Research and PBL with Digital Tools
Research and information fluency
“Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.” -Wernher von Braun
ISTE•S Standard 3: Research and information fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. Process data and report results
What it really means...
- Question
- Gather information
- Form Conclusions
- Share
- Reflect
a. Plan Strategies to Guide Inquiry
Kidspiration Maps
Popplet
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
Learning In Hand with Tony Vincent
The Noun Project
Open Clip Art
Create your own images
Google It!
UPDATE
Images > Search Tools > Labeled for reuse
Advance settings on Google Search is not available unless the user chooses to view in desktop mode. This happens in the last two versions of Chrome as well as with Safari.
safe search
KidsClick
Kid Rex
KIdtopia
Kidzsearch
Sweet Search
GoGooligans
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
While you always need to question the information and consider its historical context, there are some specific questions to ask when you're evaluating websites.
Because anyone can post information on the web, every search will give you a range of reliable and unreliable results. To decide whether a website is reliable, ask yourself:
- Who made the site? You should be able to contact them through an ‘About us' or ‘Contact' section.
- What does the domain name tell you? Has the site been made by a reputable organisation?
- gov.au = government site
- edu.au = education site
- org.au = public organisation, usually non-profit.
- What's the purpose of the site? Is it designed purely to give information, or is it trying to sell you something?
- Is the site well designed and easy to use? Do all the links work? When was it last updated? Reliable sites are usually fully functional and regularly updated.
For example
There are a range of non-profit, government and media sites that provide reliable and free information on various topics. They often have common elements in their domain names.
As a general rule, in Australia look for:
http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/research-skills/select-resources/evaluate-websites
Create a Symbaloo
Symbaloo...a safe way to search for your students
- Go to the Symbaloo website
- Create a Free accoount of Login
- Verify the account through email
- On the black tab bar, click the + to create a new Symbaloo
- Name the Symbaloo
- Click the Add button
- Click on a blank tile
- Choose Create a tile on the Edit tile pane
- Paste the link of the research website in the address box
- Complete the info for the tile
- Click save
To share with students
- Click the Share button
- Click Share my Webmix
- Copy the link and share with students
d. Process data and report results
Haiku Deck - only for 13 and older
Vidra
Vidra by Ten Touch Ltd.
Keynote
Research Project - Animals
Access to Websites
Labeling the Image
Skitch
Ways to Organize your Research
PBL/CBL
Project Based Learning
"What Is Project Based Learning (PBL)?" What Is PBL? Buck Institute for Education, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. <http://bie.org/about/what_pbl>.