Update: "Google Search Education" Google’s search engine is a powerful and impressive tool for locating information online. Unfortunately for many students, the simplicity of the default search interface can lead to some pretty poor search habits and results. As I wrote in a previous post about Google’s efforts to provide information literacy resources, “it’s often a challenge (in my experience) not only to get students to search using something other than Google; it’s also difficult to teach them how to use Google effectively.”
In that previous post, I pointed readers to something Google was calling their “Search Education Evangelism” site, a resource designed to make it easier for instructors to teach information literacy. This week I received notice that Google has moved that resource to a new location, given it a different name, and updated the content. The new site is called “Google Search Education.” Each of the lesson plans is available in three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Return to Top. Instagrok: A (Re)Search Engine for Education. Search/Research I remember going to the library as a kid to work on a research project for school. The first stop was typically the card catalog. From there, the stacks. Or I’d start with the Readers’ Guide to Periodicals and then check out the magazines and journals. (I realize those sorts of memories of analog searches for analog information in a physical library mark me as "an old person.
") "Search" now is synonymous with Google. Education and Search/Research When I first heard about Instagrok, a new “educational search engine,” I admit, I wasn’t that thrilled with the idea. But even so, I just wasn’t sure why education needed a separate search engine. But I spoke with Instagrok’s founder Kirill Kireyev today, and in doing so realized that calling the startup a “search engine” isn’t quite the right way to frame his project. Exploring and Learning through Web Search Take for example the information that’s returned when you search for “evolution” in Google and in Instagrok:
Instagrok: A (Re)Search Engine for Education. Update: "Google Search Education" Ten Tips for Teaching Students how to Research and Filter Information. Posted by Mrs Kathleen Morris on Tuesday, May 29th 2012 I was recently involved in a conversation about how difficult it now is to filter what is on the internet and research effectively. In the past, students would primarily use books to research; being overloaded with possibly unreliable information wasn’t really an issue. Teaching students research skills is becoming increasingly important. Some refer to the filtering and critical evaluation of information as ‘web literacy’. Unfortunately, many teachers don’t feel confident with their own skills to be able to assist their students with this.
Some schools get around this issue by heavily blocking the sites children have access too. I’m no expert in this area but I have compiled a list of ten tips that I try to give my students to help them with internet research and filtering. Search: Start with some general key words. Image: 'not quite clear on the concept' What tips can you add?