1. Because I love bird watching, I chose the cardinal to complete my investigations. I liked the broad subjects that I could choose from on the left side of the screen. Each time I clicked further, I was able to "dig deeper" and narrow my search. After finding the entry for the cardinal, I noticed the easy to read factual information. If students have trouble reading, they are able to click on the icon to listen to the passage read to them. Also, if students run across a word they don't know or understand the meaning, they can double click on it to get a definition and pronunciation. I learned that their song sounds like a flute; I didn't know that! Also articles can be saved or printed for later use. I know that I will check out some of the games, activities etc that are included on the home page.
2. Using the World Book Online Info Finder, I discovered many more entries for cardinal, including encyclopedia, dictionary, maps, etc. I had typed in cardinal so I got some results that didn't pertain to cardinal, the bird. It would be a good place to teach kids how to make their search more specific and determine which entries would be pertinent to their research. I also found a sound byte so I could listen to the cardinal! I think both sites gave citing information as well. I think I would use World Book Online Kids first and as they advance and become more sophisticated in their searches then I would introduce them to the Info Finder.
3. World Book Online Reference Center is geared for high school students as well as adults. Because of my Polish heritage, I chose Poland as the country to use while exploring this site. On the left, several resources are listed. The middle and right sections include the first three resources listed on the left. It gives a easy to navigate page that covers encyclopedia articles, historical maps and papers, sounds of the country (which I enjoyed), videos and so much more. I think if high school students were researching their heritage, this would be a great place to start. Most features were included such as audio read aloud, citation, dictionary, etc.
Hi, Peggy, you will notice that the article content in the World Book School Edition and the World Book Public Library Edition is the same for each corresponding module. Some of the special features are different, though, or are presented differently. You are welcome to use any or all of them! I love what you said here: "I had typed in cardinal so I got some results that didn't pertain to cardinal, the bird. It would be a good place to teach kids how to make their search more specific and determine which entries would be pertinent to their research." Yes! That is information literacy! Thanks, Peggy!
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