This is my 3rd semester in this program and in most every class we have tackled issues related to students and their use of technology. We have discussed if we, as teachers, are doing an adequate job in meeting the needs of 21st-Century students. We have more information on students and their learning abilities, styles, and forms than we ever have before. And so many times it seems like we work back to a basic question of ... Are we still trying to teach students in the manner that we feel like it's "always been done" so students of this generation must learn that way too? Or, are we being reflective and accepting of this wealth of information about how this generation of students learn and are we as teachers willing to make changes in our practices to at least meet students "half-way" in their learning experiences? As I read the information this week, something about it all kept leading me back to this thought process. An over-arching idea I had for this week was that if our ultimate job as teachers is to prepare students for the next steps in their educational journeys (middle school ready for high school, high school ready for college, etc.) and we are presented now with information about how students research, what they consider research, and what tools they go to first to try and accomplish research, how does this impact us as teachers? Do we dig our heels in and resist this change? Or do we do our best to synthesize it and come up with a plan of action for our teaching and how we can better teach and lead our students? The information given to us this week clearly says, "This is what students are doing". Now, as a teacher leading these students, how am I going to adapt? In one sense, maybe I'm putting too much thought into a simple question (I have been sick this week, so I've had a little more time than usual to sit and think about things!) but in another sense, how we respond to this situation could have a drastic impact on our students and their futures! Anyway, not sure if all this makes sense or if it's even applicable to this week, but after going through all of our information this week, I just felt like these were some of the thought processes I kept coming back to.
By definition, since most definitions use 1993 and after as the focal point, I am not a member of the "Google Generation". However, I don't feel like I am that far away from being an official member. The use of the internet and Google has been around for a high majority of my educational experience in life. Because of this, I consider myself to be a fairly experienced searcher. However, I also know that there are a lot of new and evolving techniques out there that I haven't learned about or utilized. For example, I didn't know you could use an image as your search parameter on Google. How cool! I also enjoyed "How to Use Google Search More Effectively. I think this would be a great resource to use with students. How to use some of those tricks to help narrow down your search query would be a tremendous skill for a lot of students today. At this point, with the movement in education towards hands-on tools and experiences for students, and the resulting change teachers must make to accommodate this, you could make a strong argument that we all have become members of the "Google Generation". If we weren't already "official" members, so many of us as teachers must be prepared to meet the needs of the members, and the resulting knowledge shared makes us all better prepared for the information searching of the future. As "The Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future" states, "the information literacy of young people has not improved with the widening access to technology." As I tried to address in my thoughts above, resisting change in education usually ends up hurting more than it helps. And can we do our jobs as teachers if we are resisting change? "The Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future" states, "The most significant finding [of our study] was that, although the teachers interviewed were information literate, their skills with and attitudes towards information literacy were not being transferred to their pupils." I think the "Google Generation" also addresses a current trend in education of the ability to access information in all capacities, such as online learning experiences and programs.
Finally, I am not sure if I have a typical search pattern. I think my searching pattern is very dependent on what type of information I am trying to seek. If I am searching for some information about Georgia Southern football, I might start out with a particular search query, and then click through results and pages as I see related to my general topic or ones that I find interesting. I guess this would be similar to the "Horizontal Information Seeking" in the sense that I would just bounce from resource to resource. If I am searching for information for work or school, I would be more specific with my search query and wouldn't be near as likely to just go bouncing through search results. My searching would be more efficient and structured. I think for teens with more experience with Google searching, they might follow a similar process. Teens that haven't had a lot of experience with researching information might not know how to set search parameters and narrow down results. To avoid creating a filter bubble, be mindful of the search query you are entering. I thought the video made an interesting point about searching for information as someone else would write it, not necessarily as you would write it. Also, use the tricks and tools for helping your search query as mentioned in our module!
CIBER. (2008). Information behaviour of the researcher of the future. Retrieved from https://go.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1395714/viewContent/22068343/View
Heick, T. (2014). How Google impacts the way students think. Retrieved from http://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/how-google-impacts-the-way-students-think
Videos, G. (Director). (2012, May 2). Even better search results: Getting to know Google search for education [Video file]. Retrieved May 18, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f2jqwNxq1cM#!
Videos, G. (Director). (2012, May 2). Even better search results: Getting to know Google search for education [Video file]. Retrieved May 18, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f2jqwNxq1cM#!
Videos, G. (Director). (2012, May 2). Even better search results: Getting to know Google search for education [Video file]. Retrieved May 18, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f2jqwNxq1cM#!
Videos, G. (Director). (2012, May 2). Even better search results: Getting to know Google search for education [Video file]. Retrieved May 18, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f2jqwNxq1cM#!
Videos, G. (Director). (2012, May 2). Even better search results: Getting to know Google search for education [Video file]. Retrieved May 18, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f2jqwNxq1cM#!
Damon,
ReplyDeleteIn your post you discuss whether we are serving students well in respect to today's technology. It is difficult to keep up with the lightning speed changes incorporated into the movement, and (as you mentioned) it seems we want to continue using past techniques and ideologies regardless of needs that arise for our students. It reminds me of the adage that the system continues to expect standardization for differentiated learning. I believe that between budget and lack of knowledge, our decision makers hold teachers back from accomplishing goals that can be achieved for our students.
At my school we use a lot of problem based learning pedagogy. In doing so, we search a lot! I agree that people search more efficiently when they understand a topic being searched. Even though I teach proper research technique at the beginning of each course, I inevitably have a student that will teach me something new to apply. I think a great idea to incorporate in the upcoming school year is a tips sheet. This could also be helpful for students added to my roster well into the course.
I would like to also add that the reverse image search is GREAT for students with learning disabilities, IEP's, and 504's. Some of the students I serve can't read or write, so this option has been a lifesaver!
I didn't think about the reverse image search being used for students with disabilities....GREAT point! That would be a way for them to still accomplish some researching tasks! You know, sometimes it doesn't take fancy or expensive equipment to accomplish certain tasks in the classroom! "The system continues to expect standardization for differentiated learning"....really interesting way to put it! And very true, I believe. I also believe their decisions do a lot to hold back student achievement. The ever changing scope and speed of technologies is a battle for school-systems that I don't see slowly down anything soon.
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