What’s the Point of Education if Google Can Tell Us Anything

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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

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

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.

What’s the Point of Education if Google Can Tell Us Anything

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