The use of web searches and wiki’s have changed the face of research skills for students within education. As individuals become more ‘computer savvy’ the reliance on websites to hold accurate and true information without further investigation is a daily occurrence.
With social networking sites such as ‘face book’ and ‘twitter’ being a hub for collective activity are students becoming too IT reliant for all aspects of their lives? Are books and journals becoming old hat? And is it the end of traditional research skills?
Hi Claire, very interesting comments. I think this centres on how much time students are willing to invest in their research. Searching for good quality resources requires time and effort, all too often for some learners, quick access is preferable to spending time finding really good quality information. Lots to think about. Navigating the Web isn't easy, but I think many students confuse web skills or technological skills with information retrieval/information literacy and the two are quite different and separate.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting comments, thank you!
ReplyDeleteDeveloping a culture whereby students will not only look to web sources for information but take time with their investigative skills so that reliable and well thought out research is collated is a necessity. Underpinning good research skills in the classroom is surely a development point and adapting sessions to allow discussions to take place so that research techniques can be highlighted could be an answer? However, as this ‘homo zappien generation’ relay on the use of technology for everyday life could resources be put in place so that web research skills are developed further to allow differentiation between web navigation and information gathering.
Hi Claire
ReplyDeleteHi Claire,
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with internet research lies in the depth of enquiry students persue, often limited and lacking depth. A 'this will just do' mindset prevails rather than scholarly activity. Research needs to be broad and far ranging to develop new thoughts and for ideas to form. Saddly books seem very out of fashion amongst younger students proberbly because the time needed to read is longer than they want to spend acquiring knowledge.Internet visual information is often not always very accurate or at best misleading (to many diverse images) We only get out of the machine something we have an incling about already. Let us hope that a more intergrated research strategy develops as time goes by and that more exists out there than is in the ether in the minds of those born in the electronic era.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI think that teenagers nowadays tend to use social netwroking sites like facebook and twitter as we would use email. I think this is because of the mobile phone and the ease of access to these sites that encourage this use.
I think that the use of technology is second nature to learners nowadays as it is easy to access and it is what they have been brought uo with. Visual stimulation seems to be what they need and they think that this is quicker than reading a book or accessing a library. It takes them too long to go to the library and find what they want compared to the internet although if you check their research skills this is quite possibly not true. Their research skills probably need better tuning. They also do not authenticate the materials that they find to know that it is true.
A combination of all methods is the best way forward for all.
Hi All
ReplyDeleteAbove comments from 2 anonymous sources thank you! I am glad to see my topic of conversation is generating interest!
I am beginning to see that others agree with the necessity for student research skills to be developed. Educating them is surely the only way?
ReplyDeleteAs one comment suggested is the best way forward a mixture of methods whereby the use of technology and traditional library sources are combined? How best to disseminate this though is a question?
The internet is a quick and easy access tool; persuading students to use other sources could be very challenging.
Claire.Law
I do notice a trend in this direction, and it saddens me. Although computers are a wonderful tool, less discerning students pick up on sources that are often totally inappropriate and factually inaccurate or simply very out of date. Where as, as lecturers we do have some control as to the the books/journals we stocked in the LRC and directed students towards. Yes, we still have the luxury, but if a student can stay put in one place to access information, they arn't going to move! People are good at kidding themselves that they are researching when they are browsing on line and pressing the print button. This works when it is combined with analysis, but in many cases it isn't.
ReplyDeleteThere is still a lot of pressure to be had in handling books and sifting through pages of different textured papers. This gives more variety to the senses.
There is no substitute for studying things in fresh eg. at exhibitions etc, to get a sense of true colour, scale, space and texture but in times of financial constraint the computer is a cheap and quick way of 'seeing' things however inaccurately.
The internet is one of the newest, and perhaps the most powerful, research tool to emerge in recent history, and as such its uses and abuses are manifold. (Dolowitz, Buckler and Sweeny: 2008, pg 1.)
ReplyDeleteAs discussed above the use of the internet as a research tool is open to abuse and exploitation. Wiki’s are indeed quick and easy methods where individuals can gain instant information. Students studying in further education openly acknowledge that the internet is an easier way of collecting research. However the problems begin when this is the only method of use.
You have no way of knowing whether these materials have been checked for accuracy, currency or even non-partisanship. Because of this, it will often be difficult for you to know for sure whether what you are reading contains misinformation… (Dolowitz, Buckler and Sweeny: 2008, pg 14.)
Books seem to be a difficulty for many, applying in-depth research to studies and taking the time to read and take notes seems to be none existent. This is where naivety shows when asking my students why they only use the internet for their studies; some replies were that ‘the information is more up to date and correct’ and ‘information is easier to access and find’.
This is a difficulty many lecturers find, directing students to be more conscious about their research skills and undertaking methods that will not only gain factual information but widen their knowledge and expertise is essential.
Claire.Law
Hi Claire
ReplyDeleteA very good question and I feel that because we are living in a digital age this process has become the norm. It is easier to sit at a computer and have the world at your fingertips than employ anergies leaping through books in a library. I am only saying that students who relay on digital sources are missing so much educational information and facts that would help to broaden out thier educational experience.
HI Claire,
ReplyDeleteas pressured, sorry i mean requested i am placeing my contribution you this here Blog of yours,
Iam David Coleege at Doncaster i teach Fine art at the ND level, and i am a dyslexic tutor as well, liking long walks and and evening by the fire. . . .sorry wrong blog. any way
research and students grip on how to do research is somthing that is very close to my heart, as as a student myself i struggled with absortbing and understanding wrtten material (and then the application of it was a whole nother can of worms to mess with) i needed structure a model to work to, a way of checking i ws working in the right direction, i didn't get one until my postgrad.
When i went to do my teaching practice at Dewsbury, i notice how my dementor, sorry mentor, was sending the students off to LRC and telling them to research this and that, and the look on the little poppits faces, a mixture of confusion and compultion, not this again. Also i noticed how they went really being very productive and not even finding out what they need to know, Manage this i thought, started out with basic guides, lessons and challenges, how fast can you find me this piece of information, etc then i devised a comic that explians ways of research and valid soruces of information, then came up with the definative 3step plan, which is . . . . plan-do- review.
plan, brain storm, lecture notes
do, books mags then tinterweb, NO WIKI
review, get together with peers and review share found info etc ask have you got the right stuff.
i use this all the time with my first years and by the time there into the second year they are litrually indipentant researchs and can employ these skills in a range of needs, job hunts, travel plans, anything you can shake sticks at really.
right Claire have i paid me dues??
apoloiges for the poor spelling
This sounds like a great teaching tool! Structuring research sessions so that students can focus one technique at a time seems straight forward. Not only will students embark on their studies in a linear manner, understanding one section at a time before moving on, they will also take these skills with them when they move to HE studies.
ReplyDelete