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What Do Books Have To Do With Research?

I was kind of grappling about whether to put this in technology or education. I opted for education.

Go to Google, search and scroll results, click and copy. When students do research online these days, many educators worry, those are often about the only steps they take. If they can avoid a trip to the library at all, many students gladly will.

Georgia Tech professor Amy Bruckman tried to force students to leave their computers by requiring at least one book for a September class project.

She wasn't prepared for the response: "Someone raised their hand and asked, "Excuse me, where would I get a book?'"

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6686741/

This story kind of disturbed me, but it's not hard to look around and see that it's a fact of our education system now. While technology has been a great asset to research and the such, it's beginning to completely take over. I agree with the article about students nowadays not knowing how to spend hours working on research. We did an assignment in my history class this past semester where we had to use all the different types of catalogs and find books and then cite them. Everybody was grumbling about it in the beginning, but afterwards, the majority of the students were grateful. A lot of them didn't know how to use catalogs to find what they needed, and my class is majority of upper classmen in college. This worries me as a future educator.

Research With To Books What

I get many Emails during the period of a month where someone says in their Email to me... "Could you answer some questions, I have a report to give in next week?" or "Could you tell me where on your web site I will find information about 'x' for my home work?" It makes me wonder what kind of research they are doing and the faith they are placing in our online info, after all, it is not like each web site we build has the endorsement of a Board of Education. The effort placed in creating a good assignment should be equally responded to by conducting live interviews, visiting business places, etc. An Email or a web site just does not cut it unless it can be considered official information and then that would be another story.

What Do Books Have To Do With Research? UFO & Writing Art Education Sciences

When I am trying to find out something, I do usually use Google first. However, I also know where there are lots of complete books online.

So, if I want just a quick overview of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, for example, I will look on the web. Then, if I want a more thorough treatment of it, I will probably go to the Online Books Page, and try to find a book that deals with that subject. This is only because it is easier than going to the library, and I can then store the book on my Palm Tungsten E so that I can read it anytime I want.

I also tend to use online encyclopedias quite a lot. Wikipedia is very interesting, because it is completely user maintained, so there are lots and lots of sources for every subject.

Research With To Books What

There's just something about holding a book in my hands that I love. I can't imagine a world where we don't have the actual, physical book. One thing I'm definatley going to focus on as a teacher is the usage of books, especially in the realm of research.

Research With To Books What

The Internet must be a real pain for educators - after all, the students might find out there's another side to the one-sided views they are taught in the state-education system

I agree that a physical book is best in terms of something to actually study and hold. I hate reading online unless it's snippets, references etc.

I agree with Nighthawk, there are some rgeat sources online - far more diverse and (my opinion) accurate (because it is not controlled) than you'd find in the main bookstores...yes, there's lots of personal opinions too of course.

Maybe the best way is to have a book and then have an assignment of searching the Net for views on the same subject/matter. After all, schools should teach children how to think - not what to think.

Dubhdara.

What Do Books Have To Do With Research?

Don't misunderstand me, I think the internet is a great tool. But I do believe that it's being relied upon too heavily as far as school research goes. When I was in high school my freshman year I was really good friends with my English teacher. So, when we had research projects do, and I'd happen to come in and visit her sometime during the day, she'd set me to work grading papers. I remember there was one paper we both read over and just about all the information was incorrect. Guess where most of their sources came from? The internet.

Having books play a large part of research is not keeping it one sided at all. It is not hard to go to a public library and find books about a topic and then find several different outlooks on it. Take Theology. You can easily find books that have different views on that one subject alone. The only difference is that a person actually has to get off their lazy bum and go look.

I do believe that we need to teach children how to think for themselves. Making sure they end up in college and have no clue how to use a library doesn't mean we aren't letting them think for themselves. It just means that we're trying to prepare them for all sorts of reseach. I had a paper due for an English class where we had to have seven resources. Only one was allowed to be an internet resource. One could be a magazine, journal, interview. The other five had to be from books. Let's face it, whether we're taught to think for ourselves or not in public schools, when it comes to college, we have to think like our professor.

Like I said, I'm all for students thinking outside the box. Heck, I'm all for students making their own box. I've had several teachers who were like that and they're the teachers I remember the most. But, they also taught me that you aren't always going to have teachers and professors who let them have free reign on assignments.