Research Tool: ManagedQPD Lesson Plan: Experience ManagedQ

1.) I chose a research tool for the Web, like a search engine butwaaaaay better. It’s a newer visual search application called Man-agedQ.2.) I chose this tool because using Google is the most commonform of searching on the Internet for both students and teachers.While I don’t deny the pros of this tool, I believe that a visualsearch application like ManagedQ will provide the same informa-tion needed yet in a more user friendly and thus efficient manner.I am constantly looking for ways to simplify basic searches andshare this information with my students and colleagues. I was soexcited to learn about this relatively new visual search applicationand can’t stop modeling how to use it with my students. I like theidea that it’s NOT a virtual library or similar database, which is mytypical avenue for demonstrating/modeling for my students onhow to gather information; Since ManagedQ is Google at its best,it’s what everyone already uses and thus is comfortable with, butso much more. I’m all for search engines, but visual searching cannarrow down your results and really allow you to pinpoint whatyou need or can use faster than Google can. I keep playing with itand am blown away by each experience. Each time I am findingexactly what I’m looking for and in record time. It’s exciting con-sidering time is of the essence!3.) ManagedQ will provide one with a Google search results page,but displayed in a visual and more user friendly format. The work-flow in this application is key. Usually one conducts a search, thenclicks through the results, reading the line descriptions undereach one for the information needed. If the results aren't goodenough, one goes back and refines the initial query, doing a com-plete new search. With ManagedQ, there’s an interactive refine-ment stage that allows one to literally poke around the results setand easily gather more information to help refine and pinpoint thesearch topic. One can instantly narrow a search by ignoring badresults that don't contain terms wanted, without throwing away allthe others that could be interesting. One can get a quick feel forwhether the results are worth exploring by throwing in good indic-ator terms that are likely to be in the ones you want. Additionally,

Research Tool: ManagedQPD Lesson Plan: Experience ManagedQ

one can create custom summaries to find out more about a wholeset of results at once. And the in-page query stays active as onemoves through the results, so one can power-search by rapidlybrowsing through all the pages.I read through the blog, forum, and about links to gather informa-tion about this tool since I’m a new user. This is what the founders have to say about themselves:ManagedQ is driven by a group of dedicated entrepreneurs work-ing in a basement in Palo Alto to develop the next step in Search. The field of Search is years behind where it should be, as it hasn'tfundamentally changed in more than a decade. Results may haveimproved a bit, but people are still Searching the same way theydid in 1995. With this lack of innovation, Results have essentiallybecome a commodity.Here are some tidbits/explanations I found useful from articlesabout this new visual Search tool:ManagedQ has transformed Search as we know it from a com-mand-line driven database query to an elegantly-designed Applic-ation that can be continuously improved and optimized. The endresult is an entirely novel and compelling Search Experience. Fi-nally, visual search that isn't dumb.ManagedQ displays Web search results in visual snapshots. Theimages are bigger and more readable than the thumbnails youget on a search engine like Exalead, and arrayed in front of you soyou can process them all at once, unlike Redzee. But what's reallyuseful is that you can select common keywords from your searchresults and visually find the sites that do and don't relate. Hover-ing over common search terms makes the visual display morehelpful. On the ManagedQ search results there's a left-hand barwith words that relate to your search. Hovering over any one of them will grey out the results that don't have the word; selectinga word will rerun the search with the new filter. The words are cat-egorized by people, place, and thing. ManagedQ is not, technic-ally, a search engine. It's what founder David Stat calls a "search

Research Tool: ManagedQPD Lesson Plan: Experience ManagedQ

application," since it repurposes another engine's results (in thiscase, Google, at least for now).Professional Development Lesson: Topic: Using ManagedQ for future Search experiences in and outof the classroom.Purpose: To use a research tool that will save time and, as a bo-nus, is much more fun! Time: approximately 30 minutesPlace: computer labProcess:First, I will begin by explaining briefly what exactly ManagedQ isusing much of the information I included above to explain thewhat and why.2 minutesSecond, I will provide the URLhttp://managedq.com, so teacherscan access this site on their computers, and then I will demon-strate how ManagedQ works using a Smartboard. There is a “Readthe Tutorial” on the home page which I will employ to walk teach-ers through for the demo. 3 minutes Third, I will show teachers how to conduct a visual search by walk-ing them through an actual search step by step using “BannedBooks” as a topic in order to demonstrate how to gather usefullinks and other information. Teachers will be doing the samesearch on computers along with me through each step to deepenunderstanding about the features contained in ManagedQ. 5minutesFourth, teachers will conduct their own search using a topic theywould like to learn more information about for the purpose of planning a teaching. They will bookmark any links they deem use-