Friday, October 9, 2009

Visual Search Engine


Try out this visual search engine Spezify. I just typed in Isaac Asimov, and got some helpful results. Also, tried Obama. Enter a topic of interest to you. How do you see this form of conducting a search fitting into the educational setting in which you teach or will be teaching? Do you think the search engine will take off?

3 comments:

Kim G. said...

WOW! I thought that was pretty cool. I really liked the way information on the topic you are searching for pops onto the screen as visual pictures and article clips. It reminded me of a collage. First, I tried Obama simply because of all the recent press regarding his Nobel Peace Prize award and then I searched Ireland. Both searches created a visual display of pics and news clips all over the screen.
I think this type of search engine might be better for older learners. I think it may be too much information in an unorganized way for my fourth graders who are only learning to research. With my class and in my district, at least at the elementary level, the list of search engines we use for Internet research is limited to those that filter content to that which is related to the topic and appropriate for the age level of the learners.

Judy A. said...

Kim G., I don't know if you will be back on this blog, but what search engines do you use in your school? Yes, I would agree the results of this search engine are too busy for 4th graders and some of the images are probably too controversial. However, I wonder if there is a parallel search engine intended for use by young children. If you hear of one, let us know. Judy

Jennifer F. said...

This search engine was interesting. It has both good and not so good attributes. I would think its a great way to get ideas, but I dont know if it would be appropriate for all ages. I typed in the word Fibonacci and got some a number of pictures and links to other sites. I recently made a glogster regarding this topic and a link to this website would provide yet another way to elaborate on the topic. I also typed in the word Calculus and there were three topless girls with calcus formulas written on their backs. Not vulgar, but not appropriate for a classroom setting.

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