Google Generation is a Myth
16th January, 2008Research commissioned by JISC and the British Library and carried out by University College London finds that the “Google Generation” is a myth:
“The report by the CIBER research team at University College London claims that, although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information that they find on the web. The report ‘Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future’ also shows that research-behaviour traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors.”
This “impatience” and “intolerance” about information delay seems a shame. Good, meaningful research should not be rushed, either by pupils or professors. It’s about careful synthesis and analysis of sources and data, close critical reading of background texts and primary evidence, application of theory to findings, etc etc. Fantastic that the web supplies us with access points more easily than endless trips to the library (although nothing beats the smell of books); woeful if the consequence is a degradation in the standard of research at even the most professional levels.
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Bob Harrison
Ben Williamson
Dan Sutch
Richard Sandford
Leon Cych
Martin Owen
Sarah Grier
Tim Reader
January 16th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I’ve been saying this for a while. Symptoms include:
- typing URLs into the Google search box and then clicking through the first result rather than using the address bar
- visiting a page and scrolling directly to the bottom before declaring there’s nothing useful on it
- spending ages “getting pictures”
- copying entire wikipedia pages, complete with hyperlinks and labelling that as research, or worse, their own work
It was a crazy idea in the first place to assume that just because these people were surrounded by technology, they’d be instantly adept at using and interpreting it. It’s a bit like expecting a child to learn to read simply because their parents have a large collection of books or they live near a library.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Perhaps another symptom is the use of the word “research” for what is actually just a “search.” Research has become a catch-all phrase that includes everything from statistical analysis of global economic trends to looking up a holiday. “I spent the weekend researching the Greek Islands” usually does not mean the weekend has been spent in the British Library, analysing antique documents and artefacts from Santorini, studying diary entries by Italian soldiers on Kefalonia, or modelling complex Mediterranean weather patterns.
If research is going to be a serious component of schooling, we need to be particular about ensuring that it retains some degree of rigour. The “Google Generation” is not a myth–it’s just that “Googling” is not research.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I suppose a good analogy would be that generally young people “demonstrate an ease and familiarity” with cars, but you wouldn’t expect them to be safe drivers just because of that.
What you say is true, Googling isn’t research; and we’re finally starting to stop treating the Internet as a shiny new toy in education and realising that some of the old fashioned research methods need to come in from the cold once again.