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SearchQuest: A WebQuest About Search Tools
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sqteach.html
Designed by
Introduction | Content Areas | Standards | Implementation | Resources | Entry Skills | Evaluation | Variations | Conclusion
As students grow more comfortable with the Web, they often become dependent on one search tool or one search strategy, ignoring the impressive list of options available to them. They may never have learned the basic searching skills they will need in the academic or business worlds. Many students believe that if they simply type in a few words they will retrieve excellent results. Or, they settle for less-than-quality results. This unit is designed to serve as a survey of the various search tools and types of search tools, as well as a review of basic search strategies. It offers students an opportunity to compare and evaluate the search tools.
Students are divided into small groups to become expert in one search tool. After examining and testing that tool, they are asked to prepare an advertisement which will sell their search tool's best features to the class so that it may win one of the revered "Searchie Awards." They must also present the small print, or the negative features of the tool. The winners of the Searchies will be determined by the class following the student presentations.
This unit is designed for 9th through 12th grade students to meet information and technology literacy standards across content areas. It may be adapted for use by younger students by using search tools aimed at upper elementary or middle school students.
This unit addresses several of the goals for information literacy listed in Information Power:Information Literacy Standards for Learning , prepared by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology.
Specifically for:
Information Literacy
Standard 1: The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.
Standard 2: The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently.
Standard 3: The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively.
Social Responsibility
Standard 7: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society.
Standard 9: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.
It also addresses several of the learning goals set in NETS: National Educational Technology Standards, prepared by ISTE, specifically for NETS Standards for Students: 5.Technology research tools and 6.Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools
These information literacy and technology skills have been incorporated into many of the state frameworks for standards in content area learning.
The activities in this unit require students to function effectively as a group members to create a product and to communicate the results of their research creatively to the larger group. The class, as a whole, must listen critically to all presentations and reach consensus.
In this lesson, students work in groups to carefully examine and evaluate a search tool. Following their small group work they present their findings to the class in the form of an advertisement. When all student advertisements are presented the class should be able to vote on the Searchie Awards, evaluating each of the search tools to determine what it really does best.
The lesson should take either one 90 minute block period or two 45 minute standard periods. The time should be divided into thirds, with approximately 1/3 devoted to small group investigation, 1/3 devoted to presentation of the advertisements and 1/3 devoted to discussion and voting on the Searchie Awards. This will also depend a bit on your students' familiarity with the Web.
(To help student understand the vocabulary of Web searching, you may want to review or refer them to the glossary.)
This unit is best presented by a content area teacher in collaboration with the library information specialist, early in the school year as an introduction to content area work which will involve heavy use of the internet. As students select sample searches, the content area teacher may guide students toward experimenting with words and phrases they will be researching later in the term.
As students are working in their small groups, it may be necessary to guide them to features of the search tools they may miss on first glance. (For instance, Excite's Zoom In or AltaVista's translation service.)
Entry Level Skills and Knowledge
Students should have some basic level of literacy with navigating the Web.
Teachers and librarians should have fluency with the basics of Boolean searching, advanced search strategies and familiarity with a variety of search tools.
Students will be evaluated on their group work, completed organizers, and the effectiveness of their advertisement. Criteria for evaluation are listed in the SearchQuest rubric.
If you are working with younger children, you may want to simplify the forms used here and select search tools aimed at younger students: Yahooligans, Ask Jeeves for Kids, KidsClick!
A carpenter would never pick up a hammer to do the job of screw driver. Students too need to know their tools and to be able to determine which ones are right for which jobs.
The Web is likely to become our major source of information in the next century. Students need to know not just how to use it casually, they need to master the strategies that will enable them to use it efficiently and effectively--whether to use a subject directory or a search engine, for instance. They need to know exactly what tools are contained in their tool kits.
I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Last updated on December 31, 2001 by Joyce Valenza
Based on a template from The WebQuest Page