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Librarians, teachers and parents have told us how hard it is for students to understand web searching. Boolify makes it easier to for students to understand their web search by illustrating the logic of their search, and by showing them how each change to their search instantly changes their results.
It's simple, immediate and is easy and flexible to use with your class, no matter the subject matter.
Search results are presented through Google's "Safe Search STRICT" technology. However, no filtering technology is 100% secure, as this blog posting astutely points out.
This project has been designed and developed by volunteers. If you have found this tool useful, we would appreciate small donations. All donations are publicly reported, and are used to support the development costs for Boolify and other innovative educational software applications and programs. Or, if you'd prefer, you can also support us by sharing a warm cup of coffee.
Dede (2000) astutely remarked that “children must learn how to sift vast quantities of information through their fingertips” and “thrive on chaos”. In our lifetimes, the quantity of information available for sifting-through has increased exponentially. Yet, the tools for “teaching how to sift” have not maintained pace with the need for sifting.
With this challenge in mind, the Boolify Project offers a piece of software that helps model Boolean operators. Its primary audience is Elementary and Middle School children, but it may find relevance with others. Ultimately, its goal is to increase learners’ ability to perform effective web searches. Just how will it accomplish this?
It is hypothesized that visual cues Boolify provides will help learners build a mental model of the search that they are performing. A mental model is an internal visualization that can be used to guide practice and, in the case of Boolify, the software helps make explicit and graphical the formation of their search.
Of course, the mental model is visualized as puzzle pieces that fit together and provide real-time feedback to the learner about the efficacy of the search.
Evaluation (Summer 2008) will determine if our work is effective.
Additional information on: Mental Models, 21st Century Skills
Dede, C. (2000, March). Emerging influences of information technology on school curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32(2) 281-303. http://www.virtual.gmu.edu/ss_pdf/DedeJCS.pdf
At least a dozen volunteers can be credited with pulling this project together. We would also like to point out that the MIT Media Lab's Scratch Project served as an initial reference for our own work.
Public Learning Media Lab Participants:
Dave H. Crusoe, Lead Designer (TIE 05 / MBE 07)
Erfan Mojjadam (TIE 07)
Peter Pinch (TIE 04)
Shane Tutwiler (TIE 07)
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Programming & Graphics
Jason Wallace - Javascript & PHP Programming
Ali Rahmoun - Graphics
Additional Volunteers and Supporters:
Sandra Carswell
Susan Farr
Karen Field
Sue Giffard
Jean Gustafson
Sue Hendry
Kevin Kaland
Judith Oakes
Ralph Sandbrand
