Matthew Pieri

M1A2
EDC 257
3/25/2017

Search engines used:

1. InstaGrok (Visual Research Tool, grades 3-12)

2. KidsClick! (Librarian-Selected Directory, grades 3-5)
3. DuckDuckGo (Hybrid Search Engine, grades 4-8)
4. Google (Standard Search Engine, grades 6-12)

Search terms: (recycling, recycling + kids, recycling + site:org, recycling + kids + site:org,

recycling + kids + site:org + 2015)

- Reflect on the results of the various keyword combinations you used in your

experiment.

Google showed the strongest example of how results will change with more or less specific

search terms. Searching recycling alone resulted in basic definitions, wikipedia articles, and

business information for recycling plants. When kids and site:org were added to the search it

added educational and kid friendly websites to the results page. Adding a date produced local

events for recycling and community involvement.

- Discuss the importance of teaching children strategies for selecting effective

keywords when searching the Internet.

A kids based search engine can help reduce the results page down to kid centric sites and games,

but without that site like google require careful and thoughtful search terms. There is an entire

language to using search engines. Before I was a teacher I used to work for campaign fundraisers

and headhunters using search engines to find donors and candidates for jobs. X-ray searching

was a tool I used to sift through mountains of social media pages to find specific data about the

correct person, not just someone with their same name. This process is the same for educational

searches as well. An amatuer can find a high traffic site, or a popular article about a topic, but a
professional can find a direct PDF link to a thesis paper or scientific journal by an expert. The

key to successful searching is understanding search engine terminology, and having a keen eye

for what you are looking for.

- Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each of the 4 search tools that you

explored for the age group/population you intend to teach.

The four different sites each have strengths and limitations based on the search word criteria.

Google for example used location services and a very broad approach when given the simple

search term recycling. The result was the location of local recycling plants. While it might be

fun to take a tour, but it wouldnt be useful for finding games or educational materials.

KidsClick! And DuckDuckGo were immediately populated with kid centric content, but when

KidsClick! Was given more advanced search criteria it wasnt advanced enough to produce any

search results at all. Instagrok has a different visual structure that I found interesting, but the

search criteria didnt really affect the information the site was producing. Instead it felt like it

took information from each part of the search string, and presented it visually. It was effective in

organizing the search, but not filtrating information into specific categories. I would use Forkids!

For younger students who arent sophisticated enough to search more than one word at a time. I

really liked DuckDuckGo, I could see myself using it in my classroom. Google was way too

much power for any 4th grader to have.