Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Google Diet Alternative for the Digital Omnivores

So by now you have probably heard Google is mining data and delivers biased search results.   Many are asking, so then what do we have to offer our students in return?  That's like saying vanilla ice cream is bad and what else can we dish up?   Here's the scoop on other Google alternatives which dig a bit deeper into the information banquet for all those digital omnivores:
  • www.Yippy.com   Clusty.com  recently changed their name and they don't data mine.  Results are valid, unbiased, unmined, and a good alternative to Google. 
  • www.Sweetsearch.com   is a great new tool to scoop information on an educational topic. (See widget below sample from SweetSearch.)
  • www.Sweetsearch4me.com  is a great new tool for elementary learners - Try this too along with their other products such as SweetSearch Biographies.
  • http://www.blekko.com/  or  Blekko "Slash the Web..." alternatives actually encourage teachers to model narrowing the search via major and minor words within the search engine structure.  Kids might think this is "cool"
  • www.incywincy.com  - Offers a search for forms and other deeper digging into the invisible web
  • www.Scienceresearch.com  & www.SciTopia.org   are two search engines you might want to try with secondary science students.
How will students know they prefer vanilla, if they never venture to try another flavor? 

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