Is Google bad for students?

[wolfparade]

Disclaimer: I work for a website that hopes to make online research easier and more fruitful for students.

I'm wondering what people in this topic think about education and the Internet. For librarians, parents and teachers, are you comfortable with your kids doing a research project using Google? Do they find worthwhile results? Wikipedia so often comes up first in Google. Does this make you cringe, or do you think it's OK?

What are some good websites that you direct kids and adults to, whether you're a parent, teacher, librarian, or just a web-savvy person?

 

[Diuretic]

I don't see Google as being anything other than a big index system. It's neutral (well except for its methods of getting revenue but that's another issue). What is important is teaching children how to critically evaluate websites. A rubbish website is analogous to a rubbish book, children have to develop the ability to spot the crap.

Wikipedia - I don't understand the disdain some people have. It's open, yes, sometimes it's abused but it's a very useful resource. Again I'd be teaching students critical appraisal and to use the included links to springboard off to other points of inquiry.

 

[KittenKoder]

Actually, Google and any access to a computer is bad for students ... it causes them to think less but accomplish more. Thus they are use to cheating and not having to process information as well. Thus one reason many students are now "dumb as bricks."

 

[Modbert]

I don't see Google as being anything other than a big index system. It's neutral (well except for its methods of getting revenue but that's another issue). What is important is teaching children how to critically evaluate websites. A rubbish website is analogous to a rubbish book, children have to develop the ability to spot the crap.

Wikipedia - I don't understand the disdain some people have. It's open, yes, sometimes it's abused but it's a very useful resource. Again I'd be teaching students critical appraisal and to use the included links to springboard off to other points of inquiry.

Exactly right on the money Diuretic. Wikipedia offers many links that are sometimes hard to find elsewhere and I myself have gotten plenty of information from them.

 

[Annie]

I will allow my students to use a wiki in order to find 'authoritative sources'. Meaning with an author that has creds listed. Wikipedia is a jumping off place, not a destination.

 

[Modbert]

I will allow my students to use a wiki in order to find 'authoritative sources'. Meaning with an author that has creds listed. Wikipedia is a jumping off place, not a destination.

However, it is a good place if you want basic information or facts.

All the time people talk about how Wikipedia is bad, inaccurate,etc but I've never seen such a thing on Wikipedia.

 

[HelloDollyLlama]

Anything that exposes kids to all the facts they want is a good thing. Another crack in the wall of ignorance. The fewer ignorant people, the fewer Republicans. Double score!

It is still up to teachers to teach them critical thinking, which American teachers actually do better than their foreign counterparts.

 

[KittenKoder]

Anything that exposes kids to all the facts they want is a good thing. Another crack in the wall of ignorance. The fewer ignorant people, the fewer Republicans. Double score!

It is still up to teachers to teach them critical thinking, which American teachers actually do better than their foreign counterparts.

The problem is they don't learn how to understand or utilize the information if they don't have to work for it. Most just copy and paste from what I have seen, and many brag about cheating on tests successfully instead of actually knowing the answers.

 

[wolfparade]

However, it is a good place if you want basic information or facts.

All the time people talk about how Wikipedia is bad, inaccurate,etc but I've never seen such a thing on Wikipedia.

But how do you KNOW? Students can't know on their own whether "facts" in Wikipedia are facts or fiction.

 

[Modbert]

But how do you KNOW? Students can't know on their own whether "facts" in Wikipedia are facts or fiction.

No different then any other website.

I could give you a Liberal website and a Conservative website on the 2008 election and analysis of it. Which side on each website do you think is going to be painted better?

 

[Modbert]

The problem is they don't learn how to understand or utilize the information if they don't have to work for it. Most just copy and paste from what I have seen, and many brag about cheating on tests successfully instead of actually knowing the answers.

Being in school still, I can attest to the fact that it's quite difficult to just copy and paste any sort of work from wikipedia. Especially all a teacher has to do is type in a line or two and see if it comes up.

And many kids will always cheat on tests and will always come up with new ways to do so.

 

[Annie]

However, it is a good place if you want basic information or facts.

All the time people talk about how Wikipedia is bad, inaccurate,etc but I've never seen such a thing on Wikipedia.

Fine for a messageboard, but not for a report or term paper. Not sourced. Of course when they are, go to the source, that's what I require. I want a bibliography and I'm not going through wiki sources, the kids must do that.

 

[HelloDollyLlama]

The problem is they don't learn how to understand or utilize the information if they don't have to work for it. Most just copy and paste from what I have seen, and many brag about cheating on tests successfully instead of actually knowing the answers.

There are two skills they need, research skills, and critical thinking.

Even with Google, you still need to learn hwo to hunt things down, and that is a skill that can be tested and evaluated. If people are just cutting and pasting, then catching them is a skill that teachers need to learn. If you give students an assigment on Morse and the telegraph, and get 30 such reports twice a year, in no time you will know the Wiki version of it by heart, so you can tell the plagiarists to gets their asses in gear and write their own work. You can also nail the pretenders in the oral portions of class time.

And critical thinking still works the same old way.

 

[GHook93]

Disclaimer: I work for a website that hopes to make online research easier and more fruitful for students.

I'm wondering what people in this topic think about education and the Internet. For librarians, parents and teachers, are you comfortable with your kids doing a research project using Google? Do they find worthwhile results? Wikipedia so often comes up first in Google. Does this make you cringe, or do you think it's OK?

What are some good websites that you direct kids and adults to, whether you're a parent, teacher, librarian, or just a web-savvy person?

No it makes them better and more informed. In fact they might even get perspective out of the main stream. I think its especially good in countries like Iran and China where the text books are very structured and often contain inaccurate propaganda.

 

[KittenKoder]

No it makes them better and more informed. In fact they might even get perspective out of the main stream. I think its especially good in countries like Iran and China where the text books are very structured and often contain inaccurate propaganda.

Why hasn't it worked that way?

 

[wolfparade]

No it makes them better and more informed. In fact they might even get perspective out of the main stream. I think its especially good in countries like Iran and China where the text books are very structured and often contain inaccurate propaganda.

Didn't you know that Google China alters its search results to keep that propaganda going?

 

[Annie]

Didn't you know that Google China alters its search results to keep that propaganda going?

Hell google.com does it's own cutting. Obama gave a radio address in 2001, it was reported months ago, cannot find a 'news' link to it. Just blogs. It's wrong.

 

[Modbert]

Hell google.com does it's own cutting. Obama gave a radio address in 2001, it was reported months ago, cannot find a 'news' link to it. Just blogs. It's wrong.

Damn those Liberals! *Shakes fist*

I know, I think Fox News is a blog too but:

Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com

And of course:

Obama's Redistribution 'Bombshell' - Fact Checker

Political Punch: McCain to Attack Obama for Public Radio Comments From 2001

Media Matters - Radio hosts echo Drudge's distortion of Obama's 2001 WBEZ interview

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/us/politics/28wealth.html?ref=politics

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/28/01-radio-interview-stirs-obama-foes/

Quite the Epic Fail on your part Annie. That was taken from 2 seconds on google. Care to admit you were wrong?

 

[KittenKoder]

Hell google.com does it's own cutting. Obama gave a radio address in 2001, it was reported months ago, cannot find a 'news' link to it. Just blogs. It's wrong.

While Google does work within the governments laws of any country (thus often having to filter it's results) the news link complaint has one flaw in it. Google stores your search patterns to attempt to bring the most relevant links to you first, so you may just have to dig more (thus the whole "it's in the algorithm" thing). Unless you tried it on several computers and connections already in which case that would kind of suck.

 

[Annie]

Damn those Liberals! *Shakes fist*

I know, I think Fox News is a blog too but:

Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com

And of course:

Obama's Redistribution 'Bombshell' - Fact Checker

Political Punch: McCain to Attack Obama for Public Radio Comments From 2001

Media Matters - Radio hosts echo Drudge's distortion of Obama's 2001 WBEZ interview

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/us/politics/28wealth.html?ref=politics

Washington Times - '01 radio interview stirs Obama foes

Quite the Epic Fail on your part Annie. That was taken from 2 seconds on google. Care to admit you were wrong?

I googled several including: obama 2001 radio constitution. So if any of the above links are there, I did something wrong with the search.