Johanna Schicker’s Weblog

As I already stated in my last blog entry, the influence of our daily life by the media technology demands a good preparation and large knowledge of its use. This includes also appropriate ways of doing internet research. In the following, I will list several advantages and disadvantages and refer to some aspects concerning the internet use which we have to keep in mind.

ADVANTAGES

• It is much easier to find information in the internet than in a library: using the internet for research is time-saving and can be done whenever and whereever you want!
• In contrast to a library, the internet provides a world wide range of articles, book excerpts, journals, pictures etc. Certainly, academical libraries offer also a large range of international bibliography, but again, via internet it is much easier and faster.
• Furthermore, the internet facilitates a precise research on a special topic!

DISADVANTAGES

• One of the biggest problems concerning the internet research are results and sources which are outdated and not reliable. In general, we select one of the first three results which are found by the search engine without respecting its trustworthiness.
• Another negative aspect is the risk of plagiarism. Especially pupils tend to use the “copy and paste” function for their presentations, essays, etc….
• Unfortunately, the internet is full of annoying and suddenly appering advertisment which can lead up to blind alleys.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SEARCH ENGINES

The easiest way to find information in the internet is the use of a search enginge. All you have to do is entering a keyword or phrase and wait for the list of results the search enginge has found. The most common search tools might be google, yahoo and fireball. They all work according to the so called Boolean Logic which consists of three logical parameters which refers to the search terms (in this example SNOW and ICE), namely AND, OR and NOT:

Another very common search tool is Wikipedia. This database works like a forum where anyone can add or revise articles. Having a look at Wikipedia is definitely a good start in order to get a brief overview of a certain topic, BUT: it is not always reliable and therefore no academic source!!!

IMPORTANCE FOR FUTURE TEACHERS

As becoming teachers we should – again – keep in mind, that we cannot neglect the importance and presence of the internet!!! Hence, we also have to involve the internet research into our lessons and let the students get activated. There are three different methods:

• guided = The teacher leads the lesson and the research via internet
• half – guided = The teacher has more or less a supporting function while the students try to work autonomically.
• free search = The students work on their own, e.g. do the research work as a homework

In general, we should take into account that our students have different knowledge and experiences. Consequently, it won’t be easy to fulfill the students’ expectations and to create an interesting lesson for everyone. Therefore, we can make use of all of the methods according to the learners’ previous knowledge.