Teacher’s Notes
Lesson 1: Technology and the Research Process
Background Information
In today’s lesson, you will explain the steps in the research process and introduce
a few basic online tools that will help your students with their research. The Tech Tools featured in this lesson, Bloglines, keyword searches, Google Notebook, and wikis, are discussed in more detail below.
Bloglines
Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com) is a free online news aggregator that enables users to gather content that interests them (such as a personal Web page or a Web feed from a prominent newspaper) in one place. Users can receive content from millions of Web feeds (data streams that are updated frequently), blogs, and other Internet resources as well as gather images and audio files. Bloglines, which updates its Web feeds every hour, facilitates topic search, too.
After they subscribe to the Web feeds that interest them, users can share information with others by allowing Bloglines to publish their subscriptions or by creating a clipblog (a blog into which a user can cut and paste other interesting blogs) or a blogroll (a list of links to other blogs).
Bloglines users can create their own Bloglines Web page, which displays links to all the Web feeds to which they have subscribed. The user also can subscribe to feeds by e-mail and even use a tool called Bloglines Saved Searches; Bloglines will send articles on the chosen topic as soon as they are published.
Bloglines is available in ten languages, so it might be a useful tool for English-language learners. Users can even use a mobile version of Bloglines on cell phones and handheld computers.
Keyword searches
One of the simplest ways to find information on a topic is to conduct a keyword search. The user types a keyword into a search engine, an online database, an RSS feed (or any other kind of feed), an online museum’s search field, or other searchable Web tools to find links, information, or both on a topic. Depending on the tool used, the user might find thousands of links to sort through, so keywords should be chosen carefully. The more specific the keyword, the better.
Google Notebook
Students can create a Google account and then an online mini-notebook in which they can keep track of Web resources, take notes, and copy and paste information from word-processing documents or directly from Web pages. The notebook appears in the lower corner of the screen and can be used without even closing the browser window. The user can even create multiple notebooks and move notes from one notebook to another. Users can sign up for a Google Notebook account by going to http://www.google.com/notebook and downloading the browser extension.
Wikis
Wikis are computer programs that allow users to add to or edit Web pages. Probably the best known wiki is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. In the classroom, wikis are useful for students who are collaborating on a group project.
Schools and even individual classes can create free wikis by using sites such as PBwiki (http://www.pbwiki.com), which has templates that facilitate creating a wiki. Business and individual-user wikis made by using PBwiki host advertisements, but educators can choose to make their wikis ad-free. Wikis are password-protected, so someone outside the school cannot alter a wiki unless given the password.
For even more control, users can purchase a PBwiki premium plan, which enables them to grant either editing or read-only access to their wiki. PBwiki has white papers that teach educators how to use a wiki and how to teach their students to use one. Furthermore, a user can send questions by e-mail to the site manager.
Lesson Plan
Objective for Lesson 1: Students will be introduced to the steps in the research process and to a few technology tools that will help them with their research.
Introducing the lesson
• List common types of information that students frequently look for and explain that this is research at an informal level.
• Invite students to talk about types of research they have previously done for school. Encourage them to share by asking them questions such as these: What were their topics? How did they publish their work? What went well? What seemed difficult about the process?
Presenting the lesson
Use the information provided in the slides to explain the research process. Reinforce the idea that students will use some of the research strategies that are discussed in the introduction. Listed below are some ways to extend the discussion.
• Discuss the research subject presented in the lesson and help students think of other subjects that might be appropriate for classroom research. Encourage students to think of current subjects that affect their everyday lives. As a group, you might practice narrowing down one of these subjects to arrive at a specific topic.
• Look at the description on its home page of what Bloglines offers its users. In future lessons, you will explore how to use Bloglines to set feeds for certain sites or topics of interest. If you already have a Bloglines account, show your students how you use it to access information.
• Ask students to consider the possible audience and purposes for their research projects. Have them identify real people, other than the teacher, who will read their work. One easy way to give students an authentic audience and purpose is to post students’ work on a school or classroom Web site where it can be accessed by students, faculty, parents, and others outside the immediate class.
• With your students, brainstorm additional research questions the students could ask about Marie Curie or another topic the class has been discussing during the lesson.
• Ask students where they would typically go to find information. They may say they would use a search engine such as Google. Explain that using Google is just one way of finding sources, but there are many other good ways to identify print and digital sources of information. Discuss the sources listed in the presentation and briefly identify sources of information that are available to your students through your school’s library media center. You might begin discussing the types of sources you expect students to use in their research.
• Regardless of whether students are using digital or print sources, it will be important to identify keywords to use when searching. Help students brainstorm keywords to use when searching for information about Marie Curie or another topic you have been discussing in class.
• Reiterate the importance of listing sources, especially when using the Internet, so that students can relocate Web sites easily when the need arises. Remind students that, at the end of the project, they will need to hand in a list of all the sources they have used.
• Compare research project note taking to other note-taking experiences students have had in your classroom or other classrooms. Invite students to discuss previous experiences with taking notes. Explain that the specific format described in this lesson is similar to graphic organizers or other tools they have already used.
• Visit Google Notebook (http://www.google.com/notebook) and show students how the tools are similar to any word-processing software they might have used. You might quickly demonstrate how to take notes in the space provided. You will return to Google Notebook for more in-depth instruction in later lessons.
• Inform students that the thesis statement, mind mapping, and outlining are all tools that will help them focus and organize their draft so they can write effectively for their audiences.
• Ask students to identify good drafting strategies they have used before. These might include writing effective leads or thesis statements, developing paragraphs with a clear main idea and strong supporting details, transitioning smoothly between paragraphs, and using effective organizational strategies.
• Help students understand that publishing simply means getting the final product in front of its intended audience. Ask them to think of other publishing possibilities aside from the ones listed on the slide. Discuss publishing possibilities that interest your students.
• Have students take a close look at the wiki from the presentation. Ask them which features they notice a wiki offers its users. Encourage students to consider what audience the wiki was intended for, what guiding question or purpose the students might have started with, and how effective this form of publication was for meeting the intended purpose.
• Find out what experiences students have had with wikis. For example, ask them what they already know, how comfortable they are with this type of publishing, and whether they visit or edit wikis on a regular basis.
Talk About It
When discussing the first question—Why is it necessary to follow a structured process when conducting and publishing research?—help students think of other activities during which it is important to follow a process. An analogy might help students think of every step in the research process as vital. Present this analogy: If a cook making a cake failed to mix the ingredients (skipping a step) or added sugar after the cake batter was cooked (changing the order of steps), the result would be disappointing at best. Similarly, if a student fails to find reliable sources or tries to organize his paper only after he has already drafted it, his resulting work will be disappointing because he did not follow the research process.
Bloglines, Google Notebook, and wikis all have many features, more than students will have time to touch on in the classroom. Have students discuss how they could use these tools in other areas of their lives, so that they will see the possibilities beyond school-related research projects. Seeing other applications may excite them about using the tools and make the research process more enjoyable.
Your Turn
If your classroom does not have computer access, help your students complete the assignment by arranging to take them somewhere that does have computer access, perhaps the school library or the community library. If you decide to have students complete the activity outside of the classroom, ask whether students have computers at home or whether they know someone who has a computer that they can use. If it is not possible for students to use computers to complete the assignment, have them use the card catalog at the local library to search for and narrow topics.
Following Up on the Lesson
• Ask students to list the steps in the research process with which they feel most and least comfortable. Have them explain why they feel that way.
• Using a computer or a piece of paper, have students brainstorm a list of at least ten topics they might like to research for the current project or for a future project. Encourage students to think of narrow topics as opposed to broad subjects. Have them indicate their top three choices.
• Using a computer and projector, take notes on a Web site of your choice. You might demonstrate Google Notebook to show students how to copy and paste important information. (Prior to the lesson, be sure to sign up for an account and install the browser extension.)
Research Strand
You might use the fifteen Writing and Research in a Digital Age lessons to guide your students through a complete research project. If so, you will need to make decisions about the type of project you want your students to complete and whether it will be a whole-group, small-group, or individual project. The Teacher’s Notes for each lesson will offer practical hints to help you keep the project moving.
For this lesson, tell students that they will be completing a research project over the next several weeks (or whatever time frame you have chosen). Tell them this lesson will give them an overview of the research process and will introduce them to several tech tools that will help them in their work. Ask them to start thinking about topics for their research projects.
Differentiated Experiences
Challenge
Have students think of other technology tools that might help them in the research process. Many technology tools will be introduced in later lessons, but it will be useful to students to start thinking of how to use them now.
Extra Support
Help students create a mnemonic device that will help them remember the steps of the research process. If they are not sure of the process, give them this example: “My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas” (the mnemonic device to remember the order of the planets).
If you do not have time for students to create their own mnemonics, present this mnemonic for them to use:
Because nervous Pat and Teresa quake seriously, they need to order dinners people find relaxing.
[B=broad, N=narrow, P=purpose, A=audience, T=tone, Q=questions, S=sources, T=track, N=notes, T=thesis, O=organize, D=draft, P=publish, F=feedback, R=refine/reflect]
The steps of the research process are:
1. Think of a broad topic that interests you.
2. Narrow the topic into one that is appropriate for a research project.
3. Decide on the purpose of your research project.
4. Decide on the audience for your research project.
5. Decide on the tone of your research project.
6. Write research questions to guide your work.
7. Choose sources of information that are relevant, reliable, recent, and representative.
8. Keep track of your sources by assigning each a number and recording its bibliographic information.