Resources available to young students to improve their web inquiry process.

By Caitlin Buddingh

The vast majority of young people have access to the internet. Indeed, for many school projects, starting as young as third or fourth grades, students are expected to search for information on the internet, often without guidance. It is often assumed that because today’s children have grown up with technology, that they have an implicit understanding of how to use online tools. However, this is not necessarily the case. Young learners often conduct only a superficial engagement with online searches. Rather than using the process of online searching to create an understanding of a subject, students will simplify their task into an attempt to find one “correct” answer. Many young people skim a large number of web pages looking for this single answer, rather than reading for understanding. Students online inquiries are often marked by poor search skills, lack of self- regulation, and many students are drawn to distracting online advertisements.

Research has shown that students have difficulty planning out their online inquiry process, and monitoring their progress as they go. In a Singapore based study involving middle school students and historical inquiry, it was found that, “They read the task hastily and then went online. When they found anything related to the topic, they copied and pasted it… They showed little planning before searching, and little revision after pasting the information.”  (Li & Lim, 2008 )  

To address these shortfalls in student research, several tools have been developed to supplement and guide the online research of young students. MetaAnalyzer is one such tool. This web searching tool, described as a “web-search learning environment” (Hwang, Tsai, Tsai,  & Tseng, 2008) This tool records and analyses the key words associated with student’s searches, as well as the websites that they visit. It then condenses this information and presents it to teachers to help them analyze the level of sophistication and learning that the students are at with their online inquiries.

Another student inquiry supplement is VisSearch. This tool helps students visualize their search process by creating a concept map based on their inquiries. VisSearch also applies an algorithm to extrapolate meaningful patterns in the web searches and the resulting web resources.  (Lee, 2005)

IdeaKeeper is a tool that addresses the need for students to conduct a cohesive online inquiry process over a period of several days. Instead of having students work partially online, and partially on pen and paper, (where notes may be insufficient or fragmented) IdeaKeeper integrates several tools within one online environment. There is a tool to help students plan, generate key words for searching, to analyze their results, and to finally synthesize their information.  (Zhang & Quintana, 2012)

It is clear that students are going to continue to be asked to create meaningful research and learning in the online environment. However, it is not necessary that these young people go in to the world of online searches empty-handed. These aforementioned tools, and tools like them, can greatly increase the success of student use of information resources available to them.

References

Hwang, G., Tsai, P., Tsai, C., & Tseng, J. (2008, Sept.). A novel approach for assisting teachers in analyzing student web-searching behaviors. Computers and Education, 51(2), 926-938.

Lee, Y. (2005, May). VisSearch: A collaborative Web searching environment. Computers and Education, 44(4), 423-439.

Li, D., & Lim, C. P. (May 2008). Scaffolding online historical inquiry tasks: A case study of two secondary school classrooms. Computers and Education, 50(4), 1394-1410.

Zhang, M., & Quintana, C. (2012, January). Scaffolding strategies for supporting middle school students’ online inquiry processes. Computers and Education, 58(1), 181-196.