Generation LinuX, Part 2--Web Research
By: Rob Reilly
Thursday, March 30, 2006 10:29:25 AM EST
URL: http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6218/1/
Web Research Skills are Important
Every kid should learn that invaluable skill of finding information on the Web. Mentoring, books, magazines, and other resources provide phenomenal content to today's kids. Better make sure that they can tap that huge information gold mine known as the Web.
In spite of the Web's ubiquity and pervasiveness, I'm troubled that many kids have not learned how to take advantage of this tremendous tool. It sounds silly. Some kids think a browser's URL address box and Google are the same thing. I know adults who have that problem, too.
Nobody gets around to showing a kid how to effectively use the Web. Web research is a participation sport. They can't get in the game if they don't know how (or why) to play.
Cable, DSL, and phone providers promote their super high-speed networks. Retailers push their multi-Gigahertz desktops and laptops. Both claim that their products help kids with school work. Infinite information at their fingertips... fast.
I guess using the Web is so simple, no instructions are needed. Right?
Learning Web research skills is a great way for parents and their kids to spend time together. Parents can teach surfing skills, while keeping an eye on what their little tykes view. By example, kids naturally follow a parent's lead like Web site choice, key word selection, wholesome content, etc. Such an opportunity for both parties.
Start with the Fundamentals
Although the Web seems second nature to you and I, it's not intuitive to kids.
A good way to start is to explain that a browser is simply the program used to display a page from a Web server. You can talk about how a Web server constructs a page and makes it available on the Internet, so a browser can display it. The child will be amazed that there are thousands of Web servers, in every country on Earth. Show them a few. After they are comfortable with the browser, let them click while you direct.
Another important point to emphasize is that the URL, typed into the address line in the browser is the address of that "page" on the Web. Kids should know that a URL could be a Web page address, a local file, an image, or any number of other information sources.
We shouldn't leave out that fundamental building block of the Web, the link. Talk to them about the different types of links, like images, text, and so on.
After the basics, kids can start learning ways to speed up their surfing and information discovery. Take text highlighting. With their great eye/hand coordination, they'll be highlighting, copying, and pasting text, in no time. They'll be able to pull text off of a Web page and stick it into another application, like OpenOffice.org Writer. Highlighting also makes it possible for the Konqueror browser to read text to your child, using the Festival speech synthesizer. Find it under Tools and Speak Text. Highlighting is also good for grabbing links.
Once a kid knows about browsers, servers, and URL boxes they can be on the lookout for interesting Web addresses and URLs in everyday life. Teach them to make note of Web sites, when they are out and around, so they can later find them when they get on the computer.
It's important to teach patience, when navigating, to a kid. Wide variations in website response times can make jumping from site to site frustrating.
Likewise, fast networks and computers make a big difference in keeping a kid's attention and lowering their frustration levels. Kids frequently push keys or make multiple mouse clicks, when impatient, and cause the wait to be longer. An antique machine with 64 MB of memory and a creaky old 200-mHz processor is not going to be that great for Web browsing, even with a hot broadband connection.
Choosing a Browser and Search Tools
A child has many nice choices for a browser. The Open Source world has Firefox, Mozilla, and Konqueror. Other are available although less well known.
Firefox is cutting edge, has a nice clean look, and supports a growing plug-in culture. It has advanced pop-up and spam filtering capabilities.
Mozilla is a nearly bulletproof browser, integrating email, an address book, and an HTML editor into the package.
Konqueror is the native browser for the KDE desktop environment. It displays almost any type of page and has specialized features, like the Speak Text option, mentioned earlier.
Lynx is the highly acclaimed text based browser. Although a kid might not take to Lynx, it's another option for them, courtesy of Open Source.
Browsers give kids the ability to see a Web page. Finding pages is easy, too; just use a search engine.
Google is the king of search engines and can return a massive number of query results. Dogpile, Yahoo, Lycos, and AOL create well stocked lists as well.
Google also has a wealth of options, to help pare down the lists of search results.
A couple of search terms that I regularly use are the double quotes (") and the plus sign (+). The double quotes enclose phrases. If you want to search for a phrase like 'the Moon is blue', simply enclose it in double quotes. If you want to force including a word in a search use the plus sign in front of the word. For example, if you only want to find sites with Linux and applications, add a plus sign in front of each word.
Other search terms you can use are daterange (don't forget that it's a Julian date) and allinurl (finds a text string in the URL). Take a look at the Google API.
After Google and the other search engines come the specialty sites. These cater to particular topics. Great examples include NewsForge.com, LinuxToday.com and O'Reilly Network. These sites highlight happenings for the Open Source, Linux, and networking crowd. Others like Slashdot, Robots.net, and Sciencedaily.com cover other high tech topics.
All of these sites are wholesome fare for the budding technologist.
A good exercise is to spend a little time together Web searching for topics of interest to your child. You could even branch out on non-techie related searches. Use the search engines first, then track some of the more specialized sites. Use the bookmark features in their browser to build their own customized lists of frequently visited sites. Be patient though, finding regularly updated content, that your child can use, can be a challenge.
Wrapping Up
We've looked at familiarizing kids with the jargon of computer technology and how to start to find information using the Web. Run with it and spend some time together exploring.
Next, we'll cover tools that can make their little lives easier, while using the computer. We'll discuss how to use the Linux desktop to learn and get things done.
Rob Reilly is a consultant, writer, and commentator. His company serves clients in the areas of business communications and technology integration.