KidsClick!What is the tool?
The tool in which I have researched and decided to post via our Class Blog is KidsClick!. KidsClick! was founded in 1995, and is owned and run by the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University. It was created by a group of librarians at Ramapo Catskill Library System as a logical step in addressing concerns about the role of public libraries in guiding their young users to valuable and age appropriate websites. The idea of KidsClick! is to provide students with a search engine/web guide; it is like Google for kids. The search engine that KidsClick! employs is SWISH-E. Contrary to belief, KidsClick! is not an Internet filter, but is intended to guide users to good sites; not block them from "bad" sites. Their goal is to provide an objective information service for children. In simple terms, KidsClick! is a search engine that allows kids to explore the web safely. Furthermore, this tool is not only for kids, but for teachers too. It provides teachers with a useful search engine as with kids, but it also has lesson plans that teachers can implement in the classroom.
How can it be used?
This tool can be used by students who are actively engaged in a project that requires research on a specific subject. There are tons (over 600) of resources for kids such as: dictionaries, encyclopedias, picture and sound searches, software, etc. The site includes information for pretty much any subject imaginable. For example, there are searches for literature, the arts, geography, religion, health, family, entertainment, and tons more. You name it, and I can almost guarantee KidsClick! will have it. Not only can it be used by students for academic work, but also by teachers and parents. Teachers can use this site to locate lesson plans, interactive games via the web, and fun holiday craft ideas. They may also use KidsClick! to extend certain lessons or to aid students with ideas they may not be catching on to in class, because it brings out new insights and could possibly help students better understand things. I feel that teachers could and should use KidsClick! as an extension to the regular classroom because it is not only packed full of educational resources, but extremely safe for students to use. Parents can even use it at home to assist their children with their studies or research as well as to gain a better idea about what their children are learning in school. KidsClick! is an extremely useful website for students, teachers, and parents, and a great addition to any classroom.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this tool?
ADVANTAGES:
- This website it not only a valuable resource for students, but can be useful for both teachers and parents alike.
- The site is primarily aimed towards kids (though teacher and parent use is encouraged). Therefore, it is safe for children to use. Adults can rest assure that students can use the website without having to worry about those individuals who "lurk" around on the Internet.
- Students can search the 600 plus subjects by letter. This alphabetized list makes research a breeze. Also, if students are unsure of exactly what they are looking for, they can search for things by subject.
- Students can use this site for research, parents can work with their children through this website at home, and teachers can research and gain ideas about lessons.
- KidsClick! does not limit itself to solely school-related information. There are also areas for things outside of the school curriculum. For example, there is a "Weird and Mysterious" area where students can research about ghosts, monsters, aliens, etc., and a "Religion and Mythology" area where students can research Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.
- This site can be looked at through a "Librarian's Eyes" (Dewey Decimal System). This is pretty neat, and you should check it out.
DISADVANTAGES:
- As you navigate through different areas of the site, you find useful information that can be used for research. But, when you get to these areas, there is no way to navigate back to the homepage of KidsClick! except by either pressing the "Back" button many times or by typing in the KidsClick! web address again. This can be rather annoying if you are needing to get back to the homepage.
- There is no tutorial for help issues with this site. You just have to explore and look around to learn how to navigate it. It would be helpful if users were given the opportunity to watch a short instructional video on how to use KidsClick!.
Who is the audience for this tool?
In reality, the intended audience for this tool would be anyone and everyone. Though KidsClick! is primarily geared toward kids (as evident from its name), it is available to teachers, parents, and any other individual who would like to make use of it. Anyone who is interested in researching topics via a detailed, safe, and user friendly search engine would certainly benefit from KidsClick!.
Where can we learn more about this tool?
In order to learn more information about KidsClick! you can go to About KidsClick!. Here, you can read about KidsClick! Project Background. This portion of the site details information about its creation, ownership, purpose, goals, etc. Also, you can navigate to the Privacy Policy, Selection Criteria, List of Database Contributors, and Submit a Site links to learn even more about this useful website. The Ramapo Catskill Library System provides additional information pertaining to KidsClick! as well.
What is your opinion on the usefulness of this tool?
In my personal opinion, I feel that this tool (KidsClick!) is extremely useful for children of all ages, teachers, parents, and any other individual looking for a great search engine. As stated above, this tool helps those looking for places to research information. It is like any other search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.). KidsClick! provides individuals with places to obtain information about a subject they are interested in researching. Unlike other search engines, KidsClick! provides its users with categories and an option for alphabetical searches. With other search engines its "hit or miss" and sometimes you may feel like you are blindly searching, but not with KidsClick!. This site is a wonderful extension to the classroom, and I will certainly find great use for it in my future classroom.
The tool in which I have researched and decided to post via our Class Blog is KidsClick!. KidsClick! was founded in 1995, and is owned and run by the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University. It was created by a group of librarians at Ramapo Catskill Library System as a logical step in addressing concerns about the role of public libraries in guiding their young users to valuable and age appropriate websites. The idea of KidsClick! is to provide students with a search engine/web guide; it is like Google for kids. The search engine that KidsClick! employs is SWISH-E. Contrary to belief, KidsClick! is not an Internet filter, but is intended to guide users to good sites; not block them from "bad" sites. Their goal is to provide an objective information service for children. In simple terms, KidsClick! is a search engine that allows kids to explore the web safely. Furthermore, this tool is not only for kids, but for teachers too. It provides teachers with a useful search engine as with kids, but it also has lesson plans that teachers can implement in the classroom.
How can it be used?This tool can be used by students who are actively engaged in a project that requires research on a specific subject. There are tons (over 600) of resources for kids such as: dictionaries, encyclopedias, picture and sound searches, software, etc. The site includes information for pretty much any subject imaginable. For example, there are searches for literature, the arts, geography, religion, health, family, entertainment, and tons more. You name it, and I can almost guarantee KidsClick! will have it. Not only can it be used by students for academic work, but also by teachers and parents. Teachers can use this site to locate lesson plans, interactive games via the web, and fun holiday craft ideas. They may also use KidsClick! to extend certain lessons or to aid students with ideas they may not be catching on to in class, because it brings out new insights and could possibly help students better understand things. I feel that teachers could and should use KidsClick! as an extension to the regular classroom because it is not only packed full of educational resources, but extremely safe for students to use. Parents can even use it at home to assist their children with their studies or research as well as to gain a better idea about what their children are learning in school. KidsClick! is an extremely useful website for students, teachers, and parents, and a great addition to any classroom.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this tool?ADVANTAGES:
- This website it not only a valuable resource for students, but can be useful for both teachers and parents alike.
- The site is primarily aimed towards kids (though teacher and parent use is encouraged). Therefore, it is safe for children to use. Adults can rest assure that students can use the website without having to worry about those individuals who "lurk" around on the Internet.
- Students can search the 600 plus subjects by letter. This alphabetized list makes research a breeze. Also, if students are unsure of exactly what they are looking for, they can search for things by subject.
- Students can use this site for research, parents can work with their children through this website at home, and teachers can research and gain ideas about lessons.
- KidsClick! does not limit itself to solely school-related information. There are also areas for things outside of the school curriculum. For example, there is a "Weird and Mysterious" area where students can research about ghosts, monsters, aliens, etc., and a "Religion and Mythology" area where students can research Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.
- This site can be looked at through a "Librarian's Eyes" (Dewey Decimal System). This is pretty neat, and you should check it out.
DISADVANTAGES:
- As you navigate through different areas of the site, you find useful information that can be used for research. But, when you get to these areas, there is no way to navigate back to the homepage of KidsClick! except by either pressing the "Back" button many times or by typing in the KidsClick! web address again. This can be rather annoying if you are needing to get back to the homepage.
- There is no tutorial for help issues with this site. You just have to explore and look around to learn how to navigate it. It would be helpful if users were given the opportunity to watch a short instructional video on how to use KidsClick!.
Who is the audience for this tool?In reality, the intended audience for this tool would be anyone and everyone. Though KidsClick! is primarily geared toward kids (as evident from its name), it is available to teachers, parents, and any other individual who would like to make use of it. Anyone who is interested in researching topics via a detailed, safe, and user friendly search engine would certainly benefit from KidsClick!.
Where can we learn more about this tool?In order to learn more information about KidsClick! you can go to About KidsClick!. Here, you can read about KidsClick! Project Background. This portion of the site details information about its creation, ownership, purpose, goals, etc. Also, you can navigate to the Privacy Policy, Selection Criteria, List of Database Contributors, and Submit a Site links to learn even more about this useful website. The Ramapo Catskill Library System provides additional information pertaining to KidsClick! as well.
What is your opinion on the usefulness of this tool?In my personal opinion, I feel that this tool (KidsClick!) is extremely useful for children of all ages, teachers, parents, and any other individual looking for a great search engine. As stated above, this tool helps those looking for places to research information. It is like any other search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.). KidsClick! provides individuals with places to obtain information about a subject they are interested in researching. Unlike other search engines, KidsClick! provides its users with categories and an option for alphabetical searches. With other search engines its "hit or miss" and sometimes you may feel like you are blindly searching, but not with KidsClick!. This site is a wonderful extension to the classroom, and I will certainly find great use for it in my future classroom.
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar