Connie Lippenholz
LS521, Su02
6/12/02
Article Critique #2
A GEM of a Resource: The Gateway to Educational Materials
Article source: Tickner, M. (2001). A GEM of a Resource: The Gateway to Educational Materials. MultiMedia Schools, November/December 2001. Retrieved June 11, 2002 from http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/nov01/tickner&barkhouse.htm
According to the authors of this article, "the explosion of educational materials and resources available for educators on the Internet has opened up an exciting era of instructional exploration." But how do educators, with limited time and energy, get their hands around these resources? In an effort to simplify searches for educators, the free Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM), a consortium effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, attempts to "think in terms of what educators need: easy, fast, and free access to lesson plans, curriculum units, and other educational materials on the internet." An example of the simplification offered by GEM shows the difference between a Google.com search which resulted in 5,898 hits and a GEM search which resulted in 23. The reason for this is that GEM eliminates the who pays the most, gets higher placement syndrome, replacing it with % of desired content based on searchable criteria such as grade level and broad or narrow subject area. The authors raise the valuable points that more teachers are more likely to use the site of they consistently get good results, and the consistency of the search tool makes it easier to duplicate searches or retrace steps.
While all of this sounds great, I think it is important to note that in order for a page to show in a GEM search, it's development has to have included GEM metadata in their creation. The article authors state, "we hope all educational developers will embrace GEM, so teachers can rely on one source rather than needing to try several." I think that many educational developers are still trying to figure out exactly how they got their pages on the net, much less whether they have included GEM metadata in its creation! Supposedly, web page creators need only spend two minutes with the GEMCat tool to enable their page content accessible. I guess I'm a little skeptical, but I would be willing to look into it further. Regardless, I'm sure this has proven to be a valuable tool to many educators, and will continue to do so as long as page creators are aware of the GEMCat tool and are willing to spend the time to ensure that their pages will be accessible.