Critical Search Skills Students Should Know

There is a new digital divide on the horizon. It is not based around who has devices and who does not, but instead the new digital divide will be based around students who know how to effectively find and curate information and those who do not. Helene Blowers has come up with seven ideas about the new digital divide – four of them, the ones I felt related to searching, are listed below. The New Digital Divide In an age of information abundance learning to effectively search is one of the most important skills most teachers are NOT teaching. Teachers – especially in the elementary grades -need to develop a shared vocabulary around the skill of searching. Critical Search Skills Students Should Know Quotation Marks Students should always use quotes to search for an exact word or set of words. Example: “The Great Chicago Fire” Dashes (or minus sign) Use this symbol directly before a word to help exclude unwanted information from your search Example: Great Chicago Fire -soccer Two Periods

40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World If you’re a visual learner like myself, then you know maps, charts and infographics can really help bring data and information to life. Maps can make a point resonate with readers and this collection aims to do just that. Hopefully some of these maps will surprise you and you’ll learn something new. If you enjoy this collection of maps, the Sifter highly recommends the r/MapPorn sub reddit. 1. 2. 3. 4. Pangea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, forming about 300 million years ago. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 37. 38. 39. 40. *Bonus* World Map Tattoo with Countries Visited Coloured

worldvaluessurvey This map reflects the fact that a large number of basic values are closely correlated; they can be depicted in just two major dimensions of cross-cultural variation. ** Update ** Added supplementary data file. Each country is positioned according to its people's values and not its geographical location. To a large extent the two coincide, but the map measures cultural proximity, not geographical proximity. Thus, Australia, Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain are cultural neighbors, reflecting their relatively similar values, despite their geographical dispersion. The World Value Survey Cultural Map 2005-2008 Source: Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel, "Changing Mass Priorities: The Link Between Modernization and Democracy." The World Value Survey Cultural Map 1999-2004 Source: Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel, Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy New York: Cambridg University Press, 2005: page 63. ** Update **