Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Research Journal Assignment #11c: Thesis Statement Check
I checked Dominique's and Zach's Thesis Statements
Research Journal Assignment #11b: Visual Aids
Possible Visual Aids for Research Paper: Table of Piaget's Stages of Development, Picture of Piaget's idea of conservation, Table of Vygotsky's Stages of Development in Language, Curriculum or Purpose Statements from different Schools
Research Journal Assignment #11a: Introduction
One of the most crucial concerns of the American society should be the education system, and more so now than ever, due to the incredible influx in students, "Total public school enrollment is projected to set new enrollment records each year from 2007 through 2018, reaching an estimated high of 53.9 million students in 2018" (NCES). With this massive increase in students comes an increased responsibility to train and foster these children in the most excellent way capable, not simply to ensure that each child is educated but to ensure that each child receives the best education they can. How can the schools meet the needs of their communities and students? How can schools make certain that their students are obtaining an optimum education? There are many external conditions that affect a school's capability of effectively teaching its students such as available resources, the condition of the neighborhood and family life surrounding the school, and the amount allotted to schools in each state. Most of these external forces cannot be controlled and are out of the hands of the schools. It is for this reason that it is more prudent for schools to turn their focus inward for how to better their approach. This process of refining the schools starts with the very core of the school by analyzing methods of instruction and how effective they are.
The educational process needs to be an exciting and enriching experience for students as Psychologist Jean Piaget so aptly stated, "Education for most people means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of society...But for me, education means making creators...You have to make inventors, innovators, not conformists" (Piaget). In order to mold these creators that Piaget desired each school must find the appropriate teaching methods to cultivate the drive to learn in students. There are thousands of cognitive psychologists that have drawn out endless blueprints for how to best educate children but only a select few are continually referenced and cited as leaders of the field. Two of the most influential cognitive psychologists are, the before mentioned, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both of these psychologists have set the standards for the field and have made monumental discoveries into the development of learners and how best to reach students. Piaget was often referred to as the father of this field and no other theories of development were even worth mentioning in the same breath as his. Then in 1964 Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist during the Soviet era, was introduced to the western world and all of a sudden an equal to Piaget was found. While education owes much to Jean Piaget for without his initial discoveries the field would be hallow and years behind, Vygotsky offers a theory that cannot be ignored. Lev Vygotsky's theory of developmental education provides a more versatile foundation to be used in schools due to its innovative concepts of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotskian play, and societal impacts on development.
The educational process needs to be an exciting and enriching experience for students as Psychologist Jean Piaget so aptly stated, "Education for most people means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of society...But for me, education means making creators...You have to make inventors, innovators, not conformists" (Piaget). In order to mold these creators that Piaget desired each school must find the appropriate teaching methods to cultivate the drive to learn in students. There are thousands of cognitive psychologists that have drawn out endless blueprints for how to best educate children but only a select few are continually referenced and cited as leaders of the field. Two of the most influential cognitive psychologists are, the before mentioned, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both of these psychologists have set the standards for the field and have made monumental discoveries into the development of learners and how best to reach students. Piaget was often referred to as the father of this field and no other theories of development were even worth mentioning in the same breath as his. Then in 1964 Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist during the Soviet era, was introduced to the western world and all of a sudden an equal to Piaget was found. While education owes much to Jean Piaget for without his initial discoveries the field would be hallow and years behind, Vygotsky offers a theory that cannot be ignored. Lev Vygotsky's theory of developmental education provides a more versatile foundation to be used in schools due to its innovative concepts of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotskian play, and societal impacts on development.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Research Journal Assignment #10b: Argument
Thesis Statement: Lev Vygotsky's theory of developmental education provides a more versatile foundation to be used in schools due to its innovative concepts of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotskian play throughout development, and societal impacts on development.
Reason 1: Zone of Proximal Development
Warrant: Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development provides more reason for his theory to be applied over Piaget's because the ZPD allows both for Piaget's idea of intrinsically motivated students and those that need a little aid. With the ZPD students are aided by more competent individuals, not strictly the teacher. The ZPD states that students need to be stretched outside of what their current capabilities are in order to learn the next step. The ZPD stresses continuous growth from point to point.
Reason 2: Vygotskian Paly
Warrant: Through great deals of research it has been discovered that play enhances the learning in children. As stated by Cognitive Development Psychologist Robert Mead, play teaches children how to take on the role of the "generalized other" and aids in socialization and the development of social skills in children. Vygotsky emphasizes that students learn through play for life and not only in the stages that Piaget outlines that play occurs in.
Reason 3: Societal Impacts on Development
Warrant: Education is an essential agent in the socialization of children. Vygotsky emphasized the nurture side of development in children whereas Piaget emphasized a more nature development approach. Piaget posed that development happens in distinct, age appropriate stages that occur in biologically analogous times for every child. Vygotsky however disagreed with Piaget here, Vygotsky believed that children develop in culturally different ways that change from society to society and are not confined by age or stage.
Possible Objections:
1. Piaget's idea of intrinsic motivation can be proved in school like Montesori
Refutation: Although this can be true for some students, it is not uniform and can be idealistic too often.
2. Piaget's emphasizes play just as much as Vygotsky
Refutation: Vygotsky emphasizes play to a much greater extent than Piaget and it is part of the foundation of Vygotsky's theories of development
3. Piaget's stages of development are proven
Refutation: Although Piaget's stages can be proven and tend to work for most children, they are again not uniform in their development and children develop on their own pace. Piaget did not take into account socialization as Vygotsky did, making his theory more relevant.
Research Journal Assignment #10a: Thesis Statement
Research Question: Should either Jean Piaget's or Lev Vygotsky's theory of developmental education be installed more fundamentally in schools?
Claim: The theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky is more relevant and viable in its application to school systems.
Reasons: (1) Vygotsky's idea of the Zone of Proximal Development accounts for how students are guided in their learning and compliments Piaget's idea of intrinsic motivation where it can be somewhat idealistic (2) Vygotskian Play is stressed throughout the development of learning whereas Piaget stressed it primarily in the senrsorimotor stage (3) Vygotsky's emphasis on nurture's influence on development over nature in developmental through his huge sociological focus offers a flexible and more individualized reasoning for how students develop as opposed to a set structure as Piaget proposed.
Thesis Statement: Lev Vygotsky's theory of developmental education provides a more versatile foundation to be used in schools due to its innovative concepts of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotskian play throughout development, and societal impacts on development.
Claim: The theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky is more relevant and viable in its application to school systems.
Reasons: (1) Vygotsky's idea of the Zone of Proximal Development accounts for how students are guided in their learning and compliments Piaget's idea of intrinsic motivation where it can be somewhat idealistic (2) Vygotskian Play is stressed throughout the development of learning whereas Piaget stressed it primarily in the senrsorimotor stage (3) Vygotsky's emphasis on nurture's influence on development over nature in developmental through his huge sociological focus offers a flexible and more individualized reasoning for how students develop as opposed to a set structure as Piaget proposed.
Thesis Statement: Lev Vygotsky's theory of developmental education provides a more versatile foundation to be used in schools due to its innovative concepts of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotskian play throughout development, and societal impacts on development.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Research Journal Assingment #9: Evaluation of Sources
Resource Evaluated: The Guardian (Newspaper based in the UK)
Writer Evaluated: Diane Hofkins
Conclusions: The Guardian does seem to be a legitimate and trustworthy source as a periodical. It is a nationally published newspaper which has existed since 1821. It now publishes the Guardian weekly, which is a compilation of four newspapers. It historically has a slight liberal lean to it.
Diane Hofkins is the chief editor of the Times Educational Supplement, which is a weekly publication covering education in the UK. She is a professional journalist and writes primarily in the field of education. She seems like a qualified source and on her own page provides real contact information which adds to her credibility. I could not find anything about her educational experiences but I would still mark her as a credible author in her field.
Resource Evaluated: Piaget's Theories Applied to an Early Elementary Curriculum (book)
Author Evaluated: Celia Lavatelli
Conclusions: The book written by Lavatelli was published by an Education publisher called Delta Education. Delta Education is a company dedicated to providing hands on learning experiences in the classroom to schools and it was founded by former teachers with PhD's. The website also provides an actual physical address in New Hampshire for Delta. With all this information provided by Delta Education I would assume that the book published by Lavatelli is a legitimate source.
After researching Lavatelli herself I only found more evidence to back up my support of this source. Lavatelli was a professor of elementary and early childhood education. She was also a consultant to educators and schools. She worked personally with Jean Piaget himself and is a member of the APA and many prestigious educational associations. Lavatelli is definitely a trustworthy source.
Resource Evaluated: Simply Psychology (website)
Writer Evaluated: No Specific Author to the page, probably a collaboration on the information that Simply Psychology has collected as a whole.
Conclusions: The information given on this website is extremely helpful and well presented. I read about the website and discovered that it is a site set up to help college students understand all the different kinds of psychology and the psychologists that have helped shape each field. It also provides information into research methods, social psychology, and psychoanalysis. My overall opinion is that the site is a legitimate academic source but I would like to see more information about its authors and who posts information on it.
Resource Evaluated:Adults Learning
Writer Evaluated: Teresa Cairns
Conclusions: After looking up Adults Learning I was redirected to the American Association for Adult and Continued Learning, which is an association dedicated to the continued and sustained learning of adults. The website for the association had a good deal of information on the purpose of the association and its founders, who are all very legitimate and each have masters degrees or PhD's and contact information. The Association actually has a physical address, which is also key in proving legitimacy. Although its website may not have been all too informative or interactive, I would categorize the American Association for Adult and Continued Learning as an expert source in the educational development exhibited into adulthood.
After looking into the writer herself, Teresa Cairns, I have confirmed that she is a reliable source. She is most certainly a reliable source in the field of adult education at the least. Cairns is the covenor of learning at the Sussex University in the UK and coordinates staff in the Center for Continuing Education. Her personal information page provided background information and credible contact information to reveal the validity of her page. Although I am looking more into the educational development of children, looking at the continued education of adults might be useful and Cairns would be a credible source for which to refer to if I decided to pull anything from this area.
Resource Evaluated: Parallel Paths to Constructivism: Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky
Author Evaluated: Susan Pass
Conclusions: After looking into the book and its publisher I found that it was published by Information Age Publishing. IAP is a social science publisher of academic and scholarly book series and journals. IAP is striving to define and add body to many ideas that have previously lacked deeper research. There was also a physical address involved and contact information. This means that the book published was published by a legitimate academic source.
After I looked after information on Susan Pass I found valuable information about her academic standing. I did not find a ton of information on Pass herself but I did find her name referenced in quite a few sources, with one very viable source in particular ERIC, the Education Resource Information Center. Although I did not find too much on Susan Pass seeing her name referenced and reviewed often led me to believe that she is a legitimate source but I would have to read her actual work first in order to truly get a feel for whether I would cite her works or not.
Resource Evaluated:The Teaching of Young Children: Some Application of Piaget's Learning Theory
Author Evaluated: R. Bott
Conclusions: I found that the book was published by Schocken Books which is a publishing company that has been around since 1931 in Berlin. The book was also referenced in ERIC, which once again adds more credibility to the source.
After looking into the author of the book, I found that John R. Bott wrote for the New York Times for 37 years and was its editor for 17 of those years. He was a well published journalist and author and is most likely viable and trustworthy in his works.
Writer Evaluated: Diane Hofkins
Conclusions: The Guardian does seem to be a legitimate and trustworthy source as a periodical. It is a nationally published newspaper which has existed since 1821. It now publishes the Guardian weekly, which is a compilation of four newspapers. It historically has a slight liberal lean to it.
Diane Hofkins is the chief editor of the Times Educational Supplement, which is a weekly publication covering education in the UK. She is a professional journalist and writes primarily in the field of education. She seems like a qualified source and on her own page provides real contact information which adds to her credibility. I could not find anything about her educational experiences but I would still mark her as a credible author in her field.
Resource Evaluated: Piaget's Theories Applied to an Early Elementary Curriculum (book)
Author Evaluated: Celia Lavatelli
Conclusions: The book written by Lavatelli was published by an Education publisher called Delta Education. Delta Education is a company dedicated to providing hands on learning experiences in the classroom to schools and it was founded by former teachers with PhD's. The website also provides an actual physical address in New Hampshire for Delta. With all this information provided by Delta Education I would assume that the book published by Lavatelli is a legitimate source.
After researching Lavatelli herself I only found more evidence to back up my support of this source. Lavatelli was a professor of elementary and early childhood education. She was also a consultant to educators and schools. She worked personally with Jean Piaget himself and is a member of the APA and many prestigious educational associations. Lavatelli is definitely a trustworthy source.
Resource Evaluated: Simply Psychology (website)
Writer Evaluated: No Specific Author to the page, probably a collaboration on the information that Simply Psychology has collected as a whole.
Conclusions: The information given on this website is extremely helpful and well presented. I read about the website and discovered that it is a site set up to help college students understand all the different kinds of psychology and the psychologists that have helped shape each field. It also provides information into research methods, social psychology, and psychoanalysis. My overall opinion is that the site is a legitimate academic source but I would like to see more information about its authors and who posts information on it.
Resource Evaluated:Adults Learning
Writer Evaluated: Teresa Cairns
Conclusions: After looking up Adults Learning I was redirected to the American Association for Adult and Continued Learning, which is an association dedicated to the continued and sustained learning of adults. The website for the association had a good deal of information on the purpose of the association and its founders, who are all very legitimate and each have masters degrees or PhD's and contact information. The Association actually has a physical address, which is also key in proving legitimacy. Although its website may not have been all too informative or interactive, I would categorize the American Association for Adult and Continued Learning as an expert source in the educational development exhibited into adulthood.
After looking into the writer herself, Teresa Cairns, I have confirmed that she is a reliable source. She is most certainly a reliable source in the field of adult education at the least. Cairns is the covenor of learning at the Sussex University in the UK and coordinates staff in the Center for Continuing Education. Her personal information page provided background information and credible contact information to reveal the validity of her page. Although I am looking more into the educational development of children, looking at the continued education of adults might be useful and Cairns would be a credible source for which to refer to if I decided to pull anything from this area.
Resource Evaluated: Parallel Paths to Constructivism: Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky
Author Evaluated: Susan Pass
Conclusions: After looking into the book and its publisher I found that it was published by Information Age Publishing. IAP is a social science publisher of academic and scholarly book series and journals. IAP is striving to define and add body to many ideas that have previously lacked deeper research. There was also a physical address involved and contact information. This means that the book published was published by a legitimate academic source.
After I looked after information on Susan Pass I found valuable information about her academic standing. I did not find a ton of information on Pass herself but I did find her name referenced in quite a few sources, with one very viable source in particular ERIC, the Education Resource Information Center. Although I did not find too much on Susan Pass seeing her name referenced and reviewed often led me to believe that she is a legitimate source but I would have to read her actual work first in order to truly get a feel for whether I would cite her works or not.
Resource Evaluated:The Teaching of Young Children: Some Application of Piaget's Learning Theory
Author Evaluated: R. Bott
Conclusions: I found that the book was published by Schocken Books which is a publishing company that has been around since 1931 in Berlin. The book was also referenced in ERIC, which once again adds more credibility to the source.
After looking into the author of the book, I found that John R. Bott wrote for the New York Times for 37 years and was its editor for 17 of those years. He was a well published journalist and author and is most likely viable and trustworthy in his works.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Research Journal Assignment #8c: Multimedia
Resource Searched: Blinkx
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky
Search Strategy Used: Boolean Operator, AND
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 11
Relevance of Hits: 4
Two Videos of Use: Vygotskian Play and Jean Piaget
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky
Search Strategy Used: Boolean Operator, AND
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 11
Relevance of Hits: 4
Two Videos of Use: Vygotskian Play and Jean Piaget
Research Journal Assignment #8b: Social Media
Resource Searched: Feedmil
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget
Search Strategy: Moved Cursor to well known results so it would narrow the search
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 2
Relevance of Hits: 5
Resource Searched: Technorati
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Developmental Education
Search Strategy: Boolean Operators, AND, OR
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 44
Relevance of Hits: 5
Some useful sites found using Feedmil and Technorati were:
Two Theories of Cognitive Development, What are Safety Gates for Stairs, and Developmental and Child Psychology
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget
Search Strategy: Moved Cursor to well known results so it would narrow the search
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 2
Relevance of Hits: 5
Resource Searched: Technorati
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Developmental Education
Search Strategy: Boolean Operators, AND, OR
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 44
Relevance of Hits: 5
Some useful sites found using Feedmil and Technorati were:
Two Theories of Cognitive Development, What are Safety Gates for Stairs, and Developmental and Child Psychology
Research Journal Assingment #8a: Websites
Search Engine Used: RedZ
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky, Social Construction
Search Strategy Used: Boolean Operators, AND, OR
Date Searched: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 25, 22, 30
Relevance of Hits: 5, 3, 4
Meta Search Engine Used: Meta Crawler
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky, Differences
Search Strategy: Advanced Search and Boolean Operators, AND
Date Searched: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 40, 41
Relevance of Hits: 5, 4
Directory Used: INFOMINE
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky
Search Strategy: Refined Search by Category (Social Sciences) and Boolean Operator, AND
Date Searched: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 1, 2
Relevance of Hits: 5, 5
Invisible Web Search Tool Used: DeepDyve
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky, Differences
Search Strategy: Refine search by category (Social Sciences, and Web) and Boolean Operator, AND, OR
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 55
Relevance of Hits: 5
Other Search Tool Used: Digg (Social Bookmarking Service)
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Developmental Education
Search Strategy Used: Boolean Operators, AND with little to no usefulness
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 3, 52
Relevance of Hits: 4, 3
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky, Social Construction
Search Strategy Used: Boolean Operators, AND, OR
Date Searched: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 25, 22, 30
Relevance of Hits: 5, 3, 4
Meta Search Engine Used: Meta Crawler
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky, Differences
Search Strategy: Advanced Search and Boolean Operators, AND
Date Searched: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 40, 41
Relevance of Hits: 5, 4
Directory Used: INFOMINE
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky
Search Strategy: Refined Search by Category (Social Sciences) and Boolean Operator, AND
Date Searched: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 1, 2
Relevance of Hits: 5, 5
Invisible Web Search Tool Used: DeepDyve
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Developmental Education, Lev Vygotsky, Differences
Search Strategy: Refine search by category (Social Sciences, and Web) and Boolean Operator, AND, OR
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 55
Relevance of Hits: 5
Other Search Tool Used: Digg (Social Bookmarking Service)
Keywords Used: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Developmental Education
Search Strategy Used: Boolean Operators, AND with little to no usefulness
Date of Search: October 8, 2009
Number of Hits: 3, 52
Relevance of Hits: 4, 3
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Internet Research Project
Name of Source: Middlespot
Summary of Source: Middlespot is an internet search engine that creates personal "mash tabs" and allows the user to search sources on the web through a visual interface, which pulls up hits from a wide array of sources, including music and video. Once a keyword is searched out Middlespot posts the hits on the page in a format that allows the user to see the source on Middlespot without needing to clink any link to view the material unless they want to be directed to the actual site instead. The user can look down a list to the left side of the screen that shows the hits in order of relevance and on the right, consuming most of the screen, are the corresponding options for the user to toggle through and investigate. Using the zoom button the user can even read the whole article from each link and then zoom back out and continue on to the next one.
Source Strengths: Mash tabs create for a convenient, personalized way to group searches. The interface gives the user the option view search results without leaving actual search engine. The interactive interface creates a fun and interesting way to construct searches. Middlespot pulls hits from all sorts of hits and relative information which is very useful, making it a well rounded source. It supports Boolean and Mathematical Operators. It is also capable of performing searches in different languages.
Source Weaknesses: Middlespot is not a very well known search engine and can be dwarfed by other more popular search engines. Although the unique interface and use of mash tabs is convenient and useful, it can become overwhelming and somewhat confusing, especially likely to become so to novice users. If a very broad search is being conducted the interface may become cumbersome in navigating the results. It also offers no Advanced Search Options.
Search Engines, Directories, and Other Applications Searched: Along with searching the web, Middlespot also connects to images, Amazon, Twitter, and headline news sites.
Databases: Middlespot searches its own database along with the web that its spiders have crawled. Middlespot is a search engine and therefore cannot pull out the invisible information on the web but can search it's own vast supply of data.
Operators: Middlespot supports both Boolean and Mathematical Operators to narrow and provide more refined search results.
Case Sensitivity: Middlespot is not case sensitive in its searches and the same number of results are returned no matter what the case choice entered.
Stop Words: All words that are typed in the search box are searched. There are no stop words in Middlespot.
Advanced Search Function: There are no advanced search options in Middlespot. It does however offer related searches at the bottom of the page that might relate to the current search but there are no options for an advanced search.
Limits: Although Middlespot is definitely a user friendly search engine it can offer too many results and it does not allow for advanced search, which is a tool that may become necessary to some users in their searches.
Sorting: All hits are organized by perceived relevance to keywords entered. There are no options for any other form of sorting results.
Display: Middlespot provides a brief title that encapsulates the material on the page and then a few excerpts from the page follow, with the keywords used displayed in bold. The site url then ends the entry at the bottom. Options for related search and "add to mash tab" are also attached to each result. The results are displayed 25 at a time, again in a running column down the left side and then the actual pages displayed to the right of that in columns, originally set to 4 but can also be changed to display anywhere between 1 and 10 columns on the page.
Help Function: Middlespot contains a tips, tutorials, and about tab. These tabs provide information on how to best use Middlespot and information about the search engine itself.
Special Features: Besides the personalized mash tabs and the intricate display once searched, Middlespot also provides a history of recent searches on the left hand once the home page is returned to. This keeps track of the exact keywords used, where they were searched, and what date they were searched on. The most unique and enticing aspect of Middlespot, though, remains the option to create personalized mash tabs to keep track of related searches and then use them as part of a social bookmarking by sharing them.
Summary of Source: Middlespot is an internet search engine that creates personal "mash tabs" and allows the user to search sources on the web through a visual interface, which pulls up hits from a wide array of sources, including music and video. Once a keyword is searched out Middlespot posts the hits on the page in a format that allows the user to see the source on Middlespot without needing to clink any link to view the material unless they want to be directed to the actual site instead. The user can look down a list to the left side of the screen that shows the hits in order of relevance and on the right, consuming most of the screen, are the corresponding options for the user to toggle through and investigate. Using the zoom button the user can even read the whole article from each link and then zoom back out and continue on to the next one.
Source Strengths: Mash tabs create for a convenient, personalized way to group searches. The interface gives the user the option view search results without leaving actual search engine. The interactive interface creates a fun and interesting way to construct searches. Middlespot pulls hits from all sorts of hits and relative information which is very useful, making it a well rounded source. It supports Boolean and Mathematical Operators. It is also capable of performing searches in different languages.
Source Weaknesses: Middlespot is not a very well known search engine and can be dwarfed by other more popular search engines. Although the unique interface and use of mash tabs is convenient and useful, it can become overwhelming and somewhat confusing, especially likely to become so to novice users. If a very broad search is being conducted the interface may become cumbersome in navigating the results. It also offers no Advanced Search Options.
Search Engines, Directories, and Other Applications Searched: Along with searching the web, Middlespot also connects to images, Amazon, Twitter, and headline news sites.
Databases: Middlespot searches its own database along with the web that its spiders have crawled. Middlespot is a search engine and therefore cannot pull out the invisible information on the web but can search it's own vast supply of data.
Operators: Middlespot supports both Boolean and Mathematical Operators to narrow and provide more refined search results.
Case Sensitivity: Middlespot is not case sensitive in its searches and the same number of results are returned no matter what the case choice entered.
Stop Words: All words that are typed in the search box are searched. There are no stop words in Middlespot.
Advanced Search Function: There are no advanced search options in Middlespot. It does however offer related searches at the bottom of the page that might relate to the current search but there are no options for an advanced search.
Limits: Although Middlespot is definitely a user friendly search engine it can offer too many results and it does not allow for advanced search, which is a tool that may become necessary to some users in their searches.
Sorting: All hits are organized by perceived relevance to keywords entered. There are no options for any other form of sorting results.
Display: Middlespot provides a brief title that encapsulates the material on the page and then a few excerpts from the page follow, with the keywords used displayed in bold. The site url then ends the entry at the bottom. Options for related search and "add to mash tab" are also attached to each result. The results are displayed 25 at a time, again in a running column down the left side and then the actual pages displayed to the right of that in columns, originally set to 4 but can also be changed to display anywhere between 1 and 10 columns on the page.
Help Function: Middlespot contains a tips, tutorials, and about tab. These tabs provide information on how to best use Middlespot and information about the search engine itself.
Special Features: Besides the personalized mash tabs and the intricate display once searched, Middlespot also provides a history of recent searches on the left hand once the home page is returned to. This keeps track of the exact keywords used, where they were searched, and what date they were searched on. The most unique and enticing aspect of Middlespot, though, remains the option to create personalized mash tabs to keep track of related searches and then use them as part of a social bookmarking by sharing them.
Research Journal Assignment #7c: Field Research Plan
There are few different ideas I have had for my field research. The first idea that came into my mind was to simply observe a classroom setting and report what naturalistic observations I found and how the teacher applied either Piaget or Vygotsky's theories in the classroom. I could do this kind of observation anytime a school would allow me to and this might be a simple way to gather research. If I were to pursue this kind of field research I would most likely conduct it at the local elementary school so the proximity would be a benefit of this kind of research. Although conducting a simple observation would be a simple way of gathering information it might not be the most useful because the chances that the class might be doing something that might not have either theory applied is a good possibility.
Another option I have considered is simply interviewing the head of the Human Development department at Metro and getting his opinion on the two theories and when he has found them useful and which one he is more likely to use in his teaching. This would be a simply interview to conduct but might be more difficult to set up than the observation at the elementary school. I already know who I would interview but setting up a time that we could both meet might be tough, so if I was to interview him I might actually do it through email or on the phone. Although that eliminates the face to face interaction and possibility of clarification it definitely adds an element of convenience to the research. In conclusion, I'm still unsure about which of the two ideas I will chose but either way I know I will be doing the research sooner rather than later so as to help formulate my conclusion in my paper.
Research Journal Assignment #7b: Internet Research Tool Test
Resource Used: Middlespot
Keywords Used: Piaget, Vygotsky, Theor*, Education, Use*
Search Strategies Used: Boolean Operators ( AND, OR) and Mathematical Operators (*)
Date of Search: October 3, 2009
Number of Hits: 78
Relevance of Hits: 4
Research Journal Assignment #7a: Internet Research Tools
Much like most people, I am a person of convenience. I enjoy being able to get things done quickly and efficiently. Although this allows me to function quickly and effectively, it can sometimes be a problem because I fail to look further into things and take time to look further into what I need to do. And just like most people when I want to look something up on the internet I simply open my browser and head straight for Google. I use Google simply because it was the search engine I was always taught to use throughout my schooling. I like Google because it is convenient and it consistenlty provides quite a few hits, making it a useful tool for a simple broad search. I dislike Google though, because it offers way too many hits and is much too broad. I believe that Google is the most used search engine simply because it is the most known search engine and most people do not know about the other engines that exist. All in all Google is a useful tool, but should be used in moderation and a good amount of variation in tool usage.
This is the link to Google
This is the link to Google
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