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Asking the right questions; developing an information search design

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ACCESS, INTERACTION, COLLABORATION

In this course I make heavy use of computer-mediated teaching and learning because the processes involved make "The Spanish Empire" a much more effective vehicle for realizing the Department of History's objectives for student intellectual growth within a major program stressing comparative and world history. Computer-mediated communications enable greater student access, interaction, and collaboration.

You are welcome to consult my recent paper, Integrating Iberian Histories into the On-line Cultural Environment, to learn more about my thinking on this subject.

Only a few years ago, if a student were assigned to write a paper on a subject, he or she went to the library to discover the limited resources available there and shaped the project accordingly. Now ACCESS to information and people has so expanded and the sources of information are so interlinked that students can deal with a wider range of problems and really experience the active, nonlinear, extended thought so characteristic of serious intellectual work. However, to take advantage of information availability, students need an INFORMATION SEARCH DESIGN; they must learn to ask questions with sufficient precision to reveal what information they need and to evaluate the quality of the information they obtain.

Computer-mediated communications also permit greatly amplified asynchronous and real-time INTERACTION, and "The Spanish Empire" is designed to enhance these possibilities.

Although not as well developed as the other possibilities, computer-mediated education provides much greater opportunities for COLLABORATION, and at Idaho State University, there is a tremendous need for common, collaborative ACADEMIC experiences to provide a necessary basis for life-long learning. 

All contents copyright © 1995-99.
J. B. Owens
All rights reserved.


Revised:  23 August 1999


URL:  http://www.isu.edu/~owenjack/spemp/reading.01.html