Digital Organization

It's the Process - Not the Product: Improving Student Research with Digital Organization

Overview

"It's the Process - Not the Product: Improving Student Research with Digital Organization" was presented by Rachelle Wynkoop, a former library media specialist. The purpose of this session was to connect the common core standards to note-taking and research projects.

Wynkoop began by going over the purposes of note taking, which are included in Purdue OWL: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing. We need our students to know why they are taking notes, so they understand the type of notes that they should be taking.

A strong emphasis of Wynkoop's presentation were the three ways to take notes - summarize, paraphrase, and quote.

• Summarize - "if you want to include the overall gist of a lot of information." Students should summarize when they need to identify the key points of an article or source. 
• Paraphrase - "more detailed notes."  The key difference between summarizing and paraphrasing is that paraphrasing requires students to take notes in their own words. This eliminates students copying and pasting all of their information. 
• Quotes - "record direct quotes that will be used as evidence." 

All three types of notes will need to be explicitly taught to students. Wynkoop suggested modeling each to your classroom by using an article, and included this Sample Essay in her presentation.

Wynkoop concluded her presentation by showing how to move from the traditional analog note card to a digital note card using Google Slides.  Digital note cards help out the students who lose or forget their index cards, and eliminates the disconnect between digital work (typed research papers) and paper and pencil (index cards).

Some of the benefits of digital note cards include:

• Easy access to the cards from the "cloud"
• Easy to link your source
• Instant graphic organizer
• Able to share cards with others
• Helps students collaborate on projects

To create digital note cards, you simply open a new Google Slides document and create a slide with a title and two text boxes. It's easy to then duplicate slides, move slides around, and link resources. Students are able to access their cards from anywhere they have Internet, and don't have to worry about losing information.

Personal Reflections and My Classroom

Just like a classroom blog, digital note cards were something I never even considered for my classroom. This conference showed how easy and convenient it is to create note cards using Google Slides, and I can definitely see the benefits of using this with my class.

Before beginning, the three types of notes and the research process would have to be modeled. I would have to show my students how to create a slide using Google Slides, such as this one:

We would have to spend several days practicing together and discussing which types of sources are relevant, and which we should avoid. I believe that with help and practice, my students will become sufficient note takers and will be able to take this skill with them as they enter the high school next year.

Creating digital note cards also allows students to "carry" these cards with them in all of their classes and as they progress from grade to grade. They can look back to their digital note cards as an example and duplicate the format for other projects.

Another huge benefit of using digital note cards is that the students don't actually have to write! I have several students who's handwriting is awful, and this would eliminate the "I can't read what I wrote" excuse. Students are also able to copy and paste links that they've used, instead of writing down every letter and symbol of a URL. Then, when the want to go back to a website, they can simply click on the link on their note card.

Google Slides (as well as Docs) includes the "Research" feature, making it easy to insert links and look up information. Research is found under "Tools," as shown here:

After clicking Research, you are able to search for your topic, preview information, and insert links.

Overall, I found the conference on digital organization very useful. My students would benefit from learning the different types of notes, creating digital notes, and incorporating the research tool into their writing. This is something that I will be trying in my classroom within the next few months as we move into informative writing.