The Future of Learning by Searching the Web: Mobile, Social, and Multimodal

Abstract

Recent technological developments related to the World Wide Web including mobile computing, social media, and online videos are shaping the way we learn. As argued in the present commentary, the majority of educational psychological research that has examined how individuals learn by searching the Web, however, has not kept up with this pace. Therefore, the goal of this commentary is to discuss how recent technological developments might affect how learners acquire knowledge through Web search and to provide a respective research agenda. Specifically, we will focus on the use of mobile devices and digital assistants, social networking sites, and online videos, and the opportunities and challenges they present to learners. In addition, we suggest that future research should study the ongoing learning processes during Web search in greater detail. We believe that examining the research questions raised in the present commentary will uniquely contribute to the literature on Web-based searching and learning.

Constraints and Affordances of Online Engagement With Scientific Information—A Literature Review

“…That is, while users may deliberatively choose to use technologies or digital media for the potential features they offer; at the same time, such features also determine the ways in which users can engage with the technology. For example, when acquiring (scientific) information, individuals tend to use only one type of search engine, which might be enforced by the default use of digital assistants commonly installed on smartphones and computers (Kammerer et al, 2018). Additionally, characteristics of a search engine result page (SERP), such as the algorithm it uses to present search results, the interface it offers for users to manually filter search results, or the sparsity of information it displays (i.e., a title, short excerpt of the web page, and the URL) may influence whether an individual selects any of search results and whether they perform any further search queries.…”

Embedded Information Problem-Solving Instruction to Foster Learning from Digital Sources: Longitudinal Effects on Task Performance

“…In future research work, our intention is to obtain more empirical evidence to support this statement, using a series of techniques to collect and analyse the data, such as log files, eye tracking, think-aloud protocols, cued retrospective reports or a combination of them all [73], and by so doing, be able to apprehend the strengths and weakness of the execution of the IPS process, skills and subskills in greater detail and/or in a qualitative way. The ongoing learning activities during the web-search process could also be analysed in a more in-depth manner [74].…”

Building mental models from multiple texts: How readers construct coherence from inconsistent sources

“…As research into multiple text comprehension has rapidly expanded in the past 20 years, so has the way in which people access, read and use written information. Rapid technological advances, such as mobile computing, social media, and the profusion of online videos challenge researchers to keep pace with them in the discussion of how people comprehend and learn from multiple documents (Kammerer et al., 2018). For example, the growing Internet access through cell phones brings about a change in operational skills (i.e., skills on how to use digital media tools, Van Deursen & Van Dijk, 2016).…”