Drkg’s DIGITAL STORY SANDBOX Please do not copy anything from this…it is here as a sample for you, but not for you to copy from. Do your own research and thinking, please. PART 1: BACKGROUND RESEARCH Goal: Be smart about using information from the Internet that others have published. KEYWORDS • • • • •
Citing Internet information: Best overall keyword Bibliography: Very good; many sources had models for building them, rather than the thinking behind citing. Plagiarism: Too many resources unrelated to my topic; also, many with high-level reading demands. Online source: Poor Quality websites: Poor
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SEARCH ENGINE COMPARISON How well did the search engine help you get to credible information that you wanted to use?
SweetSearch 4me: http://4me.sw eetsearch.co m/
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Excellent results; I could have used just this search engine do to my initial research. The results page actually summarizes the article! All keywords produced GREAT results except the term QUALITY WEBSITES.
How userfriendly/kid-friendly is your search engine?
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Simple, clean search format. Excellent sources for elementary students; each search result had a summary with my keywords highlighted in the results entry. Some results summaries seemed a little complicated for younger elementary.
How functional were the advanced search features that you used?
No advanced search!
How well did the search engine generate results lists that had unique information (rather than the same repetitive results)? • This search produced the most unique results, although OWL was frequently cited here, as it was with all but KidsClick. • Many results were to the SweetDulcinea resources that they have developed and vetted; they are GREAT, so I am OK with this. • I found a few sites that appeared here using Google with all the filters on.
Other features?
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The yellow highlighting of key words is a great feature, to help skim through search results (this is because the site integrates YoLink). This tool has proven, researched, credible sites; this takes the guesswork out of it for young students, while helping teachers be more confident with proven information. There are tools that you click to
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KidsClick: http://www.ki dsclick.org/
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Yippy (formerly
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Not much here, which was a surprise, and only two of my keywords worked with the advanced search. BIBLIOGRAPHY worked; this term took me to NoodleTools! PLAGIARISM worked, but got me to one source at Indiana University that was listed at the Grade 7 level; it was helpful for me, but not for elementary students. Results on this topic were at 7th grade and above.
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Results were good and relevant, but
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Kid-friendly format. Good sources geared toward upper elementary students for citing and using Internet information. Results descriptions have lower reading requirements. Results also show the approximate grade/ reading level
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Three reading levels are searchable. Can search specific URLs, or PBS, for a restricted search. Can limit results by relative density of pictures in the results.
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Very few results, and most of my keywords did not work with Advanced Search. Using the directory, I found a few excellent resources under the Computer Safety category, but nothing lower than Grade 3.
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Lots of relevant information, but
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Can search in multiple
Repetitive with several results that
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(a) bookmark; and/or (b) share to your social media sources, email, GoogleDocs, Run by the School of Library & Information Science at Kent State University; items in the database have to meet strict criteria to be included. Directories help searching efficiency, but were not helpful with my searches. One-page results. There is a Dewey Decimal search, as well as an image and video search available. Lots of kidrelevant options in the advanced search that are unavailable in other engines. The engine “clusters” results
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Clusty): http://search. yippy.com/
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Google advanced search with reading level and safe search filters
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the results were mostly for all age levels, versus for children (even when restricting the keywords); the youngest that came up in initial results were for high schoolers. First search using restricted to children produced a unique way cool result at the Internet Public Library: http://www.ipl.org/ div/special/ (Special Collections You Can Trust). Results were good and relevant, but for all age levels unless I restricted by reading level.
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not much geared to young children without narrowing the search terms (added FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS). Did not produce lower-grade level results well.
Lots of great information, but some results were still too advanced for young learners. The search engine window – where you choose all of the filters – is not kid-friendly, but you can go to the
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languages, by file type, by URL. Can produce different-sized word clouds.
came up with Google.
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The advanced search, reading level, and safe search functions of Google were helpful in restricting results and making my searching more efficient. The search engine
Repetitive with some results that came up with Yippy.
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doing an initial search. Clusters can be re-done by just clicking. These dynamic “directories” were helpful in my searches. Can preview or show each result in word cloud.
Teaching students to set up searches with these filters may be a good thing to do. It is a GREAT thing to use advanced search.
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reading level search site, and make it friendlier.
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– where you choose all of the filters – is not kidfriendly and can generate results that are undesirable. There were many other advanced search variables that I didn’t use this time.
KEY IDEAS Idea 1: Use smart strategies. 1. 2. 3. 4.
know what you are looking for (state your hypothesis or question) fine-tune your keywords don’t get stuck on Google or Wikipedia know what type of product you want to end up with.
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http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Technology/Internet/Dulcineas-Guide-to-Searching-on-the-Web.pg_00.html (Found through SweetSearch) Selected Guide to Web Search. (Found through SweetSearch) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/education/2010/march/The-Top-10-Reasons-Students-Cannot-Cite-or-Rely-onWikipedia.html (10 Reasons Not to Use Wikipedia to Cite or Research) (Found through SweetSearch). http://www.ipl.org/div/special/ (Internet Public Library Special Collections You Can Trust). Neat information…but their larger site has more on my topics. (Found through Yippy) http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/list4thgradcl.html (Research links for 4th graders…nice links!). (Found through Yippy) http://thinktank.4teachers.org/ (ThinkTank: narrow your search and start an outline) (Found through Yippy after doing an advanced search and then asking to find certain keywords in the word cloud, then clicking to another source, and following the breadcrumbs…whew)
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Idea 2: There are penalties for plagiarizing. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Loss of respect for others and self. Reduces your own motivation to work. You don’t learn. You need to check yourself, and schools need to recheck. Some consequences: Loss of Internet privileges at school; police reports; fines.
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http://www.commoncraft.com/video/plagiarism (Commoncraft) (Found through SweetSearch). Cool video explaining plagiarism. http://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/plagiarism/preview.weml (Plagiarism at Brainpop). (Found through SweetSearch). Need to subscribe.http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_plagiarism_faq.html; then choose plagiarism.org (Found through SweetSearch) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/; choose Purdue University's Online Writing Lab: Avoiding Plagiarism (Found through all engines except KidsClick) http://www.ehow.com/facts_5472037_effect-plagiarism-students.html (Effect of Plagiarism on Students, heavy emphasis on secondary but good points about holistic effects) (Found through Yippy) https://fcserver.nvnet.org/~cooper_j/plagiarism/ (Plagiarism Workshop, a self-paced webquest for high school students) Found through Yippy) OWL: Quoting, Paraphrasing, & Summarizing: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/ (OWL at Purdue University) (cited everywhere but KidsClick) OWL Avoiding Plagiarism: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/ (OWL at Purdue University) (cited everywhere but KidsClick)
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Idea 3: Everything that is out there is someone else’s work/idea; to use others’ work, you must cite. 1. Cite everything you find, keeping a good record of where you got your information. Don’t wait to cite it for when you use it…by then, you will have to go back and re-locate the information. 2. To make it part of your routine, try using an online bibliography/citation tool. 3. Use models for building your bibliographies. 4. Everything you find is already copyrighted, whether it says it or not (unless it says it is NOT!). 5. Use free-use material links, to find things that are in the public domain or useable. 6. Don’t just use Wikipedia…and, if you do, be very smart about it. 7. Key things to cite: author, title of article, publication date, website, date accessed, URL (For Internet, use all 6 if possible). •
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http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Technology/Internet/Dulcineas-Guide-to-Searching-on-the-Web.pg_07.html (How to Site a Source) (Found through SweetSearch) Great key ideas and links to just one or two solid sources. Has links to several citation machines. http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Citing-Internet-Information (Citing Internet Information at ask.com) Excellent resources on citing, nicely organized (Found through Google Advanced Search). http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_research_paper.shtml (Writing a Research Paper for your Science Fair Project at Science Buddies) (Found through SweetSearch) Thorough step-by-step, including brief guide to citations. Has an emphasis on science papers, but it is applicable to all kinds of research. http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Education/Plagiarism-Prevention.pg_00.html (Found through SweetSearch) http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/netciteFARQ.html (Citing Internet Information at the Internet Public Library) (Found through SweetSearch) Has links to several citation styles. http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/education/2010/march/The-Top-10-Reasons-Students-Cannot-Cite-or-Rely-onWikipedia.html (Top 10 Reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely on Wikipedia.) Great points about Wikipedia research PLUS just general research. http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml (Found through KidsClick) Note that this requires high-level reading skills, but has nice examples of good and poor paraphrasing. OWL: Documenting Electronic Resources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/584/1/ (OWL at Purdue University) (cited everywhere but KidsClick) http://www.december.com/web/text/tutor/asg.infohunt.html (found in Advanced Google Search). This is an Internet assignment for a student to do, to learn how to locate and cite. http://www.teachervision.fen.com/internet/printable/6396.html (Teacher Vision) (found in Advanced Google Search) Short and sweet.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090307120130AAJ7yhA (Yahoo Answers) (found in Advanced Google Search) Short and sweet, how to cite. http://www.holygrailpress.com/english/id43.html (English 101) (found in Advanced Google Search) Nice summary, but for older students. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/11/reliable-sources-and-citations (Scholastic) (Found through Google Advanced Search) Excellent summary.
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Idea 4: Evaluate a site’s credibility. 1. Check (a) the ownership; (b) if the information is proven with data or research or information that appears in other potentially credible sources; (c) how current it is. 2. Check forward and back links.
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http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Technology/Internet/Dulcineas-Guide-to-Searching-on-the-Web.pg_00.html#00 (Website Credibility). Easy explanations and links to tools. http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/netsafe.html; Montgomery County Public Library, click from here to Evaluating Websites at http://www.multcolib.org/homework/webeval.html Nice explanations. http://education.jlab.org/faq/index.html (Jefferson Lab) (Found through Yippy, Google) Simple explanations of what you can use and what you need to cite. http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm (George Mason University) (Found through Google, Yippy) Complex but succinct explanations. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/11/reliable-sources-and-citations (Scholastic) (Found through Google Advanced Search)
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Idea 5: Use online citation machines and reference tools to build your bibliography. 1. Know what format you should be using (it varies by project and teacher and publication). 2. Use models and resources, to learn how to do it. 3. Try using online social bookmarking sites (like Diigo).
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http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_apa_format_examples.shtml (Science Buddies) (Found through SweetSearch) Gives hints for formatting and correctly citing sources. http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Technology/Internet/Dulcineas-Guide-to-Searching-on-the-Web.pg_07.html (How to Site a Source) (Found through SweetSearch) Has links to several citation machines. Citation Machine: http://www.citationmachine.net/index2.php (Found through SweetSearch) KnightCite: http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php (Found through SweetSearch) SourceAid Citation Builder: http://www.sourceaid.com/citationbuilder/ (Found through SweetSearch) OttoBib: http://www.ottobib.com/ (Found through SweetSearch) CiteBite: http://citebite.com/ (Found through SweetSearch) EasyBib: http://www.easybib.com/ (Found through Google, Yippy)
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Idea 6: Who the real author is of a website? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Use tools to find out. Check some of their other sites, and see what they are all about. Search the author’s name. Find out who links to the site, and see what they are all about. See what the site has been in the past.
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http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Technology/Internet/Dulcineas-Guide-to-Searching-on-the-Web.pg_00.html#00 (Website credibility) (Found with SweetSearch) DomainTools: http://www.domaintools.com/ Alexa: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo WayBack Machine: http://archive.org/index.php
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RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS The BEST of what I have found so far: KEYWORDS THAT WORKED BEST: • •
Citing Internet information: Best overall keyword Bibliography: Very good; many sources had models for building them, rather than the thinking behind citing.
BEST SOURCES OF INFORMATION 1. Finding Dulcinea’s Guide to Web Search: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Technology/Internet/Dulcineas-Guide-toSearching-on-the-Web.html 2. How to Cite Internet Resources at Ask.com: http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Citing-Internet-Information 3. Scholastic: Identifying Reliable Sources and Citing Them: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/11/reliablesources-and-citations
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS TO ANSWER 1. If you don’t see a copyright sign on a website, can you use it without citing the information? Can you copy the information from it and use it? 2. To figure out whether a website is good to use, what do you need to review? Isn’t everything on the Internet OK to use? 3. When you use information from a website, why do you have to check on who built the website, what it says, and how current it is? How do you do this? 4. Name at least one website to use, to give people credit for their work. 5. How can you build a correct bibliography? Give an example of a few citations for your favorite websites. 6. How can you compare websites, to figure out which one is a better one to use?
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