Getting the Most out of Internet Resources
Where would you look for resources on building classroom community?
- What strategies & techniques were used in the past?
- How might info to meet this need be located effectively and efficiently?
- What new sources are available now?
- Will these new resources require new strategies and techniques?
Hopefully, one would come to the realization that many of these answers can be found via the Internet. Not only are there thousands, if not millions, of sources of information at one’s fingertips. However, with that great quantity of of information, comes the need to make one’s searches effective and efficient. Here are some areas to consider when conducting Internet searches.
Search Engines, Directories, and Meta-Searches
There are three types of tools that can provide the results you’re looking for in an Internet search. The first is the search engine. A search engine searches for webpages and documents based on keywords. Some commmon search engines are listed below.
- Identify key words and synonyms so as to narrow your search results or identify the most accurate results.
- Be specific with your searches. Identify what you’re looking for and what you want to avoid. List the most important word first and list 3-6 words to insure the most specific results.
- Advanced searching (phrases, Boolean operators,filters) can help really narrow your searches. Using advanced settings and Boolean operators can filter the results to fit your needs.
- Plurals can sometimes mislead search results. If you’re not getting the results you’re after, try the singular or plural spellings of your keyword.
- Parentheses can assist in linking specific phrases together in your searches.
- Capitalization is not often read by search engines. However, when it is, a search engine may provide results with or without capital letters if all lowercase is used. Sometimes words with capital letters dominate results if the keywords are capitalized.
- Similar pages are often offered with search results. These options may provide better or more accurate results.
- Proximity operators such as “NEAR BY”, “ADJ” (adjacent), and “NEAR” can offer results with words that should be in the same document of webpage.
- Browser find features can help one find a keyword that may not be obvious to the naked eye.
- Delicious (My Delicious)
- iKeepBookmarks
- Backflip
- Evernote
- Diigo
- My Stickies
- For fun and discovery: Stumble Upon
Hopefully these tools and tips will help make your next Internet search more productive.
The State of Handwriting
We are at a crossroads in education. As we move further into the 21st century, the way we teach and learn is evolving. Some subjects and skills once thought to be essential to succeeding have now become obsolete. The art of handwriting is one of those disciplines.
Technology has made the handwritten word unnecessary. Whole novels are written on cell phones. Some of those novels have even topped best-seller lists. Other professional authors often type or use voice-recognition software to write their books, not the pen. Our governor, Matt Blunt, has made a sincere commitment to improving technology in the classroom. Many people do not even write personal letters anymore with the advent of email. Applications for most jobs are now primarily done electronically. (You’ve seen the kiosks at Target and Wal-Mart, I’m sure.) The art of penmanship is slowly fading.
Sure, there is a solid argument in support of handwriting. We do not exclusively use computers to communicate even as advanced as we have become. It is important to have a unique signature and many jobs do require hand-written notes and records. Also, until we go completely electronic, a premium has to be put on a student’s ability to write clearly.
However important handwriting is to you as a teacher, you have to ask what is the real purpose of being able to write beautifully with a pen or pencil. Isn’t the goal for a student to write a clearly stated and well-supported thesis? Does it matter if the writer properly constructs a cursive “v”? Or is it more important to write clear message with concrete examples?
I recently read an article in Good Magazine on this very topic. The author, who is an English professor at a prestigious college, laments her son’s struggles with handwriting. The teachers have frustrated the young boy over the appearance of his writing instead of concentrating on the validity of his arguments. The result? The student now hates to write. Was this the intention to make a student hate to write? Shouldn’t the intention be to improve the structure and eloquence of his written work?
As testing season draws nearer, consider how you are using your time. Is the learning in your classroom advancing their thought processes? Are they partaking in the “drill and kill” of memorization and basic skill preparation? Are they learning to think for themselves?
Where does handwriting fit in the eMINTS model? Are we focusing on form over function? Which GLE addresses cursive handwriting?
Consider these ideas as you plan your days and weeks completing this school year. Use your time wisely. I’m not completely trashing handwriting, but we must consider its proper place in our facilitation of student learning.
