I love Rollyo--what a great concept! Before, when a class would come into the library to do a research unit, I would create pathfinders with hotlinks on a Word document. This is so much easier! Rollyo allows us educators to streamline research and guide students in the direction of credible websites. My eighth grade language arts classes conduct a research unit on the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe, so I made a Rollyo customized search for that:
http://rollyo.com/skinney/edgar_allan_poe/
One concern I have is information literacy. If we educators guide students to only credible websites, will they be able to discern them when they Google what they're looking for? This is a lesson in and of itself that must still be taught in the library. All too often, however, research units are pressed for time, so Rollyo can help alleviate some of that pressure by allowing teachers to guide students to the information they are looking for.
I also played around with Rollyo and created an experimental search that included only the databases that my campus offers. This is a great tool to help motivate students to use the databases. With all of them consolidated into one searchable site, they are more likely to use them. I am excited about using Rollyo this upcoming school year.
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