Background:
You are the Media Specialist for our high school that now needs to replace its collection of aging dictionaries. You know print dictionaries are very expensive, and you have decided to look at an online dictionary as a cheaper alternative. You are not sure, however, that an online dictionary is as good as a print one. When you mentioned this concern to one of your library helpers, the student asked, "Dictionary, schmictionary! What difference does it make?" It's a good question. You have decided to do some research and then present a recommendation to the principal.
Assignment:
A) Look up the following three words listed in each of the four online dictionaries. Use this chart to compare and contrast the features of each dictionary (use the chart solely for compare/contrast purposes only. You will be posting a memo on the blog; ignore the directives for a poster). This will work best if you look up one word in all four dictionaries first, then go to the next word. Post a summary of your results on the blog.
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Dictionary Links:
B) Now that you have decided which online dictionary you like best, you are ready to write your memo. Use this website to see the correct Memo Format. Adapt as necessary for your blog post.
Optional, extra credit assignment:
Engage in a meaningful conversation (at least one paragraph or more) with at least one of your classmates.
Due date:
Friday, April 8th at midnight
Thanks to Fayette County Schools for this blog topic.
Life is much easier with numerous options knocking at its front door, each one leading to a diverse, but equally promising path. Unfortunately the same philosophy does not apply to dictionary entries. I found OneLook.com steadily difficult to use because of the redundant links listed. Usually more is always better; in this case, more resulted in headaches. MerriamWebster.com lacked nothing short of content, however, its continuous pop-ups made it frustratingly difficult to navigate around the web-page. I nearly fell in love with the ease encountered upon AskOxford.com. A simple click-and-go presented a friendly world of lingo with limited distractions. Vocabulary just would not be complete without proper pronunciation, that is exactly why Dictionary.com is my prime choice for online dictionaries. Who knows where my writing would be without the audible pronunciation, quick processing, and dependable content of the one and only, Dictionary.com.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 3, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principal
From: Andrew Hawkins, Media Specialist
Subject: Online Dictionaries (Dictionary.com)
For the past six years, dictionaries at our school site have become increasingly intolerable to use because of their poor condition and their effects are obvious in our students' writing. To increase the usage of higher-level vocabulary in our everyday context, I propose investing in online dictionaries for the following reasons:
-Lower price (than print dictionaries)
-Convenient use
-Updated content
-Guaranteed reliability
Online dictionaries, most notable Dictionary.com, are equip with high-speed navigation, simplified definitions, and many more perks not available in a print dictionary, such as audible pronunciations. Dictionary.com, one of the most responsive of online dictionaries, is sure to help our students incorporate a wider range of literary fluency and build their vocabulary to a much higher degree.
Let’s face it: online dictionaries are much simpler, easier, and faster to use than normal print dictionaries. Sure, the old, hardcover ones are more accessible, but with the growing technology America is producing, that is sure to change very soon. Many people find it much more convenient to use the online ones for a few reasons, the most obvious being they are much simpler to understand.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 6, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principal
From: Amy Anderson, concerned student
Subject: Online dictionaries (Dictionary.com)
In recent years, many people have found it much more convenient to use online dictionaries. To give an accurate example, Dictionary.com provides just that: and more!
• easier to understand definitions
• audio recordings of the word
• faster to use
• cheaper to use
• more accessible
Students often pronounce words wrong, for lack of understanding on how to understand the symbols surrounding the letters. They pronounce it wrong once, and it sticks with them. With the aid of the audio recordings, it is guaranteed no mispronunciations. It will benefit everyone, so, therefore, it is a completely worthwhile investment.
Onlines dictionaries are an excellent resource when you are no where near a standard dictionary. In fact, an online dictionary goes above and beyond what a regular dictionary would do. For example, they provide recorded pronunciations for the words, which is exactly what Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com provides. Online dictionaries also provide snot only the different definition a word has, but also the etymology, synonyms, and examples to boot. The only downside is the possibility of pesky pop-ups, which I encountered when I accessed the Merriam-Webster dictionary on the school’s computer. Without an effective firewall and virus protection, Merriam-Webster will offer distractions that will pull you away from your destination. One Look only offered links of different dictionaries that provided the word you wanted to look for, not the definition itself. The appearance was repugnant and redundant. Oxford Dictionary and Dictionary.com were perfect online dictionaries, which featured simplistic layouts, appropriate definitions, and very little advertisements.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 8, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principal
From: Janna Macatangay, Media Specialist
Subject: Online dictionaries
It has come to my attention that the school’s collection of dictionaries is in need of replacing. Modern technology has enabled people to turn to online dictionaries when a printed dictionary is not attainable. Some features that an online dictionary has that a printed dictionary lacks include:
* increased convenience
* constantly up-to-date
* audio-recorded pronunciations
* list of synonyms, antonyms, etc.
* cheap and accessible
A prime example of an online dictionary students can use is Dictionary.com. With its fast navigation, easy-to-use utilities, and comprehensible definitions, this online dictionary is sure to be a beneficial and provisional resource that students can apply in their academics.
Over time, the population has become increasingly lazy. As seen in some of the students’ natural way of studying, no one tends to grab a dictionary anymore. But who needs to when you have the power of the internet right at your fingertips, which is, for most, at one’s cell phone. Thanks to online dictionaries, students no longer have to spend time looking for what a certain word starts with; nor do students have to take time to try to discover what the definition means. Ironically, the definition of the definition of a certain word can sometimes be hard to decipher in textbook dictionaries.
ReplyDeleteHowever, not all online dictionaries are uncomplicated. For example, One Look is a complicated website because of the absurd amount of links. What should the student even be looking for? How hard is it for the website to give a simple definition?
Things on the internet tend to improve through different links however. One of those links may take one to Ask Oxford. Ask Oxford is another online dictionary that gives the simple definition, and an example. However, the simplicity in this website may not appeal to everyone. A writer may need more elaboration on the definition; thus, the internet, once again, does not fail.
The Mariam-Webster online dictionary gives the definition, pronunciation, and examples. It elaborates on the definition also. However, when the term may be used in different ways, such as a verb, adjective, or noun, one would not want to be searching for each one individually. On this website, one would have to do just that, and being the lazy generation that we are, we want everything on one page.
Well, thanks to Dictionary.com, everything about the word is displayed on one page. The convenience of this website is a great help to students in that it gives you the definition, origin, synonyms, and even the pronunciation. The website also gives people the word of the day! Going into this website may actually improve a students’ lexicon if viewed daily.
Date: April 8, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principal
From: Brenda Morales, Media Specialist
Subject: Online Dictionaries
By the conditions that most dictionaries are in, students do not like dictionaries. The definition of a word should be meant to be understood, not defined once more. However, investing the students’’ knowledge by having some sort of classroom technology to define words may be useful. Online dictionaries are a great way to get students involved in building their vocabulary and adding words into their lexicon. Online dictionaries provide:
• An understandable definition
• Catchy synonyms
• Pronunciation
• Time- effective results
• Cheap ways to define words
With the investing in online dictionaries, students will be engaged in their English classes and will no longer sigh at the thought of trying to find and understand the definition of a word in a textbook dictionary.
For my results on the four dictionaries, I think that Dictionary.com was the best. It was easy to navigate, it was easy to read, and the information was very useful. AskOxford.com was the next best. The only improvement that should be made is for the word "panic". Instead of having links for the different meanings of the word, it should directly list the meanings so that it would be easier to compare. The two online dictionaries that I thought were not the best to use were Ask Oxford and One Look. The two dictionaries were fairly easy to navigate but I thought that there were just too many links to follow to get the definition of a word. These two online dictionaries are not bad but they could use a few improvements to make it better and easier to use.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 8, 2011
To: Tex Acosta
From: Lena Hoang
Subject: Making a Switch from Print to Online Dictionaries
Through experience, I have found that the use of online dictionaries to be more convenient and saves people money. Online dictionaries do not undergo poor conditions or use up paper; in fact, they could be updated more often to get the most effective meaning. There are numerous reasons why there should be a switch from print to online dictionaries; they include but are not limited to:
frequent updates
unlimited access
paper-free
fast results
There are so many benefits when it comes to online dictionaries. These may seem like minor changes that are being made, but they can add up to create a big impact, not only on the environment but for people's convience. There are many things people can do to help make life more efficient and friendly to the wallet and this is definitely a solution to that problem. Please take this into consideration.
Since the advance in technology find thing on the internet has become more fast and accessible. Our lazy generation of today has become too dependent on looking up word online. For example, One Look complicates the search due to that once one put in the word it just send the person to many link for it to define the word one is looking for. Due to that as a student one want to find the definition quickly and no trouble at all and that one. Dictonary.com was the simplest to use to that it gave more information that was asked for. On the other hand Ask Oxford is more complicate that one look because it requires more step just look up the definition of the word. One want has to sign up and then sign in. Finally, Merriam-Webster just lacks the information.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 8, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principle
From: Lisette Meza, Media Specialist
Subject: Online Dictionaries
For the past year since one has learned to use the online dictionaries. It has become part of people just to turn on the computer and look up something. In addition it guaranties the following reason:
•Are up-date constantly
•Are very accessible
•Do not have to pay any thing
•Saving paper
Online dictionaries are very helpful in what one is looking for. It helps with the pronouncing the word because the button that pronounce the word for them. All in all, dictionaries online would end up help out more student that looking through many book to fine with one is looking for.
Modern day technology is developing newer and newer technology faster now and it changing the ways we live our everyday lives. Technology is making it easier for us to access things including the dictionary. Old dictionaries would require you to go through the hassle of bring out the immense dictionary and then having to flip to the correct page. People are becoming more and more lazy as time progresses. In modern day society people do not use dictionaries anymore they just type the word they need defined into the computer and in seconds they get the definition, its that easy. The online website that i found to be the best was Merriam-Webster. It was the simplest and most convenient website out of all of them.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 11, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principal
From: Alonzo Gomez, Media Specialist
Subject: Online Dictionaries
Now that technology is advanced we do not need to waste tons of paper to make just one dictionary. Every year dictionaries come out with newer and newer things so it is not beneficial to by dictionaries that are going to be out dated in one year. Why not but online dictionaries that can be easily updated and will last way longer than old dictionaries. For one they will not be vandalized and will serve man more students to come.
As our new generation, develops modern technology we can see the old ways disappearing beforehand. With that being said, we need to adapt to the new instruments of technology. I emphasize the use of dictionaries online because it is an easy and faster access. In addition, online dictionaries such as ask oxford.com provides the person with a detailed definition and it identifies the root words and origin. Something like this would not be provided in a hard copy of a dictionary because it complicates the reading.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 11, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principal
From: Angela Gurrola, Media Specialist
Subject: Online Dictionaries
Many arguments can be made to the transition of online dictionaries but let’s keep in mind that it is important that our generation becomes knowledge base. For example, if we eliminate the old dictionaries millions of papers would be save and help our environment. It also provides an easier access to words in different languages. Furthermore, online dictionaries consist of activities such as thesaurus and translators.
•Updates can be made without wasting paper
•Easier access
•A detailed explanation is given when defining words
•Pronunciation
Technology has advance recently. Now a day you can find mostly anything on the internet. It is fast, easy, and not that expensive. It is always updated. Today’s generation relies on the internet rather than looking it up on a dictionary. Online is the fastest way to look up a word. By using a dictionary you may spend several minutes looking for a word.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 11, 2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principle
From: Jovani Campos, Media specialist
Subject: Online dictionaries
Online dictionaries are the new way to look up words. It has become a habit for our generation. They don’t like spending time looking up a word. There are great reasons for this:
. There are more words available
. No paper
. Less time
. Gives you more than the definition
Online dictionaries have become a useful way to find definitions. It is more helpful than finding it on a book.
Technology today has expanded through out the course of time making it much easier to do things. For example, using an ordinary dictionary is just a hassle and time consuming. With the internet at your hand, looking up a word is simple and quick. For myself, I found that dictionary.com was the easiest to use.Dictionary.com provided definitions that are easier to understand, also synonyms and antonyms. The website that I found most difficult to use was onelook.com Onelook.com did not really provide a definition, but list to many websites which made it difficult and time consuming to navigate.
ReplyDeleteDate: April 11,2011
To: Tex Acosta, Principle
From: Amy Heuansavath, Media Specialist
Subject: Online Dictionaries
Through out the years, the dictionaries in our classrooms have become unacceptable to use. Pages torn, vandalism, and even falling apart are the only words that describe the books. These conditions can be brought to an end by riding theses books and giving access to online dictionaries. In addition it guaranties the following reason:
- very accessible
- up to date
- easy use
- cheaper to use
- fast results
- helps save trees
With online dictionaries there are many benefits such as the pronunciation of the word or even finding its synonym and antonym. Saving the school money and providing the student with quick alternative ways making it easier and allow things to flow much smoother for a student.