Transcript What You Can Do To Help

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Despite what they think…
Five Things Digital Natives Cannot Do
(And What You Can Do To Help)
Carl Heine, Ph.D.
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
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What nautical location is currently called a paradise
for pirates?
Identify the most effective query for answering the question
a. “pirate paradise” 2006 2007
b. nautical location pirate paradise
c. “paradise for pirates” 2006 OR 2007
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Translating a question
into a query
Verifying the
credibility of
information
Finding better
keywords
Choosing the
best database
Recognizing
information
that’s relevant
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What digital natives don’t do
well
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What they tend to do instead
Turn a question into a query
Rush ahead toward an answer, either
grabbing the whole question “as is” or
missing an important part of it
Choose the right database
Enter words or phrases into Google
Recognize information when they
find it
Rush past important information and
clues, continue to browse
Find better keywords
Stick with their original words and
browse
Verify the credibility of information
Accept what they find at face value,
hoping somewhere in the information
there is an answer
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Google ‘digital natives’ and the top hit is:
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Digital Immigrant instructors,
who speak an outdated language
(that of the pre-digital age), are
struggling to teach a population
that speaks an entirely new
language.
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1. Translating a question into a query
 Starts with a question or a problem to solve.
 Task: Translate a natural language question or statement
into language that is understood by a search engine.
 Search engines differ in how they process queries, but for
the most part, what works on one big commercial search
engine tends to work on the others.
 Search engines perform a variety of literal matching
functions with Boolean and special operators.
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1. Translating a question into a query
Which of the following is the most effective query
for 'find the top speed of earth's fastest animal'?
 speed fastest animal
 what is earth’s fastest animal
 top speed earth’s fastest animal
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1.Translating a question into a query
Research Findings (IMSA second semester sophomores)
 36% recognized the optimal query from a list of three
queries. Only 17% of seniors at a local high school identified
the optimal query.
 31% grasped that search engines perform literal matching.
 17% regularly use natural language queries.
 12% misinterpreted the research question. (compared to 8% of
college students and high school seniors on ICT Literacy Assessment – ETS, 2006)
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2. Selecting an adequate database
 This failure occurs before submitting the first query.
 Task: Predict where expert information may be found.
 No search engine performs a live Internet search when you
submit a query. (Otherwise, how could it come back with a
page that’s not found?)
 That which is stored in one search engine’s database is
invisible to another search engine (also called Enterprise
Data)
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2. Selecting a good database
Research Findings (IMSA second semester sophomores)
 90% search with Google more than half of the time.
 32% use Google exclusively.
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3. Recognizing relevant information
 This failure occurs when a student looks at the results
returned by a search engine.
 Task: Match findings with expectations, evaluate relevance
 Information on the Internet is not always found in predictable
places.
 Computers are made for speed, which encourages haste.
 Hyperlinks and graphics can be distracting.
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3. Recognizing relevant information
Research Findings (junior honors students)
 36% were able to identify web pages that contain
supporting research facts from a selection of three
pages.
 25% -- same task, middle school students
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4. Finding better keywords
 This failure occurs throughout the search process: before the
initial query is submitted and as students look at the results
returned by a search engine.
 Task: Select and try increasingly specific keywords
 Frequently, effective keywords go unnoticed in snippets.
 Our claim: Effective searching depends on keyword selection
more than any other factor.
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4. Finding better keywords
Research Findings (high school)
 14% of IMSA sophomores used alternate keywords
when searching.
 7% of junior honors students chose effective alternate
words to find information.
 ICT Assessment: only 40% searched with multiple terms
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5. Evaluating credibility
 This failure occurs after information has been located.
 Task: Check the credibility of information, authorship
 Typically, students forego this decision altogether and
uncritically accept whatever information they find.
 Depending on which database the information was taken
from, information may be unedited, unendorsed and
inaccurate.
 Special operators (link:) makes external evaluation easier.
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5. Evaluating credibility
Research Findings
 33% of Illinois schools report having a curriculum
method for teaching students to evaluate online
resources
 0% of junior honors students were able to use special
operators to evaluate the credibility of a web page.
 ICT Assessment comparison – 49% of test-takers identified the one
web site that met criteria for objectivity, authority and timeliness.
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What You Can Do To Help
Question to query checklist
1. How many key concepts (important ideas) are found in the
question?
2. How many key concepts will I search for?
3. What keywords are probably effective “as is?”
4. For which concepts are more effective keywords probably
needed?
5. Are there hyponyms or professional language for any of the
intermediate words?
6. Are there words that have multiple meanings?
7. Did I use any stop words or clutter words?
8. Did I spell the words correctly?
9. Did I put the most important words first?
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What You Can Do To Help
What is the top speed of earth’s fastest animal?
1. How many key concepts (important ideas) are found in the
question?
2. How many key concepts will I search for?
3. What keywords are probably effective “as is?”
4. For which concepts are more effective keywords probably
needed?
5. Are there hyponyms or professional language for any of the
intermediate words?
6. Are there words that have multiple meanings?
7. Did I use any stop words or clutter words?
8. Did I spell the words correctly?
9. Did I put the most important words first?
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What You Can Do To Help
Keyword tutorials
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What You Can Do To Help
Choose the best database
1. What person would know the answer I am looking for?
2. Where would I find that expert?
3. Use Google/Yahoo to get there and then use the proprietary
search engine to go farther.
4. To find a relevant database use keywords like DATABASE,
ARCHIVE, INFORMATION in combination with subject matter.
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Deep Web, Invisible Web
 Information that is stored in a different database than
where you are searching now.
 Information that is “buried” deeper in the abstracts than
results from another database.
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What You Can Do To Help
Classical guitarist John Williams has scored
the music for only one motion picture. What is
the name of the movie?
1. What person would know the answer I am looking for?
2. Where would I find that expert?
3. Use Google/Yahoo to get there and then use the proprietary
search engine to go farther.
4. To find a relevant database use keywords like DATABASE,
ARCHIVE, INFORMATION in combination with subject matter
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What You Can Do To Help
What if Google or Yahoo! can’t google it?
Can Yahoo! google it?
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What You Can Do To Help
Recognize relevant information
1. Practice scanning: California Gold Rush
2. Practice reading snippets: Snippet Sleuth
3. Use the FIND Command
4. Practice reading hypertext: Flash Video Tutorial
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What You Can Do To Help
Find better keywords
1. Practice with snippets and thesaurus: e.g., Soccer Challenge II
2. Practice with snippets: e.g., Soccer Challenge III, Snippet Sleuth
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Sifting information to verify credibility
Should I keep searching? (Revision Decision)
Evaluate the Source
Evaluate the Content
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Author
Publisher
Bias
Links From
Evidence
Accuracy
Date
Links To
Asking the right questions, knowing where to look
for answers
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What You Can Do To Help
Verify Credibility
1. Interactive MicroModule Companions: Link To
2. Safe Searching: Use It? Or Lose It?
3. Safe Searching: Bad Apple
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Students and Information Fluency
What information fluency intervention would help your
students the most?
 Search
 Evaluation
 Ethical Use
What type of intervention would help students most?
 Research unit embedded in coursework
 Research orientation in the library
 Online guided practice tutorials
 Other….
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keywords:
information fluency
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Professional Development Events
•Free Online Subscription Resources: Full Circle
• Conference presentations
•Webinars, to be announced
•Online courses (coming summer 2007)
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Contact Us!
URL http://21cif.imsa.edu
General info [email protected]
Carl Heine [email protected]
Dennis O’Connor [email protected]
Thank you for participating!
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