Edubeacon

I’ve taken a moment from packing boxes in preparation for house selling to blog about this new search engine - Boolify.com as I’m sure any educator will see it’s value as an aid to online searching and understanding the process of Boolean Searching.

Aimed specifically at junior and middle years students (P-8), I believe it would also very suitable for senior students.  Results of searches are presented through Google’s Safe Search Strict technology so content is very suitable for schools.

Boolify has been developed from the theory of ‘mental models’ by a group of volunteers from the Public Media Learning Lab who give this explanation about its method of ‘building’ a search:

It is hypothesized that the visual cues Boolify provides will help learners build a mental model of the search that they are performing. A mental model is an internal visualization that can be used to guide practice and, in the case of Boolify, the software helps make explicit and graphical the formation and the results of their search.

The mental model is visualized as puzzle pieces that fit together, demonstrating how search terms and operators are linked, and a table that provides real-time feedback to the learner about the efficacy of the search.

This project is being evaluated until late in 2008 and has a forum attached allowing for further discussion of the project with the developers.  I like it as a very simplified process that ties directly to an active thinking process.