Chapter 5 Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

*All links are highlighted in yellow*

Focus Questions: What pieces of information do students need to know about Internet searching?

• Goggle's system of ranking Web pages not only by keywords, but also by popularity and cross listing with other sites, has propelled it to the status of world's number one search engine.
• Searching the Web involves one of the three search strategies: 
• Free-text
• Keyword/ Exact match
• Boolean
• Search resources designed for students provide age-appropriate information and valuable Internet and information literacy learning experiences.   

Photo Credit to Keso on Flickr

There are millions of different websites in this world to search information on. We can search anything from "What time is the notebook showing" to "The history of George Washington", one major defect is that students have to know where and how to search it. Specific websites are a good source to search specific content. Google gives such a broad spectrum of what is on the internet, that sometimes the question asked to Google can be lost with too many words. When searching information on Google a student has to be very specific, and use little words. If they use more than 5 words in a Google search engine, any website with one of the words will come up. For example  Healthy foods for parents to make for a child's lunch, this sentence is so long that now Google will have any website with the word lunch show up. The word for this type of searching would be called free-text. Free-text looks for the title, keywords, and description fields of each resource for the word or phrase you type into the search command (Maloy, R. W, 2010, p. 124). A better way a student can find an exact website for what they are searching is by keyword/ exact match. It is easier for a student to find information this way because Google will look up an article that has the exact text that is given, and send you to the exact source. For example, to find information only on the 2000 president election, you need to type those exact words into the search command-- "2000 U.S president election." (Maloy, R. W, 2010, p. 124). One last way to search a specific content is by Boolean search. Boolean search means to add words, such as, and, or, and not (Maloy, R. W, 2010, p. 124). This will make the search even more specific to the content being searched for. 

Tech Tools Link 5.1 : Flickr 

Flickr has to be one of my favorite websites to use to upload, and locate pictures. It is a very organized website, and easy to navigate. For every one of my journals I use Flickr because any content I choose to search it takes me right to the picture that matches my text. I do not have to try different text in order to locate a picture; it takes me right to what I have asked for. It is free to sign up to Flickr a person just has to have a Yahoo, G mail, or Facebook account. All three of these accounts are also free to sign up for. For teachers, when using Flickr they can set up different folders so that the pictures go along with the subject that is being taught. Flickr offered a limitless way to add visual learning resources to teacher’s curriculum (Maloy, R.W, 2010, p. 122). Teachers can add students into a group, where they can add comments onto a discussion board. It is a great way to have fun teacher- student interaction. Also once a teacher has photos in the system, teachers and students can make cards, photo books slideshows, calendars, and postage stamps (Maloy, R. W, 2010, p. 122). I would recommend anyone, even teachers, to use Flickr. 

Summary & Connection: 

A term that I have never heard before is information literacy. Information literacy just means the ability to recognize when information is needed and to then have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information (Windhamd, 2006, p. 114). It is important that teachers show students how to properly use internet search engines, so that they receive useful information. Before students use a website to gather information from, they should evaluate it to make sure it is a reliable source. Anyone could make a internet page with phony information on it, that is why teachers need to teach how to distinguish a good website from a bad one. I also learned that the first thing to be on the top of the list after a student has searched something, may be a popular choice but may not be the best site for the student to use. It is very tricky using Goggle because if a student is not very specific with their search, Google may give broad results for just certain words. It is always best to have only a few words, and put them in parenthesis. Also teachers have to be very clear why plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is not taken very lightly in school setting and sometimes can cause a student to receive a zero, dismissal of a class, or school. Plagiarism is when a student does not properly cite someone else's work that they have used. If ever in doubt when to cite, cite the work anyways. It is better to be safe, then sorry.  

The video that I have posted below is a brief tutorial on how to search specific

 topics in Google. 

Enjoy!

Resources

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010).Transforming learning with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon.