Independent learners – it’s all in the ‘search’

Critical thinking skills are extremely important in order for students to be able to search and find relevant information to meet their research needs. This video clip  states that there is now a new digital divide – “those that are able to search and those that are not able to search.” Google provides online tools, webinars and lesson plans to help teach students search skills.

Many students go straight to the search box without noticing the many extra tools that help to narrow the search field down to relevant information.
AND…Don’t forget that our school library offers Teacher Librarian support and seminars to improve information and digital literacy.

 

Google Sets

One of the Teacher Librarians who has helped me the most in my learning over the years is Barbara Braxton. This morning she shared this new Google tool in a list serve email and I now pass it on to you:

Google Sets allows you to insert a term and it will generate a list of words that are connected with that topic which can serve as an initial brainstorming activity for areas to be explored in relation to the topic. Each term was a hyperlink to websites about the topic.
For example ‘rainforests’ produced: rainforests, forest, nature, ecology, eucalypt forests, climate, semi arid, savanna, heathlands, woodlands, global warming, deserts, ecology research, environmental science, environmental issues

Give it a go – a great start for mind maps

“Go to Google, type in a search term, and then, when the
results display, click on More Options.  Wonder Wheel is in the menu on the
left.  I find this so useful for suggesting sub-topics and narrowing
searches.

The Timeline tool is also fascinating. Search for your town.” Thanks Barbara