students and teachers needed. They still like to do their own searches though. In fact, they prefer their own private links and favorites. What is needed is a database that students and teachers can add to for their favorite links that they want to share. Then, this should be searchable by an engine. In this way the site becomes useful and tailored to their needs. Of course, Google ought to do it. It should be accessible by the same username and password used by G-mail and it should be user-friendly.
Maypo,
You are right in your direction. An educational search engine would search within links that have been added to that search engine. It should definitely be user-friendly, taking into account the fact that students will be using it.
I would be curious to know how this would differ from sites such as Yahooligans, Kidsclick, or the internet public library (www.ipl.org0, or Kathy Schrock's site? Is it that it would have more multi-media or that it would be more "classroom friendly?"
Hi ms. paradis,
Yahooligans has become very commercial; there are many destructions and lots of advertisement. Searched for Marco Polo – received 178 links. Some were not working, first few pages the links were about Marco polo, then a mix of relevant and non relevant sites to the topic. No option ability (explained later in our future search engine)
Kidsclick – a good web search site. Categories are very helpful to young researchers.
They do not accept site submissions any more and are limited to specific grades "Our first instruction to our database contributors is to add sites that they think kids (grades K-7) will find entertaining or enlightening."
Internet public library – the collaboration part is what we envision. Search feature produced no results for Marco Polo in both the kids and Teens space. Search on Bats produced a few good links but it was a mix of birds and bats links. Overall a great resource depending on the topic. Not a search engine
Kathy Schrock's – has some really good resources depending on what you are looking for. a search for "Marco Polo" led to 1 site – Orbitz. It is a portal with pre-loaded links and material.
Some ideas of what we dream of in relation to your question:
Similar to wikipedia where different people can contribute, the search engine that we imagine will function in some what similar way. It will grow and be maintained by the education community as a whole and in each state separately. Educators will be able to add links to either individual resources or link it to their own wiki (that has resources on specific topics), their own search engine but now it will be accessible through the search engine. Doing so we insure that all the resources whether they are text, audio, video, animation etc have been hand picked. Prior to adding resources a template will need to be filled out which will categorize the resource(s). Information about reading level, grade, standards and more will need to be provided. A student or an educator using the search engine will be able to limit the search by either key words or options such as grade, reading level, state, only text, video, audio etc.
We dream of a rating system and review of resources.
Similar to the Wikipedia model, you will be able to search by generic topic let's say Marco Polo and get many links or if you are a student who lives in TX, through Google Maps (the two will be linked) search for resources on Marco Polo that only educators in TX posted or look for links posted by your school regarding Marco Polo.
Following a discussion on the topic with a few educators in NYC, someone suggested
The ability to search by "Author" – we think it is a pretty cool idea. If for example I am a student and I find an educator's wiki with wealth of resources on a topic I am researching, I will be able to search all the resources this person had posted regardless of topic (tag the person)
Hi Dorit
Interesting posting and interesting idea.
It turns out, Google have been listening and there are THREE Google tools that meet SOME of your needs as they stand now in the early stages.
Google Custom Search
Google Site Search
Google Base
Each of these tools address some of what you discuss in your posting and it seems Custom Search will do all but one or two of the things your describe. As I see it, the only thing it doesn't have the ability to do is rate the websites, and possibly not to add maps (although there are Google Gadgets that you could add to help with maps at least).
However, everything else (a search engine unique to the education community, searches that produce text, video, audio results at the same time, both commercial and school created material is accessible and monitored) AND you can create your own communities to help build a search engine as big as you want. You can invite people to contribute, and specify exactly what is viewable within your custom search.
The limits are literally defined by the creator (s) and Custom Searches can include websites, video, audio, etc.
Take a look.
The other two, Site Search and Base, are equally interesting, and definitely worth a look as add-ons for what you might want to do.
Site Search is very cool because it will literally search within ANY website for specific content, keywords etc, and give you links to the direct pages where that content is housed. VERY cool.
Hope this helps
Andrew
Thanks for your wonderful post. True, the tools you had mentioned are great. Now, let’s imagine (loved the Beatles) a search engine that will search through educators’ custom search engines, blogs, wikis and more if an educators chooses to add them to that search engine. For example, you create a wiki with resources. You will need to add it to that search engine and categorize it (based on a template), add other information and upload it. Your Wiki resources is now added to the new search engine. How do teachers / students find your Wiki?
1. using key words they look for certain resources, based on your categories your Wiki shows up
2. A teacher work in NYC and is interested in resources that are related to NYC standards so S/he click on Google Maps (keywords are the same) the results are now coming from people who contributed material from NYC
3. A student looks at reviews and your links are top rated
Currently, with Google Custom Search, which is a great tool you invite other people but most of the time only you and the people you share it with use it or know about its existence.
Google Site Search – Wonderful tool that I see on many sites
Google Base – Interesting with different search options in addition to keyword (something we think the education specific search engine should definitely have)
The tool we imagine has still not been invented it is a hybrid between a search engine and a wiki.
Oh, is this ever a needed resource!
An example: our district writing curriculum asks that 5th and 6th grade students write feature articles based on a topic of interest. They need to research background information, then write with a personal slant about the topic.
My students had tons of ideas for topics that mattered in their lives. They wanted to find out about anorexia, organic foods, body piercing, and the downside of ethanol. Current information about these topics is not accessible from a school library, so the Internet is a natural place to look.
Even though we spent time practicing how to sift out unwanted "hits" and tried using more child-friendly search engines, students had a hard time being independent in finding appropriate content for the project. The web sites they found were rarely within their reading level, and often were full of adult opinion that is hard for students to filter out. A boy interested in learning about David Beckham, the soccer player, gave up when all the Internet pages (except for some lean stats on his team's homesite) we found instead focused on David Beckham, the tabloid star.
Yes, my students need to learn how to deal with the information overload any web search brings up. But, to learn this, they need a student-friendly search tool that puts the scope of the search within their skill set. Teachers often choose to not even get involved with Internet-based projects because of the need for direct involvement with every student's inquiry.
You have my enthusiastic support in this project.
If we provide students with a foundation in traditional research methods, they might have an easier time finding information on the Internet. As for knowing which sources are trustworthy, I think that it is very important to create a search engine that is "safe" for young researchers.
I completely agree with your comments on students having skills with Social Networks and Instant Messaging, but not having a clue when it comes to using a search engine effectively. I teach middle school computer classes and experience this problem all the time. Not only is this a problem. Because of the amount of questionable material on the Internet that school districts must filter, students face even more difficulties when appropriate sites they would like to use are blocked. I definately see a need for a monitored search engine for student use.
Thank you for bringing up this much overlooked topic!
Thanks David for your post. Yes...filters...the best way to deal with technology - just block it. A search engine that is unique to the education community will unfortunately may not be able to provide answers to everything but it is a starting point. Since all the sites will be hand picked by the education community, reviewed, rated and monitored it will offer a much more secure, relevant and safe online research environment.
You Tube, social networking sites etc’ – will be also available with relevancy to a specific curriculum or subject area. The problem is: if you go to a video about Global Warming posted on YouTube, students can bypass it and go to the general YouTube –in some classes it will happen in others it will not. Some IT directors would want to block it, others will not. The solution: there are other sites / services that can offer valuable videos about the topic such as Teacher Tube, United Streaming, Power Media Plus, NBC video library, National Geographic and many more. If a teacher thinks the video on You Tube about Global Warming is important and needs to be added to the education search engine - it will be added. Will you, other educators and students will be able to view it? – depends on the policies in your school and district. At least the link will take you to a video about Global Warming directly. The search engine dedicated for the K-12 education community will be able to provide some solutions, maybe as time goes by technology will be embraced instead of blocked.
Given how quickly technologies change and the considerable lag between invention, student use of an application, and the education establishment's eventual recognition of the invention's numerous applications in classrooms, I have to support your idea.
Dramatic improvements in American educational standards will not come from timid changes around the edges. It will take outside, often more enlightened and technologically progessive, folks to make the changes happen. Google can play a critical role here - and win some social kudos at the same time.
As the ancient Greek proverb goes, "well begun is half done."
Hi
This is a wide problem. I also touched it on my blog here http://or-tal.com/?p=35.
I participated in the an Israeli convention of an association dedicated to kids' safety on the web. I was glad to find out that it is not the fears of the net that lead the discussion, but rather the lack of education of correct usage of the net. I don't know how it is in New-York, but I am surprised that in Israel there is no official demand of teachers to be web-savvy when they graduate their seminar training. And I am talking about graduation today, not 20 years ago.
Also, teachers here are required to go through some sort of an educational training every 7 years. I would have expected the ministry of education to use it as a perfect opportunity to force teachers to go through web training. But they don't.
So I think it is great that a group of teachers is promoting it and I will be more than glad to offer my help to advance and spread it. It should become a worldwide movement. Hopefully, coming from teachers would help.
*original comment on:
http://eflclassroom.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=826870%3ATopic%3A57835&page=1&commentId=826870%3AComment%3A59252&x=1#826870Comment59252
Hi Or-Tal,
Thanks for your post. It is unfortunately a world wide issue. We are concentrating only on online research, is it being taught in Israel? In NYC it is based on whether the individual teacher or librarian have the knowledge and will to teach it. It is a sad and even scary fact taking into consideration that students use the web to conduct most if not all of their academic research. Regarding teacher preparation I can only share my experience. Getting my license in education I had 1 very basic computer course covering Word. Brining technology into the classroom was not even on the Agenda.
I must say, I haven't read the responses yet. I will and will repost. Maybe my own opinion can be changed!
This is what I have to say.....
I applaud your efforts and I know and understand exactly what you are aiming to achieve. That said, I really must state that the problem is much different than you believe (imo).
The problem is "ease" -- long ago mentioned by Postman in connection to "online" anything. Students/teachers, expect the internet to be easy and achieve the perfect result. There is none! What is important is the search and more importantly, the critical spirit through which the inquiry is initiated.
Of course, the search engine matters if you control the end result and answer! And want a search engine that will give students access to what you want them "to believe". I reject this.
I believe the power of the internet is two fold:
1) making people participants in truth and not mere - looker uppers or searchers.
2) providing a level playing field where it is up to the "free" user to decide and evaluate information, not any other . (and I will refrain from quoting Jefferson at this point).
I think that the issue is not search engines but the interpretation and the professionals , the teachers who guide these young. In the spirit of Socratic wisdom, teachers must lead the students to the answers, not load the content so there is only one answer....
One of the failures of American society is FREEDOM, so often a truth and the essence of what is American. What I mean is that there is a very serious filtering of debate, ideas in America. I reject this notion that we should also filter our youth.....google is good enough. Teach them how but nothing else but that is needed.
All just my own opinion,one person in the wilderness.
David
Hi David,
Thanks for your post. I see your point but - before we can run we need to learn to walk and before walking to crawl. In terms of technology and its use in education, I think the education system is at crawling-walking stages (at best) and the track fields that are available for students to roam are light years ahead. We share the same beliefs regarding the power of the internet:
"1) making people participants in truth and not mere - looker uppers or searchers.
2) Providing a level playing field where it is up to the "free" user to decide and evaluate information, not any other. (and I will refrain from quoting Jefferson at this point)."
Agree with you 100%. but we need to first get there. We need to teach students the "rules" of the game before they can break it to create their own rules. I believe students need a structured environment that provides freedom to explore without overwhelming them.
Our goal is to have teachers creating online libraries for their kids that are "data" searchable by different parameters. This is phase one. Phase two is definitely to involve students by creating online communities of students monitoring that search engine (similar to Wikipedia). It still comes as a surprise to me that we have students voting on our blog www.cangooglehearus.blogspot.com but they are shy of commenting. Students I spoke with told me...well... adults comment there and I am not sure if they will listen to my opinion - -
By creating a search engine that is unique to the education community we don't block students’ sense of wonder we just give them a playground they can handle without getting lost. We guide them as to how one can use the tools available to them. An education search engine will produce results to blogs, wiki's, nings and more but when researching for Marco polo a cruise or a restaurant will not come up among the hundreds of possible links...
always wonder whether we are missing something that they can achieve and we dont realize about it or if we are expecting too much of our pupils or how can we be able to show them a path we dont know exactly to transit?
We work exactly in these fields www.lwct.futuro.usp.br and try to stimulate research-communication and science learning....Everything we try is worthwhile.
I am glad to meet you people here
*original post at:
http://education.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=1027485%3ATopic%3A36340
Hi Marcela,
"how can we be able to show them a path we don't know exactly to transit?"
In the past education led the way, society followed. Now society changes and the education world hasn't adjusted (according to the department of labor, the education field is the last to embrace technology and is lagging behind other industries….). When speaking about technology and education, many issues and discussions come to mind.
We are concentrating on one specific issue - online research. In the past few years we have quickly transformed from a society that used to use books and libraries for years, developed a system and techniques to an online world that has different rules. The change is great - but we need to learn it, we need to understand the medium in which we function, we owe our students that knowledge.
Are you familiar with "Google Custom Search" http://google.com/coop it enables anyone to create a search engine which will search only specified sites. The search engine owner can specify whether to accept other contributers to the engine by either allowing volunteers or by sending out invitations.
Search refinements can be added to allow users to further narrow their search.
Google's example Curriculum Search Engine has refinement labels for Lectures, Assignments, Reference, and Papers
There is a toolbar link to enable quick addition of any site while you are browsing.
I use google coop for certain school projects. Here is the homepage of one which searches reference sites for Israeli k-7 students (I haven't as yet managed to add a ning site to a coop engine.)
You also get an embed code to add your search to other websites I can't add it in this box so I'll add it to my page here on education ning
* original post at:
http://education.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=1027485%3ATopic%3A36340
Hi Susan,
Great post. Thanks. I am very familiar with Google Custom Search. It is a wonderful tool but, and I can share from my experience in NYC. Working as a technology staff developer for the past 7 years, it would be a dream comes true if every teacher or every school had their own custom search engine. The reality I am encountering is very different. Lack of time, lack of resources, lack of knowledge, lack of motivation, lack of understanding, testing and more get in the way. I believe we need a transition from where we are now to where we want to be. We already have search engines but non that is big enough | powerful enough for our needs.
If we have a search engine that is unique to the education world; where the links to content are added by teachers and students for our education community we achieve the followings. First, the online environment is changing the way we conduct research – we will take the time to learn and understand this environment to be able to use it wisely. Second, we create a safe research tool where links to sites with wrong and misleading information will not be uploaded. In the real world, books with misleading information are never available for kids in physical libraries but are at the click of a button online. Third, we dream of having a comprehensive multi-media information literacy curriculum so students, teachers and everyone who is interested can understand the online research environment.
Your Custom Search Engine is very good. Looked up various terms and the sites that came up are good ones. Adding a custom search engine to Ning…try and post the question in the Custom Search Engine forum http://groups.google.com/group/google-custom-search
Now imagine you had a search engine where you could send your Custom Search Engine after you had filled out a template with questions about the subjects your search engine covers, grade level, languages etc and it would be added to other Custom Search Engines all searchable via one search engine….
I've taught technology for over 10 years and have been a classroom teacher for the last 8. I definitely have seen different strategies and websites that have tried to cobble together educational links. Since these aren't usually commercial sites with full-time staff, links go dead and aren't updated. When things don't work, they're no longer a reliable strategy to conduct research. I still recall a few years ago when I assigned a research project and students, especially those with lower reading levels, preferred to find an article in an old set of donated encyclopedias in my classroom to searching online. After several periods of searching, they'd found few articles on their topic that they actually understood well enough to be of use. That's definitely a bad sign when students want to go backwards to a 20-year old reference set than to try to use 21st century technology. Google, as one of the leading forces in re-imagining the Information Superhighway, could certainly lead the way to support K-12 education and America's children.
As an eductaor who works in a 1:1 wireless school, the issue of access to information has been addressed by adminstartion. We use discoveryedcuation.com.
A major issue is monitoring where the students go hwile their on the web. The G-chats and AIMS accounts are always interefering with instructional time. We did have a system to monitor their access, but it hasn't worked in quite some time.
We need to teach our students how to spot legitimate websites. They seem to have an issue distinguishing betwwen fact and opinion.
My hopes are in the use of tagging services, like del.icio.us (I do so wish Google had bought del.icio.us, instead of Yahoo... I worry for their future). Anyway, I teach fully online courses and one of my big challenges is giving my students a rich online environment that is full of stimulating and relevant materials. I do this by tagging with del.icio.us the materials I find most useful - when things are tagged with del.icio.us you can repurpose them in all kinds of ways - you can link to them, search them, syndicate them via RSS, and on and on.
I keep one set of tags for my online course materials:
Online Course Lady del.icio.us tags
I keep a different set of tags for my work in compiling Aesop's fables in Latin for Latin students:
Aesopus del.icio.us tags
I'm not really wanting a better search engine... instead, I am hoping for broader use of tagging, ratings, and commenting so that intelligent human users - both students and teachers - can contribute to the web of information online.
And I have to say, GOOGLE IS THE MOST AMAZING RESOURCE FOR ONLINE TEACHING: I use Google search, Google Documents, Google Blogger.com and Google Calendar as essential parts of my online teaching. Google is FANTASTIC: I wish the IT department at my school were as useful as Google has been for my work...
I haven't had the opportunities to have difficulties yet, but students using the internet for research is inevitable with the net generation and digital natives using these tools to research. I think finding a way to bring together the experiences of many student researchers and teacher required research topics with a gathering search engine to benefit and help others sounds interesting.
Hi Dorit, I love the idea with all educators - and all students, too, since students learn so much from each other - having a positive, proactive web presence. The idealistic part of me gets very excited about that... and when I try to show other educators how easy it is to do, my passion for all that is very real: through the use of interactive online tools, I've been able to become the teacher I always wanted to be, but could not manage to be in a classroom (I teach online).
At the same time, the cynical part of me is very dismayed that in the ten years I've been preaching the gospel of online resources to my colleagues at the university (University of Oklahoma, to be precise), I've made basically no headway at all - webpage, wiki, del.icio.us... I use these tools every single day, but I would guess that less than 5% of my colleagues in the humanities are using these online tools on a regular basis to contribute to an educational Internet (it may be better in the sciences; I hope so!).
As a result, the cynical part of me says that real change can only happen when people start using the tools they have available to them now, so that they can become truly informed participants in the discussion about the even better tools we want in the future. As long as teachers aren't really making good use of the existing tools, the future is going to be slow in coming, and probably won't be very satisfying to them.
One of the best things for me about hooking up with people through these education-related nings, is that I can see that technology has made greater inroads in elementary and high schools than at university. It's such a shame: at university, professors do not face the huge limitations that high school teachers face (we have more money, we don't have Internet filters to worry about)... but the university professors have not turned that freedom to good use. I get more inspired seeing what is going on in the elementary and junior high and high schools! :-)
original comment: http://firesidelearning.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=1786468%3ATopic%3A30566&page=1&commentId=1786468%3AComment%3A32580&x=1#1786468Comment32580
I'd like to invite the readers of this blog to the information portal developed by the 21st Century Information Fluency Project. http://21cif.imsa.edu.
We've been doing research and creating curriculum materials for seven years. We offer inexpensive online classes in Website evaluation and search tactics that demonstrate how to use our modular training games.
Drop by! If you're looking to create a fall back to school training we have gold (free) for you!
Dennis O'Connor
(Wiredinstructor)
Information Fluency Partners
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for your comment and the link to 21st Century Information Fluency.
Good material and resources. Shared the link with colleagues.
I would love to see a few search engines that are dedicated to the education community.
GBernstein2
Regarding a search engine just for educators...
You can build one for yourself. Google Coop, Rollyo, and Eurekster all offer you a way to create customized search engines. You add the resources you personally recognize as relevant, and you get a search engine that uses just those sites as your search field.
Try it.
You'll like it.
I haven't given you the urls, but the keywords will get you there!
Dennis O'Connor
Information Fluency Partners
http://21cif.mrooms.net
We need a better tool for our students. They are lost when doing an online research. We definitely need a curriculum to support us in teaching students how to research online.
Dorit, have you had any developments with this?
As I was reading through all the posts again, several things struck me.
There was a comment you made about "Lack of time, lack of resources, lack of knowledge, lack of motivation, lack of understanding, testing and more get in the way" and you say this is why other endeavors may have failed in the past. So, I am confused as to who will be making the decisions about the content if your idea about Google making an education-specific search engine comes to fruition? Are you envisioning Google authorizing the sites as suitable or educationally beneficial? If not (and I hope not) then you are still going to be reliant on educators to do this job, correct? Educators will still have to find, rate, and post the sites they believe are suitable. Therefore, we are back to "Lack of time, lack of resources, lack of knowledge, lack of motivation, lack of understanding, testing and more get in the way."
But, in addition to this, what is to say that my view on what is educationally beneficial or suitable corresponds and equates to what another educator believes. We all have different views on what is appropriate content so how does the content become aligned and presented in an equitable manner? I am not sure I want someone else determining what is appropriate content for me, when I may be dealing with a very different set of circumstances, in a very different environment, with a very different demographic of students. I also rather like that I get to establish and determine my own teachable moments when so called “inappropriate” content is presented to students.
My other concern, is what happens when our students leave the relative comfort and security of their school environment? If we are only teaching them to search the web using an education-specific search engine, we are very much restricting their online experience. Aren't there valuable (very valuable) learning experiences to be had within the larger online world (as scary as some educators and teachers may view them)? If we teach students in isolation of everything else that exists in the world, they will have on hell of a shock when they leave school. Imagine starting work having only had access to Google Education Search and your new boss tells you to pull together a presentation and to research it using the web. What do you do now? Continue to use Google’s Education Search where all the sites have been restricted and the content is relevant to a very different audience? How do you extract information that has never been presented to you before in a way that you have never seen before? How do you know what’s relevant? Your teacher and your school haven’t told you this is acceptable, so what do you do now? We don’t even have to wait until they get to work or college. What happens at 3:300 when they get home and they don’t use this new tool? Do they use regular Google or the new education version? If they use the regular version, what skills have they been taught to use it properly?
I think it’s far more important that we answer these questions. How will students learn to self-filter Internet content? How will they know what is relevant information without someone determining that for them? How will they know what is appropriate information without someone else making that decision? How will they know what is reliable information?
Students will only discover this for themselves if they are taught the means and the methods to make sense of the information presented to them on the web.
If we spoon-feed and filter out all other information "we as educators" make determinations about, we are doing a huge disservice to their future development in global, 21st century workforces.
Now, that’s not to say we can’t take steps to help students make those decisions, but for themselves in an informed and rational manner. Rather than filtering and excluding sites educators don’t believe are appropriate or relevant, and having Google make an Education only search engine, I do like the idea of using Amazon style ratings for ALL sites. Perhaps a star or color coding system, or checks and crosses. If Google could extend and modify their “safe search tool” this could be a great workaround. This option already exists, but Google are determining the content to be “safe”.
There are several options other than teaching students in isolation of what really exists. I would hate to think we release a generation of graduates who have only ever used a search engine where the information has been determined for them and, therefore, restrict their ability to conduct what has (for generations) been called RESEARCH. It’s an invaluable skill to be used throughout an individuals life. It takes some time to master, and teaching research skills can be time consuming and worrysome in a technological age, but it is well worth the effort.
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