Reference links:
According to the article “Information behaviour of the researcher of the future”
I am a member of the “Google Generation” with a small difference in my attitude towards social media. I do not think that having a busy and updated social profile is an essential part of my life, and out of the social networks I only use Facebook to stay in contact with family, but I do not check it every day. I also use Pinterest and Symbaloo to create collections of personal and professional resources that I curate from the web, and I prefer the Google platform to find information that I need when I need it.
Physical libraries and paper books have become a thing of the past for me, and I check online libraries for resources and buy books and magazines online. These provide me with immediate accessibility to content, anytime and anywhere, and the convenience of having the next book in a series or a follow-up article has become very appealing.
I am a member of the “Google Generation” with a small difference in my attitude towards social media. I do not think that having a busy and updated social profile is an essential part of my life, and out of the social networks I only use Facebook to stay in contact with family, but I do not check it every day. I also use Pinterest and Symbaloo to create collections of personal and professional resources that I curate from the web, and I prefer the Google platform to find information that I need when I need it.
Physical libraries and paper books have become a thing of the past for me, and I check online libraries for resources and buy books and magazines online. These provide me with immediate accessibility to content, anytime and anywhere, and the convenience of having the next book in a series or a follow-up article has become very appealing.
Google and Google Scholar have become my favorite search engines, and I’m slowly developing my research skills. Just like this new generation of students, I’m a very impatient searcher and get frustrated when I cannot find the right material fast. Because I’m a Foreign Language teacher, I also rely on YouTube for tutorials, language practice and cultural resources.In the article “How Teens Do Research in the Digital World” some teachers agree that the enormous amount of resources and information available to students causes distractions from academic search, and I strongly agree with this idea. Today’s Internet is using individuals past choices and browsing preferences to bombard us with information and products, and every time I begin a search or find myself looking at a YouTube video, my computer shows me ads for things that I’ve searched in the past. Because I’m a visual person, I get distracted and follow the links, which make me spend more time going off on tangents than following what I need to look for.
I think as modern, up-to-date educators, we must embrace the constant change in the technology world and make sure that we are teaching our students and ourselves how to search for reliable and accurate information and resources from different sources. We need to guide students, create scholarly networks in school libraries and classrooms using the technology, social media, and search engines that today's students are utilizing. If we use what they are accustomed, when we give them a challenge, looking for information will become something that they feel confident doing, even if we restrict a little, the sources that can be used.
Because of your comment, I am exploring Google Scholar more. To be honest, I didn't realize it existed. I can admit that have no confidence in my ability to use library search sites or other scholarly sources. I hope Google Scholar proves to be more user friendly for me.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Scholar is a good resource for finding articles, but be careful - there are a lot of vendors that want you to pay for access! One recommendation would be that if you find an article that has a paywall, try looking it up in the library. If you search for the full article title (using quotation marks) and the primary author's last name, it should be the first result if the library actually has access. That way you did the "finding" in a comfortable way (Google) but you're using the library for free access! 8-)
ReplyDeleteI agree we must keep up with the constant change as educators. I learned about Google Scholar just this past year, but I also find that I have to be careful since there are numerous places you have to pay to get the article or information.
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually worked in a school system for several years and have only had the incite as a volunteer in various Media Centers to get a feel of the changing internet policies and access capabilities. Social Media may play a large part in the future of my school system, but right now only Twitter is considered acceptable and most of the students I come in contact with don't use it - they Snapchat instead. Twitter is for 'old fogeys'. :O
I agree that the students that we teach are now living in a different time in which they have to not only learn digital research skills but they will also need to judge the quality of online information. Like you I see this as a teacher issue and not a student issue. We have to shift paradigms from how we did research to now how our students must search for information and evaluate it. We must get smarter and learn the necessary skills to prepare our students to be information fluent. I think this must start at the elementary school level. I applaud my school district in this regard because they have implemented mandatory research skills instruction in their media center programs from elementary to high school. Now teachers and media specialists are collaborating to teach students the information literacy skills that they will need to be informed citizens.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Google Scholar! But bring up a great point in regards to search engines using previous searches to alter our future research efforts, thus causing a distraction. Like you, I can get a bit frustrated with not finding exactly what I'm looking for. What's funny about that is we get frustrated with Google for not giving us exactly what we're looking for, but we continue to use it anyway until we do. Can't live with, can't live without it.
ReplyDeleteI use Google for trivia, but when I use it for education it is to help find websites that will give me ideas or help find math problems. Since the math department does not have books we need to find other resources. Sometimes we need it for the next day. I have found things on the internet that were not correct. We have to double check what we have found to be prepared for what may happen in class.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to get distracted with the pop-ups. I wish the pop-ups were more about the lessons we are teaching. Pretty soon it will probably be like that. "They" will know that I just got through with circles. Next, will be volume. Then, there will be lessons on that to pop-up. That might be nice.