I loved the Consumer Health Resources and how you can select what type of resource you want. Students love that, because they do reports in pieces. They do the text and then want specific pictures. The tool was easy to use and I was successful in finding what I wanted right away.
I hate to admit this, but I had never used the “folder” feature before. That is slick. I would love to show teachers and students how to use that. They can go out gathering articles and then go back and weed through them for the best of the best. I loved not being bogged down with looking through each article as I was searching.
The format and look of the databases is excellent. I love how it uses simple graphics to direct users to the tools they need. Novelist K-8 has a slick new look to it. So does Novelist, although I’m not sure I like that one. It looks more like the other databases, and therefore, more like a research tool and not an interesting site to mess around in.
Use in schools:
1. Demonstrate individual databases for specific projects. I find introducing them all at once is overwhelming. I especially think the Consumer Health database will be very useful at middle school.
2. Teach students to set up their own folders.
3. Show teachers the discussion guides for books in Novelist. It was probably there before, but I didn’t notice it.
It never hurts to go back through a tool you thought you knew to find out just how much you didn’t know!!
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1 comment:
I love the folder feature, especially for kids who come to me and say "do you remember that article you helped me find that I didn't write down for my bibliography??" Having them save to their folders helps cut down on this and allows them access from multiple computers.
I am so excited that they finally rolled out their updated interface for the main databases. It is so much more user friendly.
Ann
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