In the study “Where Is It? How Deaf Adolescents Complete Fact-Based Internet Search Tasks,” by Chad Smith in 2006, “The results show an inability on the part of deaf students to accurately use Internet search engines as a research tool.” Also, “Deaf students may be more apt to glean a better understanding of search engine results if those results are presented in a format that does not mandate the level of reading that current search engines require. (Smith, 2007)”
Web 2.0 tools are looking for me! One that found me today was something that was under my nose all the time. It was within the Google tools, and it something that I will be able to put into use immediately in the classroom.
-Student A is looking for information on vice-presidents for World History.
-The first thing the student does is Google “European cities,” and it returns a long list of sites. This student will use a lot of time searching and going from one site to the other with little to show in the end.
-Student B is looking for the same information.
-The student types “Google Squared” into the Google search bar, and then types "European cities," and is presented with this information:
A list of European cities, including different comparison aspects will be populated into a table, with the option for the student to add, delete, or edit the columns and topics within the search.
Sometimes the students I work with take so much time finding the information that the project is rushed in the end, with little time for processing the information. I would prefer for the student to find the information first, then manipulate and compare the information in a paper or another type of end product.
On a scale of 1 to 5 for usefulness in a deaf education classroom, I would rate “Google Squared” a solid 5.
Smith, Chad. (2007). Where is It? how deaf adolescents complete fact-based internet search tasks. American Annals of the Deaf, 151(5), 519-529.
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Awesome find for you! Have you used this in you classroom yet?
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