How Teens Do Research in the Digital World
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Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, November 1, 2012. [http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Student-Research.aspx. Accessed 17 July, 2013 and later.]
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Some quotes and excerpts from the Pew Study Report:
These teachers [surveyed in the Pew study] report that students rely mainly on search engines to conduct research, in lieu of other resources such as online databases, the news sites of respected news organizations, printed books, or reference librarians. [p. 2]
Perhaps the greatest impact this group of teachers sees today’s digital environment having on student research habits is the degree to which it has changed the very nature of “research” and what it means to “do research.” Teachers and students alike report that for today’s students, “research” means “Googling.” [p. 3]
Teachers characterize the overall impact of digital technologies on student research skills as “mostly positive” but observe mixed effects [p. 14]
76% of teachers "strongly agree" with the notion that "search engines have conditioned students to expect to be able to find information quickly and easily." [p.17]
[83%] of teachers also agree to some extent that "the amount of information available online today is overwhelming for most students" and that "today's digital technologies discourage students from finding and using a wide range of sources to do their research (71%)." [p. 17]
A majority of teachers "somewhat" or "strongly agree" that the [1] Internet and other digital technologies encourage learning by connecting students to more resources about topics that interest them (31% "strongly agree," 59% "somewhat agree") [2] enabling them to access multimedia content (24% "strongly agree," 52% "somewhat agree") and [3] broadening their worldviews (23% "strongly agree," and 49% "somewhat agree"). [p. 19]
Focus Group Summary comments from the study:
Students may accept the veracity of online information too easily [a focus group summary comment, p. 26].
Students are becoming too reliant on the Internet in lieu of other valuable sources of information [i.e., library databases, books, and journals, p. 27].
Conducting research online can present too many distractions [i.e., social network sites, watching online videos, playing online games, etc] for students, preventing them from fully focusing on the task at hand [p. 28].
The volume of information online can be overwhelming for some students, and students do not have time to winnow through it [p. 29].
Googling = Research
. . . teachers noted that students prefer the Internet because they find it a more interesting and entertaining platform [to do research]. While the Internet is a "cool" place to do reserach, other more traditional sources are preceived as "boring" by students. The Internet offers multi-media content, links to additional information, interactive formats, and textbooks and other print books pale in comparison [p. 35].
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Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, November 1, 2012. [http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Student-Research.aspx. Accessed 17 July, 2013 and later.]
************
Some quotes and excerpts from the Pew Study Report:
These teachers [surveyed in the Pew study] report that students rely mainly on search engines to conduct research, in lieu of other resources such as online databases, the news sites of respected news organizations, printed books, or reference librarians. [p. 2]
Perhaps the greatest impact this group of teachers sees today’s digital environment having on student research habits is the degree to which it has changed the very nature of “research” and what it means to “do research.” Teachers and students alike report that for today’s students, “research” means “Googling.” [p. 3]
Teachers characterize the overall impact of digital technologies on student research skills as “mostly positive” but observe mixed effects [p. 14]
76% of teachers "strongly agree" with the notion that "search engines have conditioned students to expect to be able to find information quickly and easily." [p.17]
[83%] of teachers also agree to some extent that "the amount of information available online today is overwhelming for most students" and that "today's digital technologies discourage students from finding and using a wide range of sources to do their research (71%)." [p. 17]
A majority of teachers "somewhat" or "strongly agree" that the [1] Internet and other digital technologies encourage learning by connecting students to more resources about topics that interest them (31% "strongly agree," 59% "somewhat agree") [2] enabling them to access multimedia content (24% "strongly agree," 52% "somewhat agree") and [3] broadening their worldviews (23% "strongly agree," and 49% "somewhat agree"). [p. 19]
Focus Group Summary comments from the study:
Students may accept the veracity of online information too easily [a focus group summary comment, p. 26].
Students are becoming too reliant on the Internet in lieu of other valuable sources of information [i.e., library databases, books, and journals, p. 27].
Conducting research online can present too many distractions [i.e., social network sites, watching online videos, playing online games, etc] for students, preventing them from fully focusing on the task at hand [p. 28].
The volume of information online can be overwhelming for some students, and students do not have time to winnow through it [p. 29].
Googling = Research
. . . teachers noted that students prefer the Internet because they find it a more interesting and entertaining platform [to do research]. While the Internet is a "cool" place to do reserach, other more traditional sources are preceived as "boring" by students. The Internet offers multi-media content, links to additional information, interactive formats, and textbooks and other print books pale in comparison [p. 35].