Inquiry Project 1

“Frustrations of conducting a
search on the web”

By: Michalle Meyers

 Inquiry Plan
 Create a Focus: Internet Search
Frustrations
 Engage students in a educational
rich assignment, searching the
Internet for web based terms.
 Form educated predictions and
explanations.

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 Inquiry Plan Cont.
 Observations - observe students
interaction with search
assignment, record findings
 Survey/collect more data - using a
free web base survey tool, support
or disprove predictions.
 Disseminate data/review

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 Inquiry Plan Cont.
 Follow up inquiry - have
meaningful conversations with
students, focus on searching the
web, narrow down what’s the most
important issue.
 Create an educational experience
for students - intertwine curriculum
with web searches/resources.
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Project Focus/Investigation

How do kids go about searching for

information on the Internet? What are
their frustrations and how can we learn
from them and help eliminate them!

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The Issue: Kids inability to
search the web
successfully!
 Responses from kids (Survey taken
9/10/08 polldaddy.com):
 Why do I have to look through so
much junk to find what I want!
 What do I type in the search window?
 How do I word things?
 How do I verify my information?
 How do I narrow down my search?
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 My Ideas
 Prediction - Most  Explanation - As a
high school result of direct
students only observations of
search the students
Internet using searching for
basic techniques. items on the web,
most have no
knowledge of
using advance
searches.
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 My Ideas
 Prediction:  Explanation: As a
Student result of direct
frustrations are observations, most
heightened, thus students get a low
level frustration
giving up, when point when a
Internet searches search result has
are repeated with to be repeated for
little or no the lack of
positive results. pertinent
information. They
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806
to ask for 8
 Observation 9/4/08

 Observations made when watching

students conducting internet searches
for web terminology.
 Typing of whole questions into search
windows
 Inputting terms to search in the address
window instead of a search engine
window.
 Students getting frustrated
M. Meyers - CEP 806 sifting 9
through lots of search results.
 Observation 9/4/08

 Many students taking 40-45

minutes to search 10 web terms.
 Many students using Wikipedia
 3-5 students in each of the four
classes did not finish assignment.
 Some students ask for teacher
approval of search results before
writing their answer.
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 Observation 9/4/08

 Some students choose the first or

second search result assuming it
was correct because it was “at the
top”.
 Some students use more than one
search engine as a result of not
getting desired answers.
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 Inquiry
 According to the METS (Michigan
Educational Technology Standards)
at what age are students expected
to competently identify search
strategies for locating needed
information on the internet?

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 Click one to see if you can
guess where the state
expectation is!
s By the end of 3rd grade.

s By the end of 5th grade.

s By the end of 7th grade.

s By the end of 9th grade.

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 Congratulation! Continue

 These are Technology Standards and

Expectations for the State of Michigan by
the end of Grade 5!
 Students identify search strategies for
locating needed information on the
internet.
 Students discuss the accuracy,
relevance, appropriateness, and bias of
electronic information sources.

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Nice Try but go back
and try again!

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 The Survey - 9/8/08
(Created with: Polldaddy)

 The purpose of this survey was to

ask basic questions about how
students perform their internet
searches.
 What are their frustrations and
needs when it comes to searching
for educational rich information on
the web.
 8 multiple choice, 1 free response
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Question 1

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Question 2

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Question 3

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Question 4

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Question 5

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Question 6

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Question 7

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Question 8

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 Question 9

How can I be more specific?

How to narrow down the search so I don’t get so
much junk!
Finding the right answer, faster.
Where the information comes from.
How to complete a more advanced search
How to verify the material I am finding.
How to get more relevant results.
Ability to clarify and narrow my search.
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 The most interesting feed
back in my opinion was:
 Question #6 - 56% responded that they
think it is important to learn about web
searching in 4th or 5th grade.
 Does this say: our school district has
high expectations of students skills but
are not effectively teaching those web
skills?
 Are teachers engaging their students
with web activities with assumptions
about their skills?
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 Follow-up to the survey
9/12/08
 Google assignment - completing an
informational worksheet/guide on
searching with Google. Accessing
the website resource pages,
collecting information, applying to
examples.
 Basic Search Informational Site
 Advance Search Informational Site

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 Meaningful Reflection
(Jeff Wilhelm, University of Maine, Orono)

 "Literacy has always been about

using the most powerful cultural
tools available to make and
communicate meaning”.
 “If we or our students don't know
how to critically use these tools to
their fullest meaning-constructive
potential, then we--and they--are
illiterate”. M. Meyers - CEP 806 28
 Resources used:
 My four technology classes, (I
currently am not teaching science)
 Polldaddy survey instrument
 Google Instruction
 Article: Literacy by Design: Why Is
All This Technology So Important?
 METS

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