I’ve Got Google, Why Do I Need You? A Student’s

Ida AalenEMTACL10April 28th

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I’ve Got Google, Why Do I Need You?

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I’m not your typical student

I’m a paperless student

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Studying is a whole lot more than reading

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Studying is a whole lot more than reading

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Studying is a whole lot more than reading

Why study with pen and paper instead of using a computer?

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Learnability and usability

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Flexibility and non-linearity

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Distraction

Why did I go digital?

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I can type while I read

http://www.evernote.com/about/learn_more/

The software got better

http://www.rescuetime.com/tour

..and my self-discipline got a little help

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But do these tools make me a better student?

http://docs.google.com/

I get searchable notes

http://docs.google.com

..that I can quote from

http://quizlet.com

My flashcards work.

Text

And we’re actually able to collaborate

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..and I save money.

Do Google and Wikipedia make a better student?

http://ask.bibsys.no/ask/action/stdsearch

I gave up this..

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..for Google.

This is internet, computer stone-age..

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...are we cavemen to the digital natives?

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Screentime does not make you competent!

The Internet is not a place!

Are we lazy, or maybe just stupid?

Nobody wants to stay a beginner

”Page 42 in Cooper, Reimann and Cronins “About Face 3.0”

People don’t like to be incompetent, and beginners, by definition, are incompetent. Conversely, learning and improving is rewarding, so beginners become intermediates very quickly - or they drop out altogether.

It’s easy to forget what you don’t practice

Should librarians even teach students anything?

But how can we be able to use advanced computers if we don’t take the time and energy to let someone teach it to us?

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”Page 27 in Cooper, Reimann and Cronins “About Face 3.0” sitat

Computer literacy [...] is nothing more than a euphemism for forcing human beings to stretch their thinking to undertsand an alien, machine logic rather than having software-enabled products stretch to meet people’s way of thinking.

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The librarian’s logic is just as alien to me as the programmer’s logic.

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So should I adapt, or should you?

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What’s the real work?

”http://speirs.org/blog/2010/1/29/future-shock.html

The Real Work is not formatting the margins, installing the printer driver, uploading the document, finishing the PowerPoint slides [...]. The Real Work is teaching the child, healing the patient, selling the house, logging the road defects, fixing the car at the roadside [...].

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What are the excise tasks?

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That’s a difficult distinction

What is the real work a student should be doing?

Googling university courses?Buying or borrowing books?Taking notes?Organizing my notes?Going to a lecture?Looking through old exams?Doing tests and writing essays?

Am I losing important skills or am I just being more efficient?

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Focus on goals rather than tasks

Questions I’ve asked in my years as a student

• How do I know how to quote?

• I’m wondering whethere there are any good books on this subject.

• I want to get an overlook over this research field.

• What do I do with these journal articles and papers?

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The computer does the work and the person does the thinking

Why does this matter to a library? And why should the library matter to me?

Questions?

Twitter: @idaAaE-mail: aalen.ida@gmail.com

Further reading

My blog: http://idaaalen.wordpress.comThe Design of Everyday ThingsAbout Face 3.0