Why Google Chrome makes academic internet research difficult
On September 2nd, 2008, Google released their own beta version of a new internet browser which they named, Google Chrome. Based on the open-source code of the Chromium project it sought to provide an alternative to Microsoft’s browser for the Windows operating system. Since then, according to Statista, it has been estimated that globally 3.2 billion internet users rely on Google Chrome as their main browser.
Whilst it has proven itself to be an incredibly powerful and easy-to-use browser that spans technology platforms, for the internet researcher, it has presented problems such as:
-
The flexibility of being able to have many tabs open also means that the processing power of the PC can be reduced thus affecting performance,
-
The more tabs being open, the less the user can see what is on those tabs thus making jumping between tabs to read information a cumbersome process,
-
If you close the browser without bookmarking websites on tabs, one will lose all the websites discovered in those tabs,
-
The bookmarking of internet sites whilst convenient for browsing, Chrome does not provide the ability to form citations from those pages for research purposes.
It would seem that whilst Google Chrome is a great internet browser for most, as a research collection tool it has limitations that often have to be compensated for with strategies that take up time and energy.
How to overcome the challenges of conducting effective internet research for university assignments using Google Chrome.
For students who experience neurodiversity that affects time management, organisation, and processing, the challenges outlined above about Google Chrome exacerbate cognitive difficulties when conducting research. It is more likely that information will get lost or could be incorrectly cited. Added to these challenges are perhaps the less visible issues of overwhelm and lack of motivation if the process of researching information is not a pleasant one for the student. It is important to ensure that all research is collected efficiently but also easily recalled, quoted, and used appropriately within college assignments.
Apps such as Microsoft OneNote and Evernote are great for collecting information and provide satisfying search capabilities for information captured but these apps do not export the information in a format that aids the writing process of college assignments.
Check out this powerful solution for effective internet research.
At Aventido, we have been working to solve this problem with internet research for students with our colleagues at Pro-Study.
The video below outlines how Pro-Study works and why it is useful.
Our colleagues at Pro-Study said this about their work:
After years of working alongside students as Assistive Technology Trainers, we were all too aware that collecting and organising research for assignments and exams can be a stressful and daunting challenge, particularly for students with additional needs. The same reoccurring issues were apparent: students would struggle to get started with an assignment, often had too many internet tabs open, would lose track of where their research had come from and would be saving their work across multiple Word documents. Pro-Study evolved from a realisation that there was no other, easy to use software available to students to eliminate all of these issues.
We would love to know what you think of Pro-Study as an aid to effective internet research at university.
If you would like to try it out then contact Sam at Aventido by clicking the banner below:
Sam Cock
Sam joined team Aventido at the start of 2020. Sam has worked within the DSA for over 8 years and is also an AT trainer creating personal training sessions tailored to the specific needs of his students that allows them to enhance their study skills and ability to complete tasks.
Sam’s deep knowledge of AT solutions and strong student relationships provides him with the skills to showcase the products in a way the clearly shows the benefits AT can have on the users learning experience.
Over the last year Sam has been creating a wide range of webinars involving two of our partners here at Aventido: Pro-Study and Nuance.
As well as curating webinars you will probably catch Sam representing the company at industry conferences and road shows giving presentations and 1-2-1 product awareness sessions.