Students at Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC) have been helping to test new software designed to cut down the time people waste searching for information.
iFinger is an internet browser plug-in which gives users instant access to a variety of database information, on and offline.
The software is a reference tool to enable people to have a dictionary, thesaurus, translation dictionary and encyclopaedia on their desktop.
The students were set a general knowledge quiz ranging from history and geography to entertainment and literature and given 40 minutes to answer as many questions as possible using the technology allocated to them.
Half the class used iFinger software and the other half used standard internet tools and reference books.
The software's features are activated by moving the cursor over a word when online or double-clicking on a word or text. The iFinger engine accesses and returns the information in a separate pop-up box.
Although the software initially focused on providing mono and bilingual dictionaries, single and multi-volume encyclopaedias and specialist reference works, such as business and the arts, medical and legal dictionaries, it has recently been expanded to cover news, financial and business information services.
The aim of the case study was to test the iFinger software against the internet and reference books, to see how it improves accuracy, speed and convenience.
The initial results were encouraging, with iFinger helping students to answer questions with 86 per cent accuracy, compared to the 18 per cent accuracy achieved by students using standard internet tools and textbooks.
The students using iFinger were also able to answer questions more quickly, hitting a peak of 1.44 correct answers per minute, compared to the other students' 0.44 correct answers in the same time.
BHASVIC network manager Vic Fielder, who is responsible for the 250 workstations used by a student population of about 1,200, said: "You get an instant answer from iFinger and, even better, you don't need any specialist training to use it.
"It seemed to help the students stay focused. One of the main problems with the internet is avoiding the temptation to follow irrelevant links."
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