But with so much information easily available, does it make us smarter? Compared to the generations before who had to adapt to the Internet, how are those who grew up using the Internet — the so-called "Google generation"— different?Although there is a relative lack of research available examining the effect of search engines on our brains even as the technology is rapidly dominating our lives, the few studies available do not seem to bode well for the Google generation.
- A 2008 study commissioned by the British Library found that young people go through information online very quickly without evaluating it for accuracy.
- A 2011 study in the journal Science showed that when people know they have future access to information, they tend to have a better memory of how and where to find the information — instead of recalling the information itself. That phenomenon is similar to not remembering your friend's birthday because you know you can find it on Facebook. When we know that we can access this information whenever we want, we are not motivated to remember it.
- The worry for some educators is that the more you (fill in: students) are on your computer, the less likely it is that you will be able to read the material and understand it for a sustained amount of time.
- The Internet holds great potential for education — but curriculum must change accordingly. Since content is so readily available, teachers should not merely dole out information and instead focus on cultivating critical thinking, he says.
- One recommendation is to make questions "Google-proof."
Design it so that Google is crucial to creating a response rather than finding one," he writes in his company's blog. "If students can Google answers — stumble on (what) you want them to remember in a few clicks — there's a problem with the instructional design.
Read the article at here.
This is snipped piece from the British Library link cited above based on research into how children and young people become competent in using the internet and other research tools. Some consistent themes are beginning to emerge. Do you have anything to add or refute?
ReplyDelete• internet research shows that the speed of young people’s web searching means that little time is spent in evaluating information, either for relevance, accuracy or authority
• young people have a poor understanding of their information needs and thus do not develop effective search strategies
• as a result, they exhibit a strong preference for expressing themselves in natural language rather than analyzing which key words might be more effective
• faced with a long list of search hits, young people find it difficult to assess the relevance of the materials presented and often print off pages with no more than a perfunctory glance at them.
Where do you see yourself on this graph? Interesting age differences. Article discovery graph
ReplyDeleteAlthough teachers may try to make their questions more analysis heavy, they need to understand that students will still look information up on Google, but the information students find will be used differently. If a compare and contract question is posed or a question that asks what is the best predicative approach for a certain event, students will still use Google to look up the terms they don't understand. A student will type "predictive approaches" into Google. They'll read up on what it is and from that information they will formulate an answer to the question by analyzing the differences and deciding which approach is best for the situation presented.
ReplyDeleteGoogle will probably never be eradicated from education. Google gives students answers on-the-spot and feeds their need for immediate gratification. Having teachers re-frame question and use Google to their advantage is good because it causes students to search for and learn information on their own. Unfortunately this introduces the possibility of poor sources, but that is an another issue on top of this.
I actually like the ability to look up terms and definitions on a medium like Google. Doing so will allow more time to educate students on the application of knowledge and will give more time to get through the material and practice the concepts. Practicing concepts will promote knowledge to stick and is therefore extremely valuable.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years both teachers and students must have noticed that course work is more often including assignments testing the ability of students to apply knowledge rather than just knowing theoretical concepts by heart.
Also, while in the real world it is appreciated that somebody knows his/her stuff by heart, what really matters is that somebody can find an answer to a problem in a reasonable amount of time and has the ability to apply this knowledge.
In my opinion, a software developer can still be an excellent software developer if (s)he knows the concepts but needs Google to look up the syntax.
I agree with Rebecca that it is tough for Google to be eliminated from the equation from an education perspective and I also agree with Manfred that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Personally I have found Google to be extremely helpful in filling in the gaps in concepts and information that a professor might not have had time to cover in class. I think that educators today might hold disdain for Google because they came from a different generation, when tools like Google did not exist. Just because Googling something is easier than looking in the library for information doesn't mean it is bad. It just means that we are using a new method of gathering information. With that being said, students must be careful to sort through the information wisely because not all sources should be considered equal in terms of validity and accuracy. However, I think overall the power of the Internet will only grow in terms of education. I think it is inevitable that education will continue to evolve to the point that in the future, education will be conducted 100% online. I believe the rise of virtual reality will play a big role in this.
ReplyDeleteIts hard to say whether students are actually getting weaker in their comprehension abilities. There was an interesting TED Talk that analyzed if we have been getting more athletic and it turns out that we have altered our technology to met our performance. Shoe technology has gotten better, running methods have changed, and starting positions have been altered. This is very similar to education. We have new technology that has altered the way we go about things. While we memorize less many times it is knowledge that is easily looked up such as math formulas. Conceptually I believe we are as strong as the past
ReplyDelete