what’s the point of education if google can tell us anything
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Modern Education EssayTRANSCRIPT
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WhatsthepointofeducationifGooglecantellusanything?July24,20157.28amEDT
IbrarBhattSeniorResearchAssociateatLancasterUniversity
CantrememberthenameofthetwoelementsthatscientistMarieCuriediscovered?Orwhowonthe1945UKgeneralelection?Orhowmanylightyearsawaythesunisfromtheearth?AskGoogle.
Constantaccesstoanabundanceofonlineinformationattheclickofamouseortapofasmartphonehasradicallyreshapedhowwesocialise,informourselvesoftheworldaroundusandorganiseourlives.Ifallfactscanbesummonedinstantlybylookingonline,whatsthepointofspendingyearslearningthematschoolanduniversity?Inthefuture,itmightbethatonceyoungpeoplehavemasteredthebasicsofhowtoreadandwrite,theyundertaketheirentireeducationmerelythroughaccessingtheinternetviasearchenginessuchasGoogle,asandwhentheywanttoknowsomething.
Someeducationaltheoristshavearguedthatyoucanreplaceteachers,classrooms,
Universityinyourpocket?successoimages/www.shutterstock.com
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textbooksandlecturesbysimplyleavingstudentstotheirowndevicestosearchandcollectinformationaboutaparticulartopiconline.Suchideashavecalledintoquestionthevalueofatraditionalsystemofeducation,oneinwhichteacherssimplyimpartknowledgetostudents.Ofcourse,othershavewarnedagainstthedangersofthiskindofthinkingandtheimportanceoftheteacherandhumancontactwhenitcomestolearning.
Suchdebateabouttheplaceandpurposeofonlinesearchinginlearningandassessmentsisnotnew.Butratherthanthinkingofwaystopreventstudentsfromcheatingorplagiarisingintheirassessedpiecesofwork,maybeourobsessionwiththeauthenticityoftheircourseworkorassessmentismissinganotherimportanteducationalpoint.
Digitalcontentcurators
Inmyrecentresearchlookingatthewaysstudentswritetheirassignments,Ifoundthatincreasinglytheymaynotalwayscomposewrittenworkwhichistrulyauthentic,andthatthismaynotbeasimportantaswethink.Instead,throughprolificuseoftheinternet,studentsengagedinanumberofsophisticatedpracticestosearch,sift,criticallyevaluate,anthologiseandrepresentpreexistingcontent.Throughacloseexaminationofthemomentbymomentworkofthewaystudentswriteassignments,Icametoseehowallthepiecesoftextstudentsproducedcontainedelementsofsomethingelse.Thesepracticesneedtobebetterunderstoodandthenincorporatedintonewformsofeducationandassessment.
Theseonlinepracticesareaboutharnessinganabundanceofinformationfromamultitudeofsources,includingsearchengineslikeGoogle,inwhatIcallaformofdigitalcontentcuration.Curationinthissenseisabouthowlearnersuseexistingcontenttoproducenewcontentthroughengaginginproblemsolvingandintellectualinquiry,andcreatinganewexperienceforreaders.
Partofthisisdevelopingacriticaleyeaboutwhatsbeingsearchedforonline,orcrapdetection,whilstwadingthroughthedelugeofavailableinformation.Thisaspectisvitaltoanyeducationallyseriousnotionofinformationcuration,aslearnersincreasinglyusethewebasextensionsoftheirownmemorywhensearching.
StudentsmustbeginbyunderstandingthatmostonlinecontentisalreadycuratedbysearchengineslikeGoogleusingtheirPageRankalgorithmandotherindicators.Curation,therefore,becomesakindofstewardshipofotherpeopleswritingandrequiresenteringintoa
Lessonsinhowtosearch.Studentsviabikeriderlondon/www.shutterstock.com
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conversationwiththewritersofthosetexts.Itisacrucialkindofdigitalliteracy
Curationhas,throughpervasiveconnectivity,founditswayintoeducationalcontexts.Thereisnowaneedtobetterunderstandhowpracticesofonlinesearchingandthekindsofwritingemergingfromcurationcanbeincorporatedintothewayweassessstudents.
Howtoassessthesenewskills
Whilewritingforassessmenttendstofocusontheproductionofastudentsown,authenticwork,itcouldalsotakecurationpracticesintoaccount.Take,forexample,aprojectdesignedasakindofdigitalportfolio.Thiscouldrequirestudentstolocateinformationonaparticularquestion,organiseexistingwebextractsinadigestibleandstorylikeway,acknowledgetheirsources,andpresentanargumentorthesis.
Solvingproblemsthroughsynthesisinglargeamountsofinformation,oftencollaboratively,andengaginginexploratoryandproblemsolvingpursuits(ratherthanjustmemorisingfactsanddates)arekeyskillsinthe21stcentury,informationbasedeconomy.AstheLondonChamberofCommercehashighlighted,wemustmakesureyoungpeopleandgraduatesenteremploymentwiththeseskills.
Myownresearchhasshownthatyoungpeoplemayalreadybeexpertcuratorsaspartoftheireverydayinternetexperienceandsurreptitiousassignmentwritingstrategies.Teachersandlecturersneedtoexploreandunderstandthesepracticesbetter,andcreatelearningopportunitiesandacademicassessmenttasksaroundthesesomewhathardtoassessskills.
Inaneraofinformationalabundance,educationalendproductstheexamorpieceofcourseworkneedtobecomelessaboutasinglestudentcreatinganauthentictext,andmoreaboutacertainkindofdigitalliteracywhichharnessesthewisdomofthenetworkofinformationthatisavailableattheclickofabutton.