Google can bring you back 100,000 answers , a librarian can bring you back the right answer - Neil Gaiman
by Bev Novak
Part of this article is reprinted from her blog NovaNews, http://novanews19.wordpress.com/
… I've come up with the following thoughts, thoughts which strangely have tumbled out as lots of questions:
Clearly Google has much to offer. It enables ready access to a massive store of information. But it is just that, information.
Students cannot be expected to make sense of all the information at their fingertips without the structure, guidance and expert advice offered by educators in our schools. The completion of highly structured activities and exercises designed by teachers enables students to analyse and synthesise information retrieved by Google searches. This process, which ensures that facts are internalised, is the crux of education. It is our skilled teachers who provide a framework for learning. It is they who design and present learning experiences in logical sequences, ensuring that learning is achieved in a hierarchical order. Contriving opportunities for students to discuss, manipulate, experiment and explore sourced facts creates an environment conducive to learning. Providing instruction and direction, as well as inspiring in our students the joy of learning, is a major role of our teachers.
So what is the meaning of learning and how best is learning achieved?
Learning is the acquisition of knowledge and skill. Just knowing facts does not enable our doctors to perform intricate heart operations or develop new vaccines, nor does it enable our engineers to construct bridges, nor our architects to design buildings. Structured learning within the framework provided by our schools is the best way learning can be achieved.
"Should I be using Google or the Library resources for a paper?"