The Web Searching Process--Keywords, Day #5--Searching and Evaluating like a Pro

It is important to know how the searching process works, but it is almost important to know how to search. When I taught research skills, my students not only struggled with understanding how search results were organized, but how to search. And, oftentimes, I could not get them to evaluate like a pro because they did not know where to even begin to search or what keywords to use when searching. Hence, searching like a pro is a multi-step process:

1. Understanding how search results are organized
2. Knowing where to search
3. Comprehending keywords
4. Understanding searching techniques (ex: Boolean)

Without an understanding of ALL of these, it is difficult for students to become effective Web searchers. 

 So, where do you begin to search? Well, Google does yield the highest number of users. However, knowing when to search involves knowing where to search AND when. Though the internet is full of resources, it does not contain all of them. In fact, it only contains about 15% of the world's information. Therefore, it is important to teach students where to find information. Search engines like Google are a great starting place, but they do not provide all of the information. Sometimes, students will need to interview, collaborate with others in an online format, look through encyclopedias, or visit locations. It depends on what the topic is. 

So, to begin, all students should answer the following questions in order to decide where to search, what to search, and when to search. Below is a sample needs assessment for search strategies. This provides a good discussion on how to search, where to search, what to search, and when to search.

So, how do you change those search questions into searching keywords? It helps to think like an advertiser. In fact, Google offers a good help sheet for Google Adwords clients. Though this sheet is not for students conducting research, it provides an interesting look into how searching works. It assists advertisers in linking their products to specific keywords. Hence, the philosophy can be adapted to fit students.

Another good activity for students to use when changing search questions into search keywords is the University of Maryland's Libraries tutorial. It provides examples and opportunities for students to practice creating search keywords.

The MLA provides generous resources for building effective keywords as well.

There is even a Searching for Dummies tutorial on building keywords.

Commonsense Media has several lessons and activities for students (grades 6-8) learning to search. These can all be adapted to fit a variety of grade levels.

eHow has a quality series on searching and keywords for students in elementary grades. These are activities that can also be performed at home with parents.

And, the University of Wisconsin provides a very useful Webpage with keywords and their associated lessons, activities, and evaluations.

The key is building search questions to figure out the who, what, where, when, why, and how of searching. From your search questions, you can develop keywords to guide you to quality resources. Searching and evaluating like a pro starts with developing quality search keywords.

Asking the right questions in a Web search, Day #4--Searching and Evaluating like a Pro

In order to effectively evaluate a Website, you need to be able to ask the right questions to get you to the Website. If you can ask the right questions, your job as an evaluator is much simpler and easier. However, this seems to be the most difficult area for our students and for most of us.

To begin, many students, teachers, and general users do not understand how results are sorted in search results. In fact, some do not even know about search engines, so let's clarify:

• Think of the Internet as a massive library. 
• Think of a browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome...) as a particular branch of the library.
• Think of a search engine (Google, Bing...) as the librarian.

This comparison always helped my students: When you go to a library, you have the option of which branch you will go to just as you have the option of which browser you use to access the Internet. Each browser has certain highlights and problems just as each library branch many have slightly different books. However, at the end of the day, a library branch is a library branch and a browser is a browser. They all do the same thing--just with different perks. When you go to a library, you may have several librarians you can choose to speak to. Likewise, when you access the Internet via a browser, you have different search engines you can search. If you go to head librarian, he/she may have more knowledge to direct you to the right place just as if you go to the most common search engine, you may have better results. 

Google is just one of many places to begin a search. However, statistics show that most people begin their searches using Google. 

It is important to know how search engines (remember to think of them as librarians) filter and gather their results. Google uses a philosophy called PigeonRank to sort their results. Because of this system, you can actually edit they way your search results appear. Early search engines used to rank results by keywords. So, if you searched for a keyword, it would look for how often that keyword appeared in a site and that page would appear first. Well, marketers discovered this and started manipulating pages to get some keywords to appear more and, thereby, change search results. Studies show that links listed at the top of search results rankings get the most hits and therefore, the most viewers and potential for money. Now, Google and other search engines say they use more than 200 different factors to rank pages. In 2009, Google announced that it would use the Web history of its users to help rank results. Companies may also pay for their pages to be featured in different search results. Hence, companies also judge customer buying through search results. Search results have become a very powerful and lucrative industry--just look at Google. So, why should we be blind to searching?

So, remember that your own searching manipulates future search results. And, those search results manipulate your searching. It's a continuous cycle that all users need to fully understand. 

Right now about 15% of the world's information is online. If searching is an obstacle now, what will it be like in the future when the information doubles, triples? 

So, what can you do to search like a pro? First, you need to know what to search with. And, second, you need to know how to filter your results. 

What do you need to search with?

• This is a great strategy to use with developing search words. 
• Here is a great search process tutorial from 21st Century Information Fluency. 
• These are both great starting places for helping your students formulate the right searching questions. 

How can you manipulate your search results? 

• Google provides you with this tool. 
• There are other, more kid-friendly search engines that schools can use (just remember that students will most likely not use those on their own time, so you want to still incorporate the search engine giants)
• Microsoft provides this tutorial/example on searching with Bing. 

It's time to teach ourselves and our students how to search. It is now a required skill! 

A Walk-through Evaluation Guide, Day #3--Searching and Evaluating like a Pro

We all evaluate sources to some degree. The question is--how well do we evaluate them and do we have the right criteria. When you go to purchase a car, you may have a list of needs and wants that varies from the next person. However, when you are evaluated at your job, your boss uses the same set of criteria to evaluate you as the next person because he/she is looking for a common trait among all employees. Likewise, Web evaluation needs a standard set of criteria because we evaluate for common traits: intention of site, reliability of site, and the relevance of the site.

Since there is a common set of criteria for evaluating a Website, teaching how to evaluate should be systematic. Eventually, it should be a process that is ingrained in all Web users.

Let's walk through the steps. One of my favorite searching/evaluation errors I like to show my students is the myth of the .org site and the "first link click" epidemic.

To begin, do a search for Martin Luther King on Google. Your results will look similar to this:

Notice that it is the fourth link from the top. And, it says "true." It even says that it is a "valuable resource for students and teachers alike." Can you guess which one catches your students' attention (other than Wikipedia)?

Most of my students entered my class with the belief that .org sites were reliable--infallible almost. The next step is to click on the link. When you do, you will find a page that looks like this:

Let's go through the evaluation steps. There are two processes I like to use. One is the toecap method.




The other is from the University of Michigan: Intention of site, reliability of site, relevance of site. The questions it asks are as follows:



So, let's go through the steps:

First we need to figure out who the author is in order to figure out if it's trustworthy, reliable, relevant, and what its intention is. At the bottom of the page, I see a link that says "brought to you by Stormfront." I will assume that is the author so I click on that link. Here is the page that comes up:

What is the objective of the site? Well, we can tell that Stormfront is part of the White Pride World Wide. It says that "there are thousands of organizations promoting the interests, values, and heritage of non-Whites. We promote ours." So, we can assume that their objective is to promote white supremacy.

Is the information effective? Well, if the mission is to promote white supremacy and show supposed traits of Martin Luther King, then it is effective.

Is the information current? We cans see from recent posts that it is very current.

Is the information accurate? This is the problem. It notes that it promotes the heritage of whites. Well, Martin Luther King was non-white. And, he argued for equal rights. So, we can use our background knowledge to assume this organization and Martin Luther King probably did not agree. Therefore, their information's accuracy is suspect.

What is the purpose? To begin, think of your research purpose. If your purpose is to find about Martin Luther King and his background, do this site do so in an unbiased way? No. It says that it has an agenda. And, we only want unbiased information. Therefore, its purpose does not match our purpose and this Website fails the evaluation test.

Though this Website is a clear example of one that is biased and not an effective source on Martin Luther King, others are not as simple. Therefore, it is important to ingrain this method in your students. Everyday, they face thousands of bits of information and they need to be able to evaluate and think critically.

And even though we want students to be using search engines that they will use in the real world, instaGrok is a great tool that isn't about finding the answer. Instead, it's about learning and comprehending the topic. In that sense, it is different than the search engines students will use on their own because its goal is not to search and find. Rather, it is to explore and develop connections between concepts. It allows students to use search engines for more than just searching and it hopes to teach students that it isn't about just "clicking on the first link" (read Instagrok: A (Re)search Engine for Education). Perhaps, we should be instilling in our students a love for learning rather than a search and find mentality?

Stay tuned for more on searching and evaluating in the 21st century. 

What makes an effective source?, Day #2--Searching and Evaluating like a Pro

How do you define what is an effective Web source or even just a general source? When we go out to eat, we have a set criteria for what makes a good restaurant. When we buy a home, we have a buyer's checklist. When we purchase a car, we have a criteria chart. Before we make most important decisions, we have a set of criteria. The key is being able to think critically. In fact, it is one of the four Cs of 21st Century Readiness as part of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I will practice what I teach--critical thinking of a Website. Here are four reliable Web sources to use when teaching Website reliability.

Kathy Schrock has an excellent guide for educators on the Discovery Education Network. She provides critical teacher evaluation information for elementary, middle, and secondary school. This is a great resource to turn to.

21st Century Information Fluency (21cif) provides multiple tools and links for Web evaluation.

The University of Michigan provides research guides for the public's use.

This "grammar" quiz acts as a great needs assessment for beginning to teach about Web reliability.

Stay tuned for a Website evaluation walk-through tomorrow. 

21st Information Fluency Essential Questions, Day #1--Searching and Evaluating like a pro

If you think about it, most of our successes come from our ability to find the right answer--not whether or not we know it correctly to begin with. This mere fact is becoming more of a reality each day. As a technology coordinator for a small, rural school district, I don't always know every answer to every problem. So, what do I do to find the answer: I search for it and evaluate my answer choices to see which is the most effective. When I took my six Google certification exams, answers to several of the questions had changed. What did I do? I opened up the training modules (located in the Google training center) and searched for the correct answer. The abilities to search, locate sources, evaluate sources, and broaden your network are 21st century skills that define a person's success. Think about how many times you have had to search for something recently? We note that students do not memorize dates like they used to and they can't pull off quick math equations like they used to. These are all true accusations. However, are those skills as necessary? Now, students can bypass those steps and move onto even greater learning. What used to take months to memorize historical dates, students can do in minutes. With the extra time available, how can we challenge them to use that material? Our job skill sets are changing, so shouldn't learning and teaching change as well?

Ken Kay of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills attempts to combine the "traditional three Rs of education with the four Cs [of 21st century skills]: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity." A merging of these skills within core content will "ensure that all students are able to compete in the global economy."



Being able to find, manage, and evaluate information (critical thinking) through a collaborative network is the most important skill set we can teach our students.

To begin, it is important to understand what each skill is. Thinkfinity (part of the Verizon foundation) gives some helpful lessons.

• Critical Thinking
• Creativity and Innovation
• Collaboration
• Communication

Critical Thinking is a good starting place. If you are not able to think critically, it is difficult to collaborate and communicate within a larger network. When I taught high school English, I began my searching and evaluation units with a searching questionnaire or needs assessment to see what my students knew about searching. Though most understood the value of searching (that's how they attempted to find most of their answers), many did not know how to search effectively. As a result, the information they supplied was incorrect often. And, they were frustrated over their inability to get the correct information. 

After the initial survey, I implemented the 21st Century Information Fluency Model in my classroom. Before we began any project that involved research, we used this model to search and evaluate information. Eventually, it became ingrained and it was no longer just a model we used for research--it was a skill. Though teaching effective searching and evaluation techniques add extra time to an already packed curriculum, they are essential. If we teach our students how to think critically, the curriculum becomes less important; critical thinking is a skill that allows students to succeed and a variety of contexts. 

The Fluency model has many free and at-cost tutorials. My favorite, however, are the wizard tools (search, evaluation, and citation). Each wizard tool walks students through the correct critical thinking process. With the searching model, students are provided with questions to guide them through their search. They can also play games to evaluate their searching skills. A Google a Day also gives students the opportunity to test their searching knowledge. 

The Evaluation model walks students through the appropriate evaluation criteria for selecting sources. 

We search everyday, but how skilled of searchers are we? Try the searching model or a Google a Day and test your knowledge. Do you prepare your students for the skill or content? 

10 days to being a professional web evaluator and web searcher

Building a positive digital footprint is an important objective that every teachers should teacher. Likewise, effective search and web evaluation strategies are equally important. In order to understand how a digital reputation is created, we must comprehend how to search and evaluate what is on the Web and implement those strategies. Perhaps, then, this series should have come before the digital footprint. Now, though, the importance of online citizenship is clearly understood.

Over the next ten days, I will showcase some tools and strategies to becoming a professional searcher and evaluator.

A great starting place is the 21st Century Information Fluency Project (21CIF). This site began as a project funded by the U.S. Department of Education in 2001 and, in 2009, became a business that offers free tools for classroom and (paid) workshops. Rather than reinvent the wheel, try out these tools that are sound and free. The site provides great search and evaluation wizards that will walk your students through the appropriate questioning techniques. It also has a citation wizard. Check it out now. I'll give more details on it tomorrow.

In the meantime, begin testing your knowledge of searching and evaluation techniques. When I was in high school over 10 years ago, we were told that .org sites were good and .com sites were bad. Sadly, when I taught HS English, I still had students coming to me with the same, outdated rules. The .org/.com philosophy of years past needs to be revised. Instead, it must be replaced by critical thinking and analyzing of the author, domain, dates, links to and links from. It is not as simple as .com vs. .org anymore. A great way to show this to your students is through the following Glog I created for my staff:



Stay tuned for 10 days to becoming a professional evaluator and searcher. It's time to start thinking critically in a whole new light. 

10 Days of building a positive digital footprint in review

We teach students how to be good citizens, but do we teach students how to be productive and influential digital citizens? With such a large digital space, many avoid teaching digital citizenship and literacy out of fear of where to begin. Unfortunately, that is a huge disservice to our students. By failing to teaching our students appropriate behavior and the power of their digital reputation, we hinder their careers. Whether we agree with it or not, students are building digital legacies--positive and negative. We have the power to impact and guide those legacies. So, let's start teaching students how to create positive digital footprints.

Over the past 10 days, I mentioned several methods to engage your students in positive digital discourse.

To begin, you need to be able to build a positive digital footprint for yourself. Then, you can guide your students through the process.

• Begin by "Googling" yourself. All of the results that pop up are your digital legacy. 
• Ask yourself these questions (from David Jakes): 
  • Do you believe that having an online presence is critical for you? For your students?  If so, how do you develop that within the context of your professional life, and for students, within the context of your school's climate and culture.
  • Within your school, have you had the conversations necessary to understand digital reputation and presence with all members of your school community?
  • Should students publish online?  Should schools help students create a positive digital record?  What if students don't want to publish their creations?
  • What spaces have you created that are safe for students to explore their creative and critical interests?  When does that space become permeable?
  • Should contributions be local first, and global second?  Can you encourage publishing if you are not living that yourself?
  • Has your school district developed the necessary policy to support student publishing? 
  • Have you protected your digital identity by reserving your domain name, and accounts on Facebook and Twitter?  What about your school?
• Use sites like Personas and Spezify to organize your digital footprints. 
• Become a classroom advocate for your students
• Set up Google Alerts so you know when your digital footprint changes
• And, blog, blog, blog...just as we tell students to write, write, write and read, read, read.
• Build ePortfolios for yourself and for your students--it is a great reflection piece
• Create Waves of change by using your digital presence to do good
• Build your personal learning network and USE it! 
• Make social networking a positive resource and not the scary monster it is often depicted as
• Become part of a global community 
• Take that first step forward into your digital legacy and use the Internet to do good--provide a structured atmosphere to start. Use a tiered-approach and guide your students to becoming active digital citizens.

Many school mission statements mention creating "active learners" and "responsible citizens." And, it's time we act on those mission statements. No longer are we just citizens of a city, a state, a country, but we are part of a global community that exists in the confines of a computer. We teach our students how to cross a street because we know they will have to do it alone someday. Likewise, we know our students will have to search and have to access the Internet someday, so why not teach them how? Digital citizenship is of the very most importance. 

Stay tuned for 10 days to effective searching techniques and Web evaluation. Like the teaching of digital citizenship and literacy, being an effective "searcher" and "evaluator" are important skills to have in a global community.