Finding, Understanding and Learning: Making Information Discovery Tasks Useful for Children and Teachers

We present our ongoing efforts on the development of a search environment tailored to 6-15 year-olds that can foster learning though retrieval of materials that not only satisfy the information needs of users but also match their reading abilities. YouUnderstood.me is an enhanced environment based on a popular search engine specifically designed to help students deal with search for learning tasks, and allow teachers to track their progress. An initial assessment conducted on YouUnderstood.me and well-known (children-oriented) search engines based on queries generated by K-9 students, showcases the need for this type of environment