Search Engine
Search engines allow students to look for information in
multiple sources at one time (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p. 219). It is
important for students to learn how to search with Boolean expressions to get
more specific search results. Google also has some tips for searching when
using their search engine:
Website Evaluation
Video
Students have access to multitudes of information on the World
Wide Web. While students may be proficient at using social networking sites and
other commonly used topics on the web, they might not be well-versed in using
the Internet for research. Roblyer and Doering highlight several issues with
using the Internet in the classroom. Potential issues include students
accessing in appropriate material, security and fraud concerns with students
posting information to social networking sites, and copyright and plagiarism
issues (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p. 215 – 216). This video reminds students
to evaluate websites for CRAAP: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and
Purpose. I want students to focus on the authority and purpose of information that they are researching. This is especially important in social science topics where facts and opinions can be intertwined.
Favorite Website #1
Smithsonian Education
The Smithsonian Education website has some great information for middle school history students. I can use this website for additional teaching resources, and students can use the site for research. As Roblyer and Doering (2013) state, “The Internet’s vast information storehouse, unfortunately, contains some information that is incomplete, inaccurate, and/or out of date” (p. 255). I am comfortable with students gathering information off of this website since it is part of the Smithsonian Institute. The website is easy to use, but there is a lot of information available. There is a site map, and the website is easy to navigate. This is an important part of an effective website (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p. 255).
Favorite Website #1
Smithsonian Education
The Smithsonian Education website has some great information for middle school history students. I can use this website for additional teaching resources, and students can use the site for research. As Roblyer and Doering (2013) state, “The Internet’s vast information storehouse, unfortunately, contains some information that is incomplete, inaccurate, and/or out of date” (p. 255). I am comfortable with students gathering information off of this website since it is part of the Smithsonian Institute. The website is easy to use, but there is a lot of information available. There is a site map, and the website is easy to navigate. This is an important part of an effective website (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p. 255).
My favorite website for history class is Wikipedia. This
online encyclopedia provides easy access for middle school students. Most of
the Wikipedia pages are neatly designed. As Roblyer and Doering (2013) describe,
effective websites should have “clear text and graphic links” and “good visual
design” (p. 255). One of my favorite characteristics about Wikipedia is the
bibliography section. I will show students how to use the bibliography information
in Wikipedia to search for other credible sources on topics. I will have my
class create a wiki for history topics that we are discussing.
Doering, A.H. & Roblyer, M.D. (2013) Integrating Educational Technology Into
Teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
You make a good point about effective searches making research time more productive. It's important for students to learn how to target their searches, whether they be what Roblyer and Doering (2013) call "keyword searches" or "subject index searches" to maximize their research efficiency (p. 219).
ReplyDeleteDoering, A.H. & Roblyer, M.D. (2013) Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
I agree with Candace that students can be more effective researchers using search engines. As mentioned by Doering and Roblyer (2013), information was harder to find before the Internet but now there is so much information that the real difficulty is the sorting processes (p. 219). Search engines are the best tool to solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteDoering, A. H.. & Roblyer, M.D. (2013) Integrating educational technology into teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.