Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills:
Being able to fluently use technology is different to knowing how to manipulate the technology to locate information sought. In other words, using Google as a search engine is common practice. But understanding and learning how to use Google as a search tool needs to be taught in our schools. Being able to evaluate hits returned, to weigh up both their relevancy and reliability, require critical thinking skills that also must be taught. As I mentioned in a previous post on NovaNews, Google can’t replace learning. Assuming that our Digital Natives know it all, is incorrect. Just recently the website Boing Boing blogged on this very topic: “Digital Natives” need help understanding search.
So when a friend – thanks Nikki – sent me a post by Clive Thompson writing in a recent online issue of Wired – Why kids can’t search – I was not in the least surprised to read his take on this important, basic issue.
Commenting that the question has shifted from ‘Why Johnny can’t read?” to “Why Johnny can’t search?” supports much of what is happening today in our schools. Just watch a group of students tackling a research topic. Unless directed otherwise, they go straight to Google and usually focus only on the first half a dozen or so hits. Tech savvy or not, it is clear that these digital natives are not evaluting either the source or the content of webpages returned by Google. They instead naively ‘assume’ these hits to be authentic simply because Google lists them.
I’m sure that Thompson’s words brought a smile to many a face of a Librarian and Teacher Librarian when he said:
Librarians are our national leaders in this fight; they’re the main ones trying to teach search skills to kids today.”
Oh how refreshing it is to have someone like this advocate for us. If we can’t do it ourselves, Teacher Librarians, as a professional group, need to gather more academics like Thompson to be in the cheer squad that advocates loud and clear our skills set and our Raison d’être.
So what is it that our students need to conquer to be able and capable searchers? I suspect that these ten points are just the tip of the iceberg:
- Awareness: Google is only one of many different search engines that can be used to locate information.
- Brainstorm: Thinking about what it is you want to find in an online search before starting to search is a key to a successful search.
- Learn: Selecting good keywords and/or wording a query well is half the battle of getting a good search result. Boolean logic is powerful.
- Sift: Sort through facts to be sure returned hits really respond to the search query.
- Consider: Look critially at the content and tone of a webpage. Is it biased? Cross reference information found. Can it be backed up by other sources?
- Question: Don’t believe everything you read. Seek out other sources and opinions.
- Check: Authenticate the authorship of a webpage. Don’t assume that the name of a person or organization listed on a webpage is legit.
- Acknoweldge: Fact filled websites should cite sources and/or include a bibliography for further reference.
- Understand: The structure of a URL is important in judgng the validity and authenticity of a website. Learn the meaning of tags such as org and edu.
- Determine: The currency of a website is a key to knowing whether its information is reliable. Locate the date of its latest update.
[...] Why can't kids search! 10 tips to develop better search skills … Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use technology is different to knowing how to manipulate… Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Thanks for including this post in your Scoop.it: Teaching through Libraries. It’s a great topic to create a scoop.it around!
Within the sift step of these well-thought -out skills to search the web, listed above, students need to develop the resilience to continue searching as they encounter curious and distracting side-knowledge. This is difficult enough, when, for instance, a site on horses crosses the the search path of a horsefly inquiry, but when we consider the competition for the student’s attention in the form of savvy search algorithms and banner advertisements, the pressure against achieving a successfully unbiased and detailed search is stifling… Then again, the side trip could be beneficial albeit impulsive. The problem of topic persistence is especially significant when students are already considered distractable. Persistence strategies and practice need to be set in place as the process is taught.
You make an excellent point Scott. I think all of us have fallen prey to the many distractions that face us when we place a search. I know myself how many times I’ve gone off on tangents when looking for some key information and then invariably the side searches lead to more indepth exploration of a topic I’d never dreamed of focusing on at that point. As you suggest practising ‘persistence strategies’ would be most valuable to our students. My first thought in answer to this is to teach bookmarking skills in which interesting topics, links and/or videos can be ‘ear marked’ for pursuit at another time. I wonder how many of our students know how to do this.
Thanks so much for your valuable input. I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of others on this issue.
[...] Why can’t kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills. [...]
Thanks for including this post in your Scoop.it: Teaching Digital Citizenship in Public Schools. You’ve got a great collection of links there!
[...] Why can't kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills … If we can't do it ourselves, Teacher Librarians, as a professional group, need to gather more academics like Thompson to be in the cheer squad that advocates loud and clear our skills set and our Raison d'être. Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Thanks for including my post in your Scoop.it ResearChameleon on School Libraries. I’ve enjoyed reading some great posts in it!
[...] Why can’t kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills. Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use t… Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Many thanks for including my post in your Scoop.it Uppdrag : Skilbibliotek.
[...] Why can’t kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills. Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use t… Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Thanks Anu for including my post in your Scoop.it School libraries for information literacy and learning!. Isn’t it great that we can connect and share ideas across the world!
[...] Why can’t kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills. Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use t… Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Thanks for including my post in your Scoop.it! It’s nice to know that my post holds relevance to people so far away from my home in Australia!
[...] Why can't kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills … Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use technology is different to knowing how to manipulate… Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Thanks for including my post in your New Media Technologoy Scoop.it! It’s great to know that people value my thoughts!
[...] Why can't kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills … Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use technology is different to knowing how to manipulate… Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Thanks for including my post in your gpmt Scoop.it! Glad you found it of interest.
[...] Why can’t kids search? 10 tips to develop better search skills … Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use technology is different to knowing how to manipulate… Source: novanews19.wordpress.com [...]
Thanks for including my post in your Skolbiblioteket Scoop.it! It seems my thoughts have struck a chord with you.
[...] a Digital Native, doesn’t automatically guarantee him/her Digitally Literacy Skills! See “Why Can’t Kids Search? 10 Tips to Develop Better Search Skills” on the NovaNews19 Blog for more on [...]
Thanks for making reference to this post on your recent post ICT vs Books in the Primary Library.
I’m so glad that my thoughts here have been able to feed into your thinking and that you and your readers may be able to gain some hope that Teacher Librarians in the Primary years are as valuable and important as they are in the Secondary years. Tech savvy or not, our students need to learn how to use technology. Teacher Librarians have a unique set of skills. What I think we need to do as a collective group is to make sure that we re-package our skills and ensure that we sell both our skills and our wares to our school community. Investing time in ‘library promotions’ is essential.
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Those 10 tips are along the lines of the skills used/needed by successful players of Interactive Fiction. Perhaps there is some way to connect the need for search skills with the challenge of IF. Or perhaps the introduction of IF in curriculum would serve to broaden skill sets naturally.
An interesting suggestion. Anyone else toying with Interactive Fiction? Thoughts?
I’m working with Interactive Fiction in my doctoral research. There are some definite benefits to using it as a supplemental tool, if the content is right. For example, here’s a history piece of IF in the making:
[...] Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use tec… [...]
[...] Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use t… (Why can't kids search? [...]
[...] Just recently, in a post here on NovaNews: 10 skills every student should learn, I blogged about the importance of students being taught Information Literacy skills: Being able to fluently use t… [...]