Students can even do research 'for fun' online, during spare and convenient moments -- they do not need to always go physically go to the library, or even to transport heavy reference books, when they can search online for articles, and multimedia sources of information. Primary source documents, pictures, and photographs are available on the web. Librarians can help students distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate sources, as well as know the difference between primary and secondary sources of information.
Particularly for students who are visual or kinesthetic learners, using the multimedia nature of the web can become one of the first times they actually become excited about creating their own project. For history classes, Footnote, provides "access to original historical documents," including newspaper pictures and advertisements and students "can update them with your own content and insights" ("25 Useful," College Degree, 2008). Library resources on the web also make it easier for busy students to search and store information. With the social bookmarking tool, del.icio.us, students or librarians can create a custom directory for themselves. "Teach them to search by your tags, and it will be easy to find useful Internet research links" ("25 Useful," College Degree, 2008). Students engaged on a collaborative project can also setup a joint account to collect resources together in one del.icio.us area. "Wherever the teens are, if they find a resource that fits their del.icio.us focus they can quickly and easily login to their joint account, add the link, annotate the link, and off they go. del.icio.us even has RSS feeds so that others who are collecting resources on the same topic in the same del.icio.us space will know something new has been added' ("Positive uses," ALA,...
Not only is this useful, it is also exciting for the students to be updated about new information, and integrates the research process into their usual use of social media to connect with friends.
Using social forms of new technology, such as photosharing, to facilitate the educational process is another hook for teens. A science class might encourage students to share photos of the natural world with the class on Flickr. Teens will be interested to use technology that has applicability in their personal lives, but by presenting it in an educational context they can learn as well. Furthermore, they can see the relevance of their learning to their everyday lives: taking pictures of beach erosion over time makes what they are learning about in environmental science class real. And of course, Flickr and other such sites is an ideal way for art classes to showcase student works.
Students of many different talents and interests can all find their niche on the web. It is the librarian's responsibility to create that niche, and help students create an inclusive community. Librarians can use the web as a teaching tool of how to do research and how to organize and screen information. Using social media can make students more critical thinkers about the quality of information, as well as improve the quality of student work.
Works Cited
"25 useful social networking tools for librarians." College Degree.com February 22, 2008.
March 13, 2010.
http://www.collegedegree.com/library/financial-aid/25-useful-social-networking-tools-for-librarians
"Positive uses of social networking." American Library Association (ALA). March 13,
2010. http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/ifissues/positive_uses.pdf
