By Sean Macdonald & Kendall Greening

What is your technology inquiry question?

How could search engines be integrated into classroom use in an appropriate, effective, and safe manner? Due to the amount of search engines available, we will be focusing on the largest and most common one, Google.

What is the relationship of your topic to teaching and learning?

• The topic of search engines has a direct relationship with both teaching and learning. 
• Search engines could be used by educators for teaching purposes in tons of ways that would be beneficial including:

1. Gathering resources for lessons and activities. 
2. Getting lesson and activity ideas. 
3. Reinforcing their knowledge prior to lessons. 
4. Gaining new knowledge for future lessons. 
5. Getting multi-modal examples for students including videos, images, audio tracks, etc. 

• Search engines could also be used for increasing student learning in several ways as well, including:

1. Finding resources for projects. 
2. Expanding their knowledge on personally important topics. 
3. Allows student independence in their learning experience. 
4. Supports students who are pre-spellers with autocorrect on their searches which allows them to work outside of their zone of proximal development. 
5. Getting support outside of the classroom. 

What are the pros, cons, and risks?

Pros of Google:

1. Generates the most relevant results of all search engines. 
2. Is constantly being updated with new information.
3. Google has a ton of other features which could be used (Ex. Maps, Classroom, Docs, Etc.). 
4. Accessible from all devices (Tablet, Computer, Phone, Etc.)
5. Easy to use interface for younger students. 
6. Safe Search options.
7. Use of google can eliminate other bulky resources and free classroom space (Encyclopedias, Etc.).

Cons of Google:

1. If the student is unaware how to use the search engine they may get few relevant results. 
2. Results are determined by trends which may lead to unreliable results.
3. Impersonal for students (Google should not be depended on by teachers).  
4. Has been shown to track users, including minors, across websites, devices and outside their educational experience without parental consent. 

Risks of Google:

1. Most of the risks associated with using Google searches with students will have been mediated by the school through the implementation of safe search. 
2. Creating a dependency on search engines within students. 
3. Content can sometimes bypass the safe search and students could get onto websites which could be damaging to them. 
4. Too much screen time could affect student attention span.

Sources:

• Pros & Cons Of Search Engines | Mj Media Internet Marketing
• Pros and Cons of Google Classroom! – review the classroom (wordpress.com)

What are some of the strategies, best practices, and tips regarding your inquiry findings?

Strategies:

• Kathleen Morris discusses 5 steps in teaching kids how to conduct a search. Although many of us as adults have learned to do this intuitively, these are tips that should be explicitly taught to students:

1. Clarify: 
   • Before starting, refine specifically the information you are looking for
   • Come up with synonyms, alternate phrasing, or keywords that could also be queried 
2. Search:
   • Start with only the important words, then refine your search if you don’t see what you’re looking for
   • Remember that location and browsing history will affect your results 
   • If Google automatically gives an answer after you search, still check the sources to see if it’s accurate
3. Delve:
   • Don’t only look at the first few results – just because they show up first, that doesn’t mean they are the most relevant to what you need
   • Be wary of ads or sponsored content  – these are likely the first pages that Google recommends
   • Look at the domain to see if it seems reliable before clicking it
4. Evaluate:
   • After clicking on the page, skim through it or use search terms to see if the page contains the information you are looking for (Ctrl+F on PC, Command+F on Mac)
   • Cross-check information on multiple sources to determine whether it is accurate
   • Evaluate the reliability and biases that may be present on the page you are looking at
5. Cite
   • Teach students that plagiarism and copyright infringement are very serious
   • When to summarize, paraphrase, and quote
   • How to properly cite information

Best Practices:

• Teach kids to stay organized and keep track of their research (eg: on a Google Doc)
• Ask school librarians for help (for teachers and for students)
• Teacher should integrate lessons about search engines with other areas of the curriculum

Tips: 

• Don’t worry too much about spelling or punctuation
• After students are comfortable with basic searching, explore using more advanced operators such as a “-” to exclude terms, or quotation marks to find an exact string. More can be found here
• While we focused primarily on Google searching here, there are some search engines designed for kids for those who have safety concerns with Google. All the strategies we have discussed will still apply to these:
  • Kiddle
  • KidzSearch

Sources:

Morris, K. (2020, June 30). How to teach online research skills to students in 5 steps (free ebook and posters). Kathleen Morris Blog Primary Tech | Helping teachers create digitally literate global learners. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from http://www.kathleenamorris.com/2018/02/23/research-filter/

Educatorstechnology. (n.d.). Some Very Good Google Search Tips Students Should Know about. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2018/01/some-very-good-google-search-tips.html