Post A Project

Boolify

Boolify

Contact Solution Provider

The Public Learning Media Laboratory, Inc.
Cambridge
MA
(617) 575-9124
info@plml.org

Solution Overview & Benefits

Librarians, teachers and parents have told us how hard it is for students to understand web searching. Boolify makes it easier for students to understand their web search by illustrating the logic of their search, and by showing them how each change to their search instantly changes their results.

Search results are presented through Google's "Safe Search STRICT" technology. There are two important caveats: a) no filtering technology is 100% secure and 2) we are unable to control or modify the results that we provide, beyond the filtering settings available through Google.

History & Development

Dede (2000) astutely remarked that “children must learn how to sift vast quantities of information through their fingertips” and “thrive on chaos”. In our lifetimes, the quantity of information available for sifting-through has increased exponentially. Yet, the tools for “learning or teaching how to sift” have not maintained pace with the need for sifting.

With this challenge in mind, the Boolify Project offers a piece of software that helps model Boolean operators. Its primary audience is Elementary and Middle School children, but it may find relevance with others. Ultimately, its goal is to increase a learners’ ability to perform effective web searches. Just how will it accomplish this?

It is hypothesized that the visual cues Boolify provides will help learners build a mental model of the search that they are performing. A mental model is an internal visualization that can be used to guide practice and, in the case of Boolify, the software helps make explicit and graphical the formation and the results of their search.

The mental model is visualized as puzzle pieces that fit together, demonstrating how search terms and operators are linked, and a table that provides real-time feedback to the learner about the efficacy of the search.

Availability

Publicly available: no
Countries where available: Worldwide
Local Price: Free

Additional Information