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Surfing Blind: a study into the effects of exposing young adolescents to explicit search engine skills
Citation
Morrison, R, Surfing Blind: a study into the effects of exposing young adolescents to explicit search engine skills, The Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference 2016, Melbourne, Australia (2016) [Refereed Conference Paper]
 | PDF (Morrison, R. (2016). Surfing Blind: A study into the effects of exposing young adolescents to explicit search engine skills. Paper presented at the conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education. December, Melbourne, Australia. ) 343Kb |
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Official URL: https://www.aare.edu.au/publications/aare-conferen...
Abstract
The Internet provides today’s students with the world’s greatest library. It is in their
homes, their schools and even in their pockets. Yet this powerful educational tool, with its
practically infinite opportunities, is increasingly going under-utilized research suggests.
Several studies report a skill-deficit exhibited by adolescents when using online search
engines in particular. Little is known, however, about the potential benefits of exposing
students to explicit search engines skills. This paper discusses the findings of a mixed
method study exploring the degree to which exposure to such skills affects adolescents’
online searching. It seeks to provide new knowledge by analyzing searching behaviours
through a semiotic lens. Semiotics provides the study with a language with which to
discuss the changing role of students when using digital technologies and the different
communication inherent when using search engines. The study reveals a tendency on the
students’ behalf to view their role as subordinate when conducting online searches, and a
reluctance to change this view despite intervention. The paper also reports that adolescents
are, however, willing to change and attempt to improve their searching behaviours post
exposure to explicit skills.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Search Engines; Google; Middle Years; Digital Literacy; Active learning; Explicit instruction; Students; Intervention; semiotics |
| Research Division: | Information and Computing Sciences |
| Research Group: | Data management and data science |
| Research Field: | Information retrieval and web search |
| Objective Division: | Education and Training |
| Objective Group: | Teaching and curriculum |
| Objective Field: | Teaching and instruction technologies |
| UTAS Author: | Morrison, R (Dr Renee Morrison) |
| ID Code: | 130838 |
| Year Published: | 2016 |
| Deposited By: | Education |
| Deposited On: | 2019-02-15 |
| Last Modified: | 2019-11-07 |
| Downloads: | 87 View Download Statistics |
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