3.+Searching+For...

toc =Searching For...= To be information literate, students must construct effective search queries. As learning has a social context, students need to have access to not only print and electronic resources, but the ability to network with educational leaders and peers through blogs, podcasts, wikis, Ning. and streaming videos.

In a Web 1.0 environment, students had to actively search for the information. The 21st century learner has the information come to him/her. Students can now control the flow of received information by subscribing to RSS feeds and grouping them through an aggregator. They can create their own information spaces using push information technologies, such as blog widgets and iGoogle gadgets, and personal start pages such as NetVibes.

Refiining Your Search
Be picky!

Choosing Keywords
Using a resource site (such as Wikipedia) that you find particularly interesting. Source: NewMediaLiteracies
 * [|Visual Thesaurus] - an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words
 * [|VisuWords] - Produces diagrams in which students can search the meaning of words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts.
 * [|Wordle]- Visualize keywords using the online site Wordle.net.
 * Paste the text in [|Wordle]. In this ** visualization **, some words appear bigger than others. Why? What can you learn from that?
 * Search Google Images for a visual related to your concept. What could you use this for?
 * If you have a [|ManyEyes] account, try running your text through the Word Tree generator. What does it show you? What words are most interesting?
 * Do you have a physical copy of the book you picked? Did you take notes in the book when you read it, or on a different piece of paper? Sometimes notes can work just as well offline as they do online to help you understand a book

Information Sources

 * Databases
 * Microblogging - Twitter and Edmodo [|Edmodo is twitter for education]
 * Blogs
 * Skype - [|Around The World With 80 School Projects (Langwitches)]
 * Mobile Learning - GPS; smart phones - texting, Poll Everywhere ([]) - lets teachers set up questions online and use a Web page to tabulate, graph, and display the results to the class. Students can see, for example, how their answers as a class differ in pre- and post- situations (Horizon Report, 2009). Further reading, [|How Mobile Is Changing Our Society], [|Mobile Learning In Classrooms of the Future], and [|iPhone: 3 Fetures That Will Impact Education]

Self-Directed, Peer-Based Learning
Collaborative environments are virtual workplaces where students and teachers can communicate, share information, and work together (Horizon Report, 2009).
 * Voicethread - Share multiple voices and viewpoints in a single media pages
 * Shared Document Editors - Google Docs, Adobe Buzzword, and wikis
 * Backchannelling
 * Social Networking Tools - Facebook, My Space

Personal Learning Envirnoment
Stop searching - Start networking! "A personal learning environment is a facility for an individual to access, aggregate, configure and manipulate digital artifacts of their ongoing learning experiences" [|(Lubensky).]

> "As we work in a time of rapid change, with students who are digital natives, from within a dramatically new information landscape, the best description of the 21st Century teacher is Master Learner. Participants in this presentation will learn how to utilize a variety of new web-based applications to construct and cultivate personal learning networks. Educators will learn to attract information from other professional educators, experts in the fields of study, current news and news searches, student perspective, relevant resources from a growing library of web-based digital content, and other content sources to assist them in adapting to this age of change." > " What we know is less important than our capacity to continue to learn more. The connections we make (between individual specialized > communities/bodies of knowledge) ensure that we remain current. These connections determine knowledge flow and continual learning." > This hour long conference presentation is full of practical advice from experienced teachers. The opening, the first twenty minutes, is excellent. Alternatively, view the presentation's [|PowerPoint notes].
 * Readings:**
 * 1) [|Personal Learning Networks Are Virtual Lockers for Schoolkids]
 * 2) [|The Art and Technique of Personal Learning Networks] - [|David Warlick]
 * 1) [|Learning Ecology, Communities, and Networks - Extending the Classroom] - George Siemens
 * 1) Stop Searching - Start Connecting: The Art of Building Personal Learning Communities That Deliver - James Folkestad

Developing A PLE
> - Classroom 2.0 > - eclection > - Blue Skunk Blog > - Never Ending Search > - weblogg-ed: learning with the read/write web > - Ted Talks > - Classroom Tech Tips > - 2 cents Worth > > Read [|Nine Reasons to Twitter in Schools] > [|Visual Tweets] (Joyce Valenza) > [|On the librarian: What's the point . . ? The Twitter conversation](Joyce Valenza) > [] > > **Hashtags** > Twitter users often use hashtags (a keyword preceded by a pound sign) such as #yeg (Edmonton) or #ableg (Alberta Legislature), so that people can search them later or follow them live, showing new results as they appear. English Language Arts educators could teach haikus:[|http://search.twitter. com/search?q=%23haiku] and Science students could view different Earth Day celebrations: [|http://search.twitter.com/ search?q=%22Earth+Day%22]. [|Search Twitter] for topics of interest to your content areas. > > Most conferences establish a common Twitter hashtag for attendees to add to their tweets. Adding the specified hashtag allows users to easily access all tweets related to the event. During keynote sessions, etc., a “backchannel” of reactions and comments takes place that can be quite interesting to follow > > There are many apps built upon and around Twitter that make using it more efficient, such as TwitterFon (one of many iPhone apps) and TwitterFox (a Firefox add-on that allows interaction with Twitter via the web browser), Twirl, TweetDeck, etc.. There are also Twitter add-ons; one can use the Twitter service via web, phone, e-mail, etc., without having to visit twitter.com. > > Sources > [] [] []
 * 1) Join a professional social network.
 * 1) Locate blogs you find interesting and start reading them.
 * 1) Subscribe to the blogs Caution: Limit your reader to five to start. Keeping up with more blogs will be difficult.
 * 2) Contribute - Become a part of the conversation and start commenting on the blogs you read.
 * 3) Join the microblogging phenomena by reading Tweets at Twitter. Start by selecting 5 well-known Edubloggers to follow and watch all the great stuff they have to share. In 140 character sound bytes, you can glean a lot of great stuff. Start with prolific bloggers such with willrich45 / Will Richardson, coolcatteacher / Vicki Davis, stevehargadon / Steve Hargadon

Readings
[|Collaboration Tools (EDUCAUSE Connect)]