Search Engines and Students

I had never realized what a complex skill using search engines was. I have been searching for information on the Internet for such a long time that it never even phased me. I was trying to think back to when I was in elementary school using the computers and if I was "taught" what words to use etc in order to get the results I wanted. I am sure that I had to be taught this skill but I can't remember. When I think about technology and my future classroom I honestly get nervous because of all of the garbage that I know is out there and partially accessible. teaching students HOW to use search engines to find information is a lesson in itself to allow them to be able to get the most from the Internet as a learning tool.

I found the bulleted/listed points that students can use to remember to get the results they want to be simple but helpful:

1.) Be specific
2.) Be exact
3.) Be direct
4.) Be distinct
5.) Be succinct
6.) Be Concise

Although these are very simple words this information needs to be conveyed and discussed with students.

As the article discusses searching for information on the Internet requires reading comprehension techniques specifically for the task at hand. Not only do students need to be taught that search engines will give very different results depending on the words used in the search but also once the results are shown students need to have an understanding of how to "sift" through this material to find what they are specifically looking for.

I think concept maps and tools that allow students to write out their ideas on paper are wonderful starting points for projects and papers. These tools allow students of all ages (I even use concept maps) to organize and see their ideas and the task in a different way. I like that the article supplied and discussed virtual organizers like these. These are wonderful tools that I will use in my future classroom. After reading this article it has helped me to understand that as a teacher I need to remember that students need to be taught how to find information on the Internet. This requires many skills and needs to be broken down so that students can really understand and make use of the Internet so that as the article mentioned various times, the student does not walk away from the computer without information simply because they didn't know how to find it.