Sorting Out The Nuggets Of Your Wants

SORTING OUT THE NUGGETS OF YOUR WANTS Kevin Forgard - background research, designer Yan Huang - needs analysis and DEEP researcher, designer Mehkta Waney - developmental research, designer Please email [email protected] for handouts and powerpoint. Our project involves designing instruction for the Digital Entrepreneurship and Excellence Program (DEEP) to help South Syracuse at risk middle school students meet basic information literacy needs through the use of game style web searches and website evaluation exercise. The instruction will be implemented as part of an after school program at Frazer School.

Needs Assessment Although today's young 'Google generation' has been assumed to possess particular technology skills over previous generations, they still seem to lack the ability to critically use the internet as part of their education (British Library and JISC, 2008; Vaidhyanathan, 2008). For instance, these children might have grown up with computers, cell phones and broadband internet access, but they may not know exactly how to find information they are seeking, nor how to adequately evaluate a website once they do find what they are looking for (ibid). Therefore, through our initial research, our group identified a performance gap within these relating to search capabilities and critical website evaluation skills   Goals and Objectives Instructional Goal #1:

Objectives:

Engage students in developing Boolean  search techniques and using keywords  in web searches. 

 To introduce students to the Boolean  search concepts of ‘AND’, ‘OR’, and  ‘NOT’ using the boolify.org website    To teach students cognitive search  strategies using keyword searches   When researching the web for  academic information, students will  be able to efficiently locate 

Instructional Goal #2

appropriate materials  Objectives:

Engage students in website evaluation   When students are presented with a  technique using the 5 ‘w’ question words  website, they will be able to evaluate  as they relate to the evaluation terms  it using the ‘w’ question words  accuracy, authority, objectivity, and   To help students learn the terms  currency.  accuracy, authority, objectivity, and  currency (AAOC) as they relate to  website evaluation   Students will be able to discriminate  between hoax and real websites  when presented with a website  Target Audience Demographic Profile The target audiences in our program are students from grade 6 – 8 in a city school of Syracuse (Frazer School). Their background culture is very diverse. Based on the information from school website, students in Frazer School represent seventeen different language groups. However, the students use English as the main language in school. The class capacity for DEEP after school program is 10 – 12 students, 20 at most.

Computer Skills Based on focus group interview with several students in Frazer School, we acquired information about their computer activities. Most of them use Windows Operating System in their computers (or their family computers) to facilitate their personal interests such as, listening to music, watching movies, playing games (including online games), as well as doing their homework (e.g. completing social survey, using PPT presentation). They use computer also for downloading files from various sources throughout the cyber. They point out that they are accustomed to YouTube (a video sharing website) and social networking website such as MySpace (they have their own accounts). Some of their homework required them to utilize internet to

download and complete survey. Two of the students stated in the interview that they are able to use Photoshop CS3 and movie editing software. From that point, we may conclude that students have basic knowledge on everyday usage of computers and internet.

Technologies 

Our lesson plans use PowerPoint for the lecture materials, Internet access and a projector



Students will need internet access to complete and participate for each lesson’s objective activity

Challenges During our course development process our group faced several challenges in determining the best lesson plan design for the two instructional goals. Considering the fact that students may not work too hard on after school program and that some of them don't have computer at home, we post less reading on the lesson plan but reading is still time-consuming during class. The after-school class needs to be fun. Therefore, we try to add as many fun materials as possible to the plan.  Another challenge involved distributing the various tasks among our group members through minimal contact. Once we had a clear determination of our instructional goals we had to email our developmental concept between members of the group, which slowed our communications. Additionally, we quickly began to see the time involved in creating lesson plans with accompanying PowerPoint slides. After spending several hours of instructional development past the workflow stage, one lesson took several hours. A technical challenge we faced resulted from working with Mac and PC operating systems, which created some formatting inconsistencies and email file sharing issues.  

Results Despite the minor challenges, our group has developed two (2-period) lesson plans to meet our instructional goals and learning objectives. Through the process our group was

able to schedule time to plan, design, and develop the lesson plans that stretched our creativity and capabilities past a comfort point demonstrating that we can design instruction to help improve young learner’s information literacy skills. Each of our members was able to produce pieces while seamlessly integrating our independent work into a collective organization as exemplified in the lesson plans. In retrospect, our group would have found more time to meet and better utilize the communication technologies to manage our pieces from a distance. Furthermore, as instructional design students learning processes such as ADDIE, we would have utilized this method from the beginning to both better plan and manage our workloads.

Reflection Through our collaboration, our group members were excited about helping the students at Frazer School improve their informational literacy skills through our guided instructional strategy. Furthermore, we were truly able to understand the meaning of group work through organizing meetings, e-mailing suggestions and negotiating a learning process as a sum of our endeavors – not just the product of one person. The process had its challenges, but through the production of our final output, our hard work amounted to lesson plans that will impact the learners tremendously. Through our group effort we gained a better understanding of the instructional design process. As we learned about the ADDIE design model in the IDE631 class, we were able to immediately apply and configure it to our project. The greatest impact, however, came from experiencing the flexibility of instructional design theory such as ADDIE, which demonstrated that instructional design is not always linear, nor is a simple process. Our process began with one group member, who visited Frazer School, explain his impressions of the students’ technology skills and how our instruction might impact and assist them in being more aware of the online world. It ended with lessons that we believe will impact the students by providing them with ways to be more informational literate. Our biggest challenge however, was the development process. During this time, we used the Association  of  College  &  Research  Libraries (ACRL) information literacy standards to provide a theoretical framework, and attempted to interpret particular elements to underlie lesson development. After brainstorming, we then grappled with how to create

instructional goals and objectives, and also how to interpret these objectives into a lesson plan. In our project development, we had to meet face-to-face on several occasions, which challenged us to arrange times within our schedules. Nevertheless, we were able successfully complete our development. Despite the challenges of meeting and creating a lesson plans, we had fun during the whole process. We realized that to make a course fun, the materials must at least amuse us first. We had a lot of fun when hunting for the hoax website and other class activities. Our group also feels confident in our project and realizes the importance of its deliverables. This realization is amplified by the fact that our lesson plans will be used for the DEEP project to assist actual learners. To be able to generate content for use in a real life setting provides both the motivation and opportunity to apply what we have learned through this class and others in the IDD&E program. In this collaborative effort, a crosspollination of ideas from our outside experiences and experiences in other IDD&E classes occurred leaving us with an even richer understanding as to what it means to be instructional designers.

Project Deliverables

Boolify and Why  : Sorting out the  Nuggets of your Wants (Pt. I)    Creators:  Kevin Forgard, Yan Huang, Mehkta Waney    Brief Description:  This lesson focuses on teaching students Boolean operators to  assist them in conducting more effective search outcomes.    Instructional Goal:  Engage students in developing Boolean search techniques    Learning Objectives:   

To  introduce  students  to  the  Boolean  search  concepts  of  ‘AND’,  ‘OR’,  and  ‘NOT’ using the boolify.org website  



To teach students cognitive search strategies using keyword searches 



When researching the web for academic information, students will be able to  efficiently locate appropriate materials 

  Grade level: 6‐8     Lesson Time: Two 1‐hour afternoon classes – Divided as ‘Lesson One’ and ‘Lesson  Two’    Tools needed:   

 



PowerPoint (slides provided at this link) 



Projector 



Computer workstations with Internet access 



Hand outs (provided) 

Content  Lesson 1  Introduction:  Lesson One:   Introduce issue by prompting students to  search on Google the phrase: “Exercise  training schedule”.    Boolean Search – Website  Evaluation

    Ask learners:   Questions to ask students  ‘How many results did you get?’  (Should be around 2.4 million);   ‘Would you read all of these results or  just a few?’  ‘Does this search help you find what  you are looking for?’  ‘How can we better search to make it a  little easier?’ 

Compare personal experience  informally to engage students in  discussion  When I search, I find…    Share first online search experiences    Discuss personal search challenges    A rhetorical question to lead to the  lesson objectives 

  State lesson objectives:   Learning Objectives ‐ Boolean:  Conduct an Internet searches using 

Boolean operators; AND, OR, and NOT.  Choose the best ‘keywords’ when doing 

internet searches.  Understand how to use Boolean

operators to narrow or broaden Internet  searches.

 

  Body: 

In this class you will be introduced to the  ‘Boolean Operators’ of ‘AND’, ‘OR’, and ‘NOT’.    We will also discuss how to choose the best  ‘keywords’ when doing internet searches.    This way, when you want to find something  online for personal searches or for a  homework assignment you can easily find  what you are looking for.    Or, as we like to say: “Sort out the nuggets of  you wants” 

Lecture:  Focus  student  attention  on  the  Venn  diagrams  on  the  PowerPoint slides.    Each  slide  represents  the  various  operators.  After  the  brief  lecture,  show  a  Venn  diagram on the slide and ask students to tell the difference between ‘AND’ ‘OR’  and ‘NOT.    

The AND operator highlighted in  the first slide as an overlap 

A and B 

A

B

 

The OR operator as it combines  both search words 

A or B

B A

 

The NOT operator as it takes away  one search word 

A not B

B

A

 

The double AND to combine and  get the smallest search target 

A and B and C

A

B C

 

Combining  AND  and  NOT  to  get  a  smaller search target 

A and B not C

A

B C

 

Combining  OR  and  NOT  to  get  a  larger search target 

A or C not B

A

B C

 

  Activity 1 (experiencing Boolean operators):   Using  the  color  paper  handout  of  green  squares,  green  circles  and  purple  circles;  randomly  distribute  the  various  pieces  to  the  class  (1  per  student).   This  exercise  will  help  give  students  the  experience  of  working  with  Booleans on a basic level.    The  PowerPoint  slides  will  prompt  the  students  to  stand  up  based  on  the  varying  operators.  After  the  activity  ask  students  to  discuss  how  this  might  help with internet searching.  (see: handout_1‐1.pdf)         Activity 2 (teacher demonstrating the Boolify website):  

Guidance: 

Teacher  prompts  students  to  the  Boolify.org  website  and  guides  them  through a ‘typical search’ with the operators ‘AND’ ‘NOT’ ‘OR’.  Scene: Do not recall the name of a movie but know that the leading character  is called Noodles. Try to find out the name of the movie.  (Noodles NOT food  BUT movies OR person AND America/Mafia)   

Keywords

Dove

Noodles

Chocolate

Food

Soap

 

  

Noodles

  

Movie

 Note the number of the searching result.    

Student practice: 



Show the PowerPoint slide picture of a  dolphin and ask students “What do  dolphins eat?”  Prompt students to search for  ‘dolphins’ 

dolphin

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys‐images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/04/17/dolphin11a.jpg

 

  Conclusion:  Feedback/Reflection:  Ask  the  class  what  their  search  results  were  –  noting  how  ‘dolphins’  also  yield  the football team.  Ask students if they have any questions and review the concepts of the Boolean  operators and keywords.  Direct students to the webpage     Lesson 2 – independent student work 

Introduction:   Ask students why keywords are important in  Keywords

searching?  Emphasize how they can make a  difference in searching for information online.  

Dove

Chocolate

Also review Boolean operators showing how  keywords and the operators are related (see 

Soap

 

slide) showing that these two factors are what  help students efficiently search. 

  Activity 1 – prompt students to the keyword challenge webpage   http://21cif.imsa.edu/tutorials/challenge/Q2Q/KeywordChallenge.swf  During  the  exercises  check  to  see  how  learners  are  doing.  Answer  some  of  the  questions  that  come  out  during  the  activity.  Look  at  the  response  and  see  whether they’ve mastered the concept.  Discussion the keyword strategy    Activity 2  –  Explain  to  the  students  that  they  have  done  a  great  job,  but  search  involves more of a challenge. I want you to select a career that you're genuinely  interested in and one that you'd like to learn more about.  Search for information  about a career.  Name: _______________________

Date: _______________________

Direction: First, think of a career that you would love to learn more about.  Write the title of the career in the  center bubble.  Next, brainstorm words or phrases to describe the career or aspects of the career that you are  interested in finding out more about.  Write those words or phrases in the outside bubbles.  Good luck and be  creative! 

 

Hand out the “Brainstorm career  worksheet”. Ask students to choose a  career and find 10 keywords related  to that career.    For example, if you want to be a  teacher, then write ‘teacher’ in the  center. Then write ‘Primary school’,  ‘salary’, ‘New York’  (See: handout_1‐2.jpg) 

  Ask students to search using the various keywords on Boolify.org – combining  the various Boolean operators.  Students present their findings to the class. 

  Conclusion:  Feedback/Reflection: prompt students to the website to write about their  experiences about the exercise and evaluate the lesson.  Discuss how they can transfer this information into their academic studies or real  search in the cyber.   

Boolify and Why  : Sorting out the  Nuggets of your Wants (Pt. II) 

       

  Creators:  Kevin Forgard, Yan Huang, Mehkta Waney    Brief Description:  This lesson focuses on teaching students Boolean operators to  assist them in conducting more effective search outcomes.    Instructional Goal:  Engage students in developing Boolean search techniques    Learning Objectives:   

When students are presented with a website, they will be able to evaluate it  using the ‘w’ question words 



To help students learn the terms accuracy, authority, objectivity, and currency  (AAOC) as they relate to website evaluation 



Students will be able to discriminate between hoax and real websites when  presented with a website 

  Grade level: 6‐8     Lesson Time: Two 1‐hour afternoon classes – Divided as ‘Lesson One’ and ‘Lesson  Two’    Tools needed:    

PowerPoint (slides provided at this link) 



Projector 



Computer workstations with Internet access 



Hand outs (provided) 

  Content   Lesson 1  Introduction:  Have students visit the website http://www.nytimes‐se.com/  Ask students to review the site by eliciting questions such as:   Do you think this is real?    What makes you think this is a fake website?  Note the date and any other irregularities on this website.    State Lesson Objectives:   In this class we will discuss how to  evaluate a website by asking certain  questions about this website. This will  help you learn the difference between  real and hoax websites. 

Learning Objectives – Web Evaluation : Introduce web evaluation standards 

using 5 Ws Know the differences between hoax

and real website.

    Body:  Lecture:  Focus student’s attention by asking what the question words are.   Hand out paper “The Five W’s of Web  Five W’s for Website Evaluation Site Evaluation” and note how  questions elicit more information.  W – Who (See: handout_2‐1.pdf)  W – What  W – When W – Where W – Why 

      Note the vocabulary of Authority, Objectivity, Currency, and Accuracy  (AAOC)  Ask students what these words mean and explain how they relate to the w  questions.  Use the PowerPoint slides to help students understand the  concepts visually. 

For example:   Authority relates to who is presenting  the information. 

AUTHORITY

  Ask students to look at this slide, what  do you think have more authority? 

vs

  Objectivity relates to whether  information is biased or not. 

OBJECTIVITY

 

  CURRENCY

  1993 1989

1999

1996

Currency relates to how current the  information is. 

2006

2003

  ACCURACY

Accuracy relates to how correct the  information is 

   

Lead students through the questions on the http://www.nytimes‐se.com/ or  have them choose their favorite website.  Ask: what other questions might you ask to tell if a website it real?    Can websites look true, but not be accurate? 

  Activity 1:  Distribute worksheet: “Evaluating Websites” to individual or pairs of  students.  Have them complete the worksheet. (see: handout_2‐2.doc)  Assign website from this list to each student (or pair).  They are all hoax sites.  http://zapatopi.net/afdb/  http://descy.50megs.com/descy/webcred/webcred/dhmo.html  http://www.bigredhair.com/boilerplate/  http://descy.50megs.com/akcj3/bmd.html  http://www.fulkerson.org/ancestors/buyanancestor.html  http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html  http://www.dhmo.org/  http://improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html  http://web.archive.org/web/20011009000114/www.goldengatetunnel.com /  http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html  http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html  http://city‐mankato.us/  http://www.dreamweaverstudios.com/moonbeam/moon.htm  http://www.weathergraphics.com/tim/fisher/  http://www.ovaprima.org/  http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/  http://improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume1/v1i1/barney.htm  http://descy.50megs.com/descy/webcred/webcred/Fredericton.html    Conclusion:    Feedback/Reflection:  After students answer the questions, they should present their website to the class  explaining why they think the site a hoax.  Encourage them to use the standards  and elicit questions that related back to the AAOC.   

Lesson 2 – Online practice  Activity 1:  Have students go to this website for a tutorial  www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm  Be sure they take the quiz.    Activity 2:  Students choose their favorite website to review.  They must also create  evaluation questions that relate to and are justified by the 5 W’s and AAOC.   The students then answer the questions related to their website.  Finally, they present the website to the class with their questions stating that  the website is good or bad based on their evaluation.    Reference:  Teacher: http://www.dorisday.net/assets/images/doris‐day‐teacher%27s‐pet3.jpg  Girl:  http://www.snowmassvillage.com/files/images/kids%20face%20pntng%205944.j pg  Dart: http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/unbranded/m/unbranded‐ magnet‐dart‐board.jpg         

References British Library and JISC. (2008). Information behavior of the researcher of the future: A cyber briefing Paper. Retrieved October 2, 2008 from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/gg_final_keynote_1 1012008.pdf

Frazer School Website. Retrieved October 4, 2008 from http://weblink.scsd.us/~frazer/index1.htm

Vaidhyanathan, S. (2008, September 19). Generational myth: Not all young people are tech-savvy. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(4), p B7. Retrieved October 2, 2008 from http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i04/04b00701.htm