Rev... your Search Engines and Race into Research!

If its on the internet then its true right??? 
Unit Six Technology Implementation:

    Within this Technology Implementation assignment we were to focus upon search engines that support my academic research efforts. We were provided various links that gave links to various search engines. As I looked into them I decided to include five that I will use as a graduate student and within my classroom. I have bookmarked the various links and copied them onto a word document in order to refer to them later. The following are resources that I found useful and my analysis of them:

1. From: 100 Search Engines for Academic Research:
http://www.teachthought.com/technology/100-search-engines-for-academic-research/

·         Within this webpage I found Microsoft Academic Search: http://academic.research.microsoft.com/?SearchDomain=22&SubDomain=5&entitytype=2. I really link this search engine because it breaks down the subjects into categories and then further breaks them down into subcategories such as Social Studies and then Geography. I plan to create items that I can use with my students as I go through grad school and then integrate these tools in my lessons for students to use. This one is helpful because it provides comprehensive information for specific continents, maps, and real-time data.  

2. 12 Fabulous Academic Search Engines
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/02/12-fabulous-academic-search-engines.html

·         Within this webpage I liked Infotopia: http://www.infotopia.info/. I typed a search for technology apps and was given a list of “top ten” apps and other great links I also really liked that there links within the home page for other user freindl sites such as:

o   Teachertopia: http://www.teachertopia.info/. Where lesson plan, ideas, and other resources are shared and,

o   Kidtopia: http://www.kidtopia.info/. This find was my favorite overall. It has safe games and information zones categorized into subjects as well.

3. 15 Educational Search Engines for Research
http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/college-life/15-educational-search-engines/

·         From this page I discovered Yippy: http://yippy.com/. What is really interesting and useful about this search tool is that it cuts clutter and organizes searches into clouds, sources, sites, and time. This will cut down searching through pages and pages of links and can help students create projects and products based on the recommendations.

4. 6 Best Search Engines for Academic Research
http://www.teachercast.net/6-best-search-engines-academic-research/

·         This page is really useful to me as a student. The one that got my attention the most based on its description is Refseek: http://www.refseek.com/. It provides the same search results as google scholar but without the advertisements and sponsored links that might sell products and have advertisements. I liked this most of all because it is safe for my students and a search engine I would encourage them to use.

• 5. Scholarly Search Engines
  http://library.richmond.edu/information/scholarly-search-engines.html

·         This page had many of the resources I currently use but had a link for this one I had never seen before: Digital Collections Registry: http://old.diglib.org/about.htm. What I really liked is that these are digital collections of scholarly articles. Although I love going to the library at times it is difficult to get there and check out all the books needed to complete a project. Having access to these collections make research enjoyable or at least “do-able”.

Final Reflection:

            Research and “googling” can at times seem daunting and very difficult to complete and navigate effectively. Sifting pages, links, advertisements and knowing whether or not source is reliable is equally daunting. This technological application helped me realize that much of the work has already be done. I have found some of my favorites are included on these list such as INFOME, ERIC, and Google Scholar are included. Along with this some gems were also described and intuitively accessed. As I will be creating more flipped and blended lessons I want my students to learn how to search correctly and evaluate internet information. This Unit has given me many more tools for my toolbox as a teacher and grad student. I plan to share these findings in my Geography Focus meeting being held this week and add it to the teacher playlist for my co-workers to review.