Teaching 21st Century Students How to Research

        In my previous post, I discussed some challenges that students encounter when trying to locate information on the internet. In this post, I want to elaborate on ways teachers can help their elementary students learn how to research using the internet. In Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web, Lawrence has a section on the ease of information “searchability” in Google. Lawrence (2022) writes, “It matters how easily a user can find life-saving information about a pandemic or a flood. If they type common keywords into Google, will they be able to find reliable and accurate information?” (p.83). I would venture to say many adults do not know how to effectively use key words and punctuation to narrow down their search results. In the video below, content creator, Dan Spada, demonstrates several ways to help students with using the Google search engine.

(Dan Spada, 2019)

      Another skill that students need to develop is the ability to evaluate the authenticity of websites. In her article “Teaching Students the Skills to be Savvy Researchers”, O’Hanlon (2013) mentions steps that students can take to dissect a website by considering the author, their purpose, and the domain. Websites that end with edu, org, or gov usually can be considered more trustworthy.  

      Recently, I worked with a fourth grade classroom on an alternative energy research project. I began the unit with a two day lesson on how to effectively use written and digital sources to research a topic. I knew I needed a way to visually present the steps for research to the students. I wanted something small that they could keep on their desks as a reminder during the project. After reading Lawrence’s section (2022) on graphic design and Adobe, I decided to apply his suggestions to the Canva software. I am fairly new to Canva but I really enjoy the large database of graphics and templates that it has. I created the research infographic below and used it as a tool to guide the lesson.

(How to Research a Topic via Canva by Brianne Gilliland)

      As part of my lesson on research, I modeled the five steps on my infographic with the class. Together, we walked through the steps to research nuclear energy. While this took some time, I felt that it was time well spent and it gave the students opportunities to ask questions about using Google, finding information on websites, and recording their sources. O’Hanlon states, “Teachers should give credit to the process of searching, not just for the final product, she added. Students can turn in search logs or annotated bibliographies to emphasize that process” (2013, p.16). I agree with O’Hanlon. As part of their research project, I required students to list their online sources on their organizer and on their final Google Slide presentation.

I have done this alternative energy project several times in the past without the research lesson at the beginning. I could tell a huge difference this time in the confidence of my students as they were researching their energy topics. They would tell me things like “this website gave me information on the benefits of solar energy” or “I didn’t find any information on this website on how wind energy affects the environment”. The research infographic helped guide students as they were researching. As I was conferencing with students, I would ask which research step were they currently on. Students would often quickly glance at the infographic and then respond. In the past, I have also noticed students’ final presentations containing a lot of misinformation. I was delighted to see that this group of students was much more successful in finding accurate information and being able to share their learning with others. “Teaching students solid online search skills is important not only because it will help them produce better work, but also because it prepares them to judge the validity of all sorts of information and to be critical thinkers” (O’Hanlon, 2013, p.16).

References

      Gilliand, B. (2024). How to research a topic [Infographic]. Canva.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAF5ZruVQhA/rGYmibeWg2Z7IruEtSmgxg/view 

      Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.    

     O’Hanlon, L. (2013). Teaching students the skills to be savvy researchers. Education Week, 32(32), 12-16, https://www.edweek.org/technology/teaching-students-better-online-research-skills/2013/05

Spada, D. (2019, March 3). Teaching students how to research. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmRakMppVtw

   

  

Google’s Place in the 21st Century Classroom

 

     The process of research has drastically changed over the past thirty years since the arrival of the internet and Google. The time of microfilms and encyclopedias are a thing of the past. While there are numerous advantages of the world wide web and its seemingly unlimited amount of access to information, it also brings some pitfalls for our students as they pursue knowledge.

  LukeStatzer (2023)

        What are those pitfalls? Why is it not a good research practice to allow students to simply type their question into the Google search bar and take the first response that is generated? Isn’t that something we all do because it’s convenient and it saves us time? In the article “Don’t Just Google It”, the authors also question the effects the Google search engine has on students’ learning. “This raises the question, we believe, of whether “just Googling it” qualifies as a form of problem solving or whether it turns learners into spectators. Online tools put information at our fingertips, but they can also lead us astray” (Weber &  Morales, 2023, p.62). It is important that students learn that just because a website is listed first in a Google search that does not mean it is the most credible source. I have found that students associate that order with importance. I have often observed my students typing in their question into the Google search engine and then reading the blurb that Google generated without ever clicking on a website. When they did click on websites, it was usually only the first few websites before being satisfied that they had completed their research. Rarely if ever did they go beyond the first page of search results. According to Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web, the use of algorithms and search engine optimization play a huge role in Google’s prioritization of websites and videos. “Google’s primary objective, after all, is to make money from advertising revenue by allowing businesses to bid on keywords. Their primary objective is not to provide the most truthful, relevant, or highly vetted sources to you” (Lawrence, 2022, p.82).       

      Students have to be taught how to effectively navigate search engine results. They need to be able to determine if a website is credible. These skills are currently part of Alabama’s Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) standards. However, are we teaching them to our students? I can admit that I did not always do the best job at teaching digital research skills in my classroom. Why? One reason is that teachers are overwhelmed with all of the lessons that they are writing and facilitating that DLCS are rarely integrated due to time and priority. Lawrence (2022) suggests that another problem in determining factual internet content is that the teacher’s own digital skills may not be up-to-date (p.90). Many times teachers see digital resources as a way for students to apply their knowledge instead of developing knowledge. However, we do our students a disservice if we are not teaching them how to effectively use the technological resources that are available to maximize their learning. In their journal article, Weber and Morales (2023) discuss several defenses of online media. They discuss how technology can be a contributor instead of a distractor to students' learning. They acknowledge that teachers need to instruct their students on how to take on an active learning approach when using technology (p.66).

     As teachers, we have to make sure we understand how to effectively navigate the internet for factual information and teach our students to do the same. Technology sources, like the internet, will continue to advance and we must advance with them.

References

Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web.

Broadview Press. 

LukeStatzer. (2023). Imgflip. https://imgflip.com/i/7whaww

Weber, E. T., Cowherd, H. & Morales, M. (2023). Don’t just google it: Deweyan perspectives on participatory learning with online tools. Education and Culture, 38(1), 61-78. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/eandc/vol38/iss1/art8