We
satisfy our decision making needs with information that comes from a variety of
sources. The most popular way to gather
information at this time is the Internet and for a variety of reasons: Education,
Business and Industry, Entertainment, Health Care, Government, Law and Politics. In our
discussion of Web Searches the one thing all of us agree on is that we want to
find data and information in a timely manner and that it is credible.
There
are many search engines with a vast amount of pages. Google alone has 1.5 billion pages. We also discovered there are several ways to
do efficient searches. Some of the search
methods include: identifying key words, Boolean:
and, or, and not; Implied Boolean: plus and minus; phrase searching, title
searching, and host searching (Source: 2004
Donna Flanagan, and the African Journal for the Study of Educational Issues).
Information Literacy skills are the ability to
find, evaluate, use and share information. (http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/info_literacy/)
These abilities will relieve some of the frustration of sifting through the
vast amounts of information on the World
Wide Web. Keeping these skills in mind changes the way
we look at things. We will be employing
best practices for the use and distribution of information.
These skills should be taught to ensure quality work from our students.
These skills should be taught to ensure quality work from our students.
True indeed. Conducting efficient web helps reduce the time spent surfing through loads of information that may not even be closely related to what you’re searching. The methods your listed are definitely useful in achieving faster and more precise web searches. Although today’s 21st century learners spend majority of their time surfing the web, most of them haven’t been educated on these literacy techniques. On the collegiate level, the expectation is that our students know how to locate and identify reliable sources, and what better place to introduce these skills in the earlier grades like high school.
ReplyDeleteYour information is very helpful! I teach technology to K-5 students. Recently I have given my 4th and 5th graders research assignments. They have really struggled with this concept. They look at the first source they Google and do not question the material found. I am so glad to have the website you provided as a resource now. With our students being faced with information overload, we MUST teach them how to decipher the material they access!
DeleteI agree that we must teach our students to think critically about the information they seek. In order to make appropriate decisions we must have the correct data and information. The earlier we teach efficient Web search skills the better. Scholarly research will become a habit. When skills are enhanced, I can see fostering an excitement about learning new things.
ReplyDeleteThere are excellent resources at your site. I found the link to the top 1000 web sites very useful.
ReplyDelete