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new search engines

i think my first use of a search engine was in school and it was alta vista??? or the one that had a really cute dog as its logo?!?! i soon changed to google and revolutionised my search capabilities as google swept me under its wing and opened my eyes to the wide world.
BUT NOW... there is a new wave of search engines that i had no idea existed. at most i would occasionally mix it up a bit by using googleimages or googlescholar on the odd occasion but wow there is so much more out there. so specific and so tailored to my needs. is it restricting by not over-exposing me? is it only because i have well developed search skills that i am able to field off the rubbish from the gold and know where to go at the right time? does sending students to these tailored sites to early prevent them from developing the multiliteracy skills they need to "crap detect" (Howard Rheingold, 2008). perhaps its one of those once you know the rules you can break them type ideas, where there is a time and a place for students to be directed to certain searches and other times where they need to work it out on their own.

iv stumbled across the recently developed www.trove.nla.gov.au website of the National Library of Australia. Brilliant! its relevance and importance to issues relating to education in Australia is perfect for getting me the 'relevant literature' that is sometimes so painful to obtain. here is a search that is so relevant to my needs that it almost rights my assignments for me. but will it tell me if Britney has had her next breakdown?!?!

http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com/2008/08/digital-storytelling-multimodal-writing.html

information literacy - when and how to teach it

if we want our students to critically evaluate all the resources they view and to be able to address questions like who, what, why then exposure is the key. how then, can you restrict students to particular search engines and would this in fact be killing their development of critical literacy skills. obviously depending on age there needs to be some level of scaffolding, guidance and supervision of use of the internet, but perhaps simply teaching the rules of internet etiquitte, what can go wrong with research on the internet, and how to make use of certain search services will be enough to not have to supervise and scaffold too much?
i think if you stop students from using certain searches then you are stopping then your preventing them from the notion of learning through experience.

"what we have to learn we learn by doing" - aristotle.

establishing an understanding with students first about searches on the internet and using information literacy will give them the skills to be able to evaluate when they are left on their own to research. if they can ask the right questions, have a prior baseline of knowledge established by the teacher and can triangulate their research well then they shouldn't need to be confined to the walls of one search engine.

If you want your students to be creative learners then start by being creative as well

I think sometimes we can all get a bit monotonous in our approach to life, we become routine and therefore sometimes become uninspiring to others - you know you have reached this point when no one listens to you. I think its easy for this to happen as a teacher when you are faced with curriculum demands to get things done and to feed our students as much as we can. This pattern doesnt excite or engage learning. multiliteracies can bring a certain energy to the room that your voice and worksheets no longer can!
rather than making students read a chunk of factual text, show them a doco on the topic and get them note-taking. yes reading text and extracting information are important skills that need to be honed but so are listening and viewing skills. when reading a story no longer gets the kids giggling, have them look at digital storytelling or start making their own.
i think multiliteracies are a great way to engage students in their learning, they are able to broaden their skill base as they learn to be critical of these tools.

a teacher using a computer for spelling activities with younger years. great id displayed large so the whole class can work together and watch

collective intelligence clip