4th July 2012 13:15
By Blue Tutors
‘Research doesn’t just mean look it up on Google’
The culture of clicking online for instant answers risks "infantilising" learning, says the head of a charity which runs independent girls schools.
Helen Fraser will warn delegates of the Girls' Day School Trust about the risk of pupils relying on "nuggets of information" from the internet.
Sean Coughlan, Education reporter for the BBC News Online writes today that Ms Fraser describes the process of learning as more of a ‘slow casserole’ with students encouraged to take time to stew over authors’ ideas and different viewpoints.
While Google delivers facts, it often doesn’t provide the fuller picture of conflicting arguments surrounding an issue, delivering opinion as pre-packed and unalterable.
Wile I do agree with Ms Fraser, I do encourage my students to Google their texts as it can open them up to criticism and other opinions of the text of which they were unaware. Contrary to Ms Fraser’s point, I think it can facilitise individual research. As always the issue is not what medium to use but how to make the most of it.