This week we are supposed to study research and presentation tools.
One of the research tools I've chosen to share with you is iSeek Education. As we can see here, it is an engine designed for teachers and students that compiles hundreds of thousands of resources.
iSEEK allows you to narrow down your search results without having to think of your own keywords to narrow your search. When you search for something (I searched for "duality" for example), the most common topics are listed in iView that allow you to see relationships among these categories. All this might help you discover new facts you might not have known. Furthermore, iSEEK offers a bookmarking option via MySEEK (you need to register for that option). Unfortunately, iView only allows you to select one topic within each iView category. For example, underneath "Duality" I can’t select both "English Literature, Poetry" and "English Literature, Conversation Questions". I can only select one.
Another useful tool is Google Scholar. You need to have a password from your college/university library to read articles and/or download them. This web search engine includes academic journals, books, theses, dissertations, conference papers and other scholarly literature. So, when I search for "duality" on iSeek I get links to lesson plans, activities, school subjects. Google Scholar leads me to academic articles. "The Dualism of Human Nature and its Social Conditions" in Durkheimian Studies is what I got first.
I also decided to try Simple English Wikipedia, just out of curiosity. And it surprised me! Searching for the word "Jekyll" I've got some results that might be interesting and useful for every 8th grade student: Robert Louis Stevenson, alter ego, 1886, dissociative identity disorder. The students may use it while preparing their own projects.
These are the tools I've chosen to write about and I'd like to know what you have chosen and why. Have fun searching!
One of the research tools I've chosen to share with you is iSeek Education. As we can see here, it is an engine designed for teachers and students that compiles hundreds of thousands of resources.
iSEEK allows you to narrow down your search results without having to think of your own keywords to narrow your search. When you search for something (I searched for "duality" for example), the most common topics are listed in iView that allow you to see relationships among these categories. All this might help you discover new facts you might not have known. Furthermore, iSEEK offers a bookmarking option via MySEEK (you need to register for that option). Unfortunately, iView only allows you to select one topic within each iView category. For example, underneath "Duality" I can’t select both "English Literature, Poetry" and "English Literature, Conversation Questions". I can only select one.
Another useful tool is Google Scholar. You need to have a password from your college/university library to read articles and/or download them. This web search engine includes academic journals, books, theses, dissertations, conference papers and other scholarly literature. So, when I search for "duality" on iSeek I get links to lesson plans, activities, school subjects. Google Scholar leads me to academic articles. "The Dualism of Human Nature and its Social Conditions" in Durkheimian Studies is what I got first.
I also decided to try Simple English Wikipedia, just out of curiosity. And it surprised me! Searching for the word "Jekyll" I've got some results that might be interesting and useful for every 8th grade student: Robert Louis Stevenson, alter ego, 1886, dissociative identity disorder. The students may use it while preparing their own projects.
These are the tools I've chosen to write about and I'd like to know what you have chosen and why. Have fun searching!
Thank you for sharing about iSEEK, it sounds like a very useful tool, however when I explored it, I was quite disappointed. My hope that it would allow me to search various topics, and then show me sources that are appropriate for an English Learning classroom, but found that the results they offered of this kind were few. Also, I felt the educational sources upon which it draws are very American-centric.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is intended, but there is also an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias. When searching "Judaism", the filter with the most entries when filtering by people is for "Jesus Christ". When searching "Israel", the filters with the most entries when filtering by People are "Yasser Arafat", "Abbas Clinton", and "Anwar Al Darkazally". If wanting to filter by Place, Israel isn't even listed an an option (although Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Palestine, West Bank, Gaza, and two dozen other countries are listed). Using the subjects filters for "Israel", the only entry for the English Language is this biased web-page: http://eslgo.com/classes/passivemodals2.php
Wow,
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that( Thanks for sharing.
Hey Fani,
ReplyDeleteyou made me curious and I searched "vocabulary" on iSEEK- and although I had expected it would only yield results of interest to older students I found a link to https://www.vocabulary.co.il/ a site full of free vocabulary games! thanks, now I have another link for English games to share with my students!
Hi, Chava,
Deletewow! I'm very glad, honestly. And thanks for sharing!
Hi Chava, I also researched about Google Scholar. With so much information readily available online, it is very useful to know where academic journals and information can be accessed.
ReplyDelete