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Five Things Digital Natives Cannot Five Things Digital Natives Cannot DoDo

(And What You Can Do To Help)(And What You Can Do To Help)

Dan Balzer, Illinois Mathematics and Science AcademyDan Balzer, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

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What digital natives don’t do well

What they tend to do instead

Turn a question into a queryRush ahead toward an answer,

either grabbing the whole question “as is” or missing an

important part of it

Choose the right database Enter words or phrases into Google

Recognize information when they find it

Rush past important information and clues, continue

to browse

Find better keywords Stick with their original words and browse

Verify the credibility of information

Accept what they find at face value, hoping somewhere in the information there is an answer

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Google ‘digital natives’ and the top hit is:

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.

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• Assessment validation study series conducted since fall 2004

• Both Middle & High Schools participating• Variety of instructional treatments• Instruction and assessment of core 21st Century

Information Fluency knowledge and skills• Embedded into larger research assignments

Our Data Sources

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• Types of assessment items: knowledge, performance, and cognitive

• Online micro-module assessments (multiple choice with scoring feedback)

• Self-diagnostic performance-based assessment (Flash file)

• Summative performance-based assessment (Live Internet)

Our measurement methods

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Evaluating information on the Web:

How have college students learned to evaluate Internet information?

Training Students in Evaluating Resources (n = 543)

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%

LibraryTraining

InternetTraining

• Nearly 60% of all college students surveyed have received library training in evaluating traditional resources, which came most frequently from high school teachers

• “…about 30% of university students have received training in evaluating sources on the Internet, leaving a surprising two-thirds of students untrained and presumably inventing their own criteria of evaluation.”

Investigating the practices of student researchers: patterns of use and criteria for use of internet and library sources

Computers and Composition, Vol. 17, No. 3. (December 2000), pp. 309-328.

Source: http://www.citeulike.org/article/4466

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Translating a question into a query

Choosing the best database

Finding better keywords

Recognizing information that’s relevant

Verifying the credibility of information

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Starts with a question or a problem to solve.

Task: Translate a natural language question or statement into language that is understood by a search engine.

Search engines differ in how they process queries, but for the most part, what works on one big commercial search engine tends to work on the others.

Search engines perform a variety of literal matching functions with Boolean and special operators.

1. Translating a question into a query

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Which of the following is the most effective query for 'find the top speed of earth's fastest animal'?

speed fastest animal

what is earth’s fastest animal

top speed earth’s fastest animal

1. Translating a question into a query

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36% recognized the optimal query from a list of three queries. Only 14% of incoming 9th graders at a local high school identified the optimal query.

31% grasped that search engines perform literal matching.

17% regularly use natural language queries.

12% misinterpreted the research question.

1.Translating a question into a queryResearch Findings (IMSA second semester sophomores)

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpQuestion to query tutorials

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpQuestion to query checklist1. How many key concepts (important ideas) are found in the

question? 2. How many key concepts will I search for?3. What keywords are probably effective “as is?” 4. For which concepts are more effective keywords probably

needed? 5. Are there hyponyms or professional language for any of the

intermediate words? 6. Are there words that have multiple meanings? 7. Did I use any stop words or clutter words? 8. Did I spell the words correctly? 9. Did I put the most important words first?

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpChallenge: What is the top speed of earth’s fastest animal?1. How many key concepts (important ideas) are found in the

question? 2. How many key concepts will I search for?3. What keywords are probably effective “as is?” 4. For which concepts are more effective keywords probably

needed? 5. Are there hyponyms or professional language for any of the

intermediate words? 6. Are there words that have multiple meanings? 7. Did I use any stop words or clutter words? 8. Did I spell the words correctly? 9. Did I put the most important words first?

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpChallenge: How many buffalo are there in North America?1. How many key concepts (important ideas) are found in the

question? 2. How many key concepts will I search for?3. What keywords are probably effective “as is?” 4. For which concepts are more effective keywords probably

needed? 5. Are there hyponyms or professional language for any of the

intermediate words? 6. Are there words that have multiple meanings? 7. Did I use any stop words or clutter words? 8. Did I spell the words correctly? 9. Did I put the most important words first?

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Choosing the best database

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This failure occurs before submitting the first query.

Task: Predict where expert information may be found.

No search engine performs a live Internet search when you submit a query. (Otherwise, how could they come back with a page that’s not found?)

That which is stored in one search engine’s database is invisible to another search engine (also called Enterprise Data)

2. Selecting an adequate database

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When permitted, most students prefer to “Google” (anecdotes from teachers)

A recent poll at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy revealed that

90% of sophomores google more than half their searches; 32% of the students polled use Google almost exclusively.

2. Selecting an adequate databaseResearch Findings

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpChoose the best database

1. What person would know the answer I am looking for? 2. Where would I find that expert?3. Use Google/Yahoo to get there and then use the proprietary

search engine to go farther.4. To find a relevant database use keywords like DATABASE,

ARCHIVE, INFORMATION in combination with subject matter.5. Use Beaucoup.com to search for databases.

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpChallenge: How many times has Funny Girl been performed on Broadway?

1. What person would know the answer I am looking for? 2. Where would I find that expert?3. Use Google/Yahoo to get there and then use the proprietary

search engine to go farther.4. To find a relevant database use keywords like DATABASE,

ARCHIVE, INFORMATION in combination with subject matter.5. Use Beaucoup.com or Google to search for databases.

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpChallenge: Classical guitarist John Williams has scored the music for only one motion picture. What is the name of the movie?

1. What person would know the answer I am looking for? 2. Where would I find that expert?3. Use Google/Yahoo to get there and then use the proprietary

search engine to go farther.4. To find a relevant database use keywords like DATABASE,

ARCHIVE, INFORMATION in combination with subject matter.5. Use Beaucoup.com to search for databases.

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Recognizing information that’s relevant

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This failure occurs when a student looks at the results returned by a search engine.

Task: Match findings with expectations, evaluate relevance

Information on the Internet is not always found in predictable places.

Computers are made for speed, which encourages haste.

Hyperlinks and graphics can be distracting.

3. Recognizing relevant information

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36% were able to identify web pages that contain supporting research facts from a selection of three pages.

3. Recognizing relevant informationResearch Findings (junior honors students)

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpRecognize relevant information1. Practice reading snippets: Soccer Challenge III

2. Use the FIND Command

Challenge: Find the name of the poem that contains the line to tell just what it knows

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Finding better keywords

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4. Finding better keywords This failure occurs throughout the search process: before the

initial query is submitted and as students look at the results returned by a search engine.

Task: Select and try increasingly specific keywords

Frequently, effective keywords go unnoticed in snippets.

Our claim: Effective searching depends on keyword selection more than any other factor.

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14% of IMSA sophomores used alternate keywords when searching.

7% of junior honors students chose effective alternate words to find information.

4. Finding better keywordsResearch Findings (high school)

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpFind better keywords1. Practice with snippets and thesaurus: Soccer Challenge II

2. Practice with professional vocabulary: Soccer Challenge IV

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Verifying the credibility of information

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5. Evaluating credibility This failure occurs after information has been located.

Task: Check the credibility of information, authorship

Typically, students forego this decision altogether and uncritically accept whatever information they found.

Depending on which database the information was taken from, information may be unedited, unendorsed and inaccurate.

Special operators (link:) makes external evaluation easier.

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0% were able to use special operators to evaluate the credibility of a web page.

5. Evaluating credibilityResearch Findings

High school honors students

College students

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• Access, access, access – “source is easy to understand” (1)– “source is easy to find” (2)– “source is available” (3)

• “When students seem to use sources without discrimination, they are probably using what is most accessible… (no real search is required)”

Investigating the practices of student researchers: patterns of use and criteria for use of internet and library sources

Computers and Composition, Vol. 17, No. 3. (December 2000), pp. 309-328.

Source: http://www.citeulike.org/article/4466

Evaluating information on the Web:

What makes a source most desirable to college students?

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• …up-to-date or recently published information (8)

• …the use of external support, particularly from primary sources (11)

• …the reputation of the publication (5), the author (17), and the publisher (22)

Investigating the practices of student researchers: patterns of use and criteria for use of internet and library sources

Computers and Composition, Vol. 17, No. 3. (December 2000), pp. 309-328.

Source: http://www.citeulike.org/article/4466

Evaluating information on the Web:

What makes a source most desirable to college students?

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What You Can Do To HelpWhat You Can Do To HelpVerify Credibility

External validation of content: Links to this site from other sitesTechnique - link: http://www.edutopia.org

1. Practice using the link: operator Evaluation Challenges

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How, When and Where can skills be taught?How, When and Where can skills be taught?

Performance skills require hands-on practice Search challenges Interactive tutorialsMicroModules (example: FIND COMMAND)Search Wizard

When and Where can I teach these skills?

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keywords:

information fluency

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Professional Development EventsProfessional Development Events• Webinars• Face-to-Face Workshops• Conference presentations – ISLMA, IETC, IPA, ICE• IMSA full circle resource kit (coming Fall 2006)

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Contact Us!Contact Us!URL http://21cif.imsa.edu

General info 21cif@imsa.edu Bob Houston rhouston@imsa.edu Dan Balzer dbalzer@imsa.eduCarl Heine heine@imsa.eduDennis O’Connor doconnor@imsa.eduGautam Saha gsaha@imsa.edu

Thank you for participating!