A critical part of modern education is instructing students on the use of the internet. One of the first steps in learning to navigate the internet is the utilization of search engines, programs designed to make finding information on the internet easier (Roblyer and Doering, 2013).
Whether you are a teacher trying to put together a compelling (and accurate!) presentation for your class, or a student working on an important class assignment, a proficiency in using search engines can make your life much, much easier. The most well-known search engines are Google, Yahoo, and Bing (Roblyer and Doering, 2013); very similar search techniques can be employed regardless of which of these engines you choose to employ. Google has a very useful page with instructions on how to use some lesser-known techniques that can make your searches far more powerful and accurate, giving both teachers and students the ability to reach the information they quickly and easily.
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Website Evaluation
As wonderful as the internet is, it is not without flaws. Being that anyone can create and host a website, regardless of expertise on its subject matter, there are many unreliable and outright invalid websites that claim veracity. Our book goes so far as to call it a "wild frontier" that "no one controls" (Roblyer and Doering, 2013,p. 254).
Students who are new to the internet may find this mixed-bag of information confusing; showing them videos such as the one posted below can help them differentiate between credible and non-credible websites
Wikis can be thought of as an "online community that encourage[s] communication and collaboration of ideas" by allowing users to "contribute and modify content" (Roblyer and Doering, 2013,p. 223). One wiki that I think may help in a science classroom is the Pretty Good Physics wiki, which can be found here:
https://prettygoodphysics.wikispaces.com/
This content of this wiki has been accumulated through the contributions of physics teachers all over the world. It hosts teaching resources (with a strong focus on creative, educational labs) in many areas of physics, and all resources are available to any user completely free. I believe this website displays easy navigation, one of the criteria of good website deign in our textbook (Roblyer and Doering, 2013,p. 255).
Another website I believe will be useful in my classroom is "Salk's Periodic Table," which can be found here:
http://salksperiodictable.wikispaces.com/Periodic+Table
This periodic table is actually a wiki in disguise; clicking on each element will give the user a host of interesting information such as its discoverer, its physical appearance, its properties, and more. I think this is a great tool for students to learn about the elements in a more in-depth way, and that this website shows good visual design, another criteria from our textbook (Roblyer and Doering, 2013,p. 255).
References
Roblyer , M. D.,& Doering, A. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (6th ed., pp. 109-133). Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc.
Adam,
ReplyDeleteWow! The Periodic Table Wiki is awesome. My fifth grade son just had a science test on chemical elements. This website would have been an excellent tool to help him gain a better understanding of the material. As a teacher, I hope to utilize a Wiki page to encourage collaboration and communication of ideas among my students. I also think that being able to access class material anywhere at anytime is an excellent resource for learning. Our textbook tells us that, "Currently, the most powerful uses of internet tools are for social networking and collaborating with others in many different locations" (Roblyer and Doering, 2013,p. 223). As new teachers, we need to recognize and utilize these powerful tools in our classrooms.
I already knew that Google was one of the most popular search engines.(Roblyer and Doering, 2013) However, I have a new respect for it after looking at the Tips & Tricks page you linked. I am definitely adding it to my bookmarking file for future use.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much experience with the Wikis but I loved the one about Pretty Good Physics. It has lots of useful info and allows many others to contribute, so it is a growing source of links, tools and info. I could definitely see how this could be used as discussed in our book, as a place for "students to communicate their own content" (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p 224).
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