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" A recent study at Illinois Wesleyan University found that fewer than 25% of students could perform a "reasonably well-executed search." Wrote researchers, "The majority of students - of all levels - exhibited significant difficulties that ranged across nearly every aspect of the search process." That search process also included determining when to rely on Google and when to utilize scholarly databases, but on a fundamental level, it appears that many people just don't understand how to best find the information they seek using Google. Thanks to the folks at HackCollege, a number of my "secrets" are out. The infographic below offers a helpful primer for how to best structure searches using advanced operators to more quickly and accurately drill down to the information you want. This is by no means an exhaustive list of search operators and advanced techniques, but it's a good start that will help set you on the path to becoming a Google master."

The centrepiece of many graduation and end of year events is the 'photostory' - a slideshow or video production that captures the many events that occurred during the year .. Thankfully technology exists to take much of the headache out of creating these shows - and below you will find a number of free or very reasonably priced digital tools that will create amazing multimedia quickly and easily.

"On Wednesday, February 8th, Wolfram Alpha will be adding a new, "Pro" option to its already existing services. Priced at a very reasonable $4.99 a month ($2.99 for students), the new services includes the ability to use images, files, and even your own data as inputs instead of simple text entry. The "reports" that Wolfram Alpha kicks out as a result of these (or any) query are also beefed up for Pro users, some will actually become interactive charts and all of them can be more easily exported in a variety of formats. We sat down with Stephen Wolfram himself to get a tour of the new features and to discuss what they mean for his goal of "making the world's knowledge computable.""

"There are now two main cultures in computing: Most computer users treat software as a tool for getting tasks done, while programmers hold conversations with their software. One big challenge when teaching programming, no matter in what language, is getting students used to a conversation-oriented programmer culture, which is very different than a tool-oriented user culture" An interesting post, although I was actually left wondering why users should worry about programming. I understand that there are differences, but other than 'big data', Philip does not really provide detailed reasoning to support the argument.

"Found this fantastic infographic touting the success of infographics. Reading it ( or more correctly, viewing it) immediately focused my thoughts on the use of visual texts in classrooms today. Click on the screenshot above to view the animated, interactive info graphic that presents  13 reasons why we should use infographics ( or visual texts in general). Unlike other infographics I link to on Mr G Online, I'm not going to discuss the specific points presented - that would be contradictory to the message of the infographic. I'll let you get your own meaning from it. However, I am going to reflect on how it made me consider the use of visual texts in education."

"If for any reasons you do not want to upload your classroom videos to YouTube and are looking for another free hosting video that can allow you to upload and share your videos Google Drive is one of your best options. Only few Google Drive users know that there is a functionality in Google Drive that enables anyone with a Google Drive account to instantly upload their videos and after the upload you can get an embed code to integrate your video anywhere on the web. Here is how you can do it."

"Twitter users often make the decision of whether or not to follow someone in seconds, meaning that you have very little time to impress. We looked into why people chose not to follow profiles on Twitter, and crowdsourced a variety of reasons that users give for not hitting that "Follow" button."

"Madeline McSherry of Slate says it best:  "Coding is the hottest skill on the job market, the modern-day language of creativity, and a powerful force in the economy." Here are four reason why I believe students should be coding:"

Unquestioning reliance on automation can, and has, led to disasters. This is one of the major reasons why teacher-librarians, librarians and other information professionals need to very diligently to ensure digital information literacy skills are learnt by everyone in the community. We all need to be in control of our technologies, not allow our technologies dictate to us.

Bad credit 12 month loans are provide the small amount to the all mind of applicant in a hassle free way. Online lenders of these loans scheme don't demand to pledge any collateral from borrower side.

This is a technology blog. However, in order to highlight how far eBooks have to go until they seriously challenge for the hearts and minds of book lovers, we present here a list of reasons why paper books are still better than eBooks. We'll also speculate about how eBooks might match each feature that paper books currently have

Semantic Web technologies have immense potential to transform the Internet into a distributed reasoning machine that will not only execute extremely precise searches, but will also have the ability to analyze the data it finds to create new knowledge. This paper examines the state of Semantic Web (also known as Linked Data) tools and infrastructure to determine whether semantic technologies are sufficiently mature for non-expert use, and to identify some of the obstacles to global Linked Data implementation.

"OLPC is cool for a number of reasons. First, it's real innovation, the project was born before anyone was actively occupied with the themes OLPC works with. Second, it recognises that education is key to create equality around the world. And third, OLPC started out with a dream, a vision so strong that it inspired and motivated others to change their way of thinking too."

Amongst the great things at the start of our millenium, this website also counts that the OLPC is cool. :-)

All search engines are engaged in a constant battle with entities that aim to manipulate search engine results for various reasons. Search Engine Optimization can be a major money earner or a significant distraction depending on what side of the search activity you are on. This infographic explores how Google is attempting to deal with one aspect of SEO, Content Farms.

Instructional uses of social networking software can provide opportunities for learning, connecting, and engagement.

"When I was 10 years old I was hitting a digital puck across the screen with a digital paddle playing Pong. My son at age 10 was learning metallurgy and materials management in an online multiplayer game called Runescape! I knew nothing of the game at the time, and he soon showed me how he learned to collect items in the world in order to make new things that he needed to complete quests and gain experience. In particular, he showed me how he needed to collect certain metal ores, take them to a smelter to extract metals, and then take those to a forge to create tools or to a craftsman to make other things. This is one of the reasons that I am still excited about Minecraft."

""When people learn to play videogames," according to James Paul Gee, "they are learning a new literacy." This is one of the reason kids love playing them: They are learning a new interactive language that grants them access to virtual worlds that are filled with intrigue, engagement and meaningful challenges. And one that feels more congruent with the nature and trajectory of today's world. "

"Last month, 16 teachers from across the country got together at Google's Seattle office for the YouTube Teachers Studio - a sort of bootcamp to learn how to best use YouTube in the classroom. Jon Corippo, a Google Certified Teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator, was among the group, and came back with ideas about what YouTube was great for."