Google Powersearch

Over the past few days, I've been taking lessons online from Google to learn as much as I can about the  search engine. My main reason for doing so is that I can better helps my students with research. From my experience teaching last year in a computer lab, I have come to discover that students love Google.  In fact the primary way of finding information in class (once they break the habit of asking me (how flattering!)) consists of "Googling it," and I want to be able to guide them as best as I can in the use of this tool. Being the well-seasoned Internet-sleuth I think am, I was shocked to learn so much from the course. I now strongly believe that...
1. Google Power Search training is good for anyone who has to use the Web in a productive way,
2. Google knows how to put together a really solid online course.

What it's like-
According to the website, the Google course consists of the following:

Six 50-minute classes.

Closed captioned videos.

Interactive activities to practice new skills.

Opportunities to connect with others using Google Groups, Google+, and Hangouts on Air.

Upon passing the post-course assessment, a printable Certificate of Completion will be emailed to you.

The videos are like sitting down with a kind, clear professor who takes you in and out of demos, to show you exactly what steps to take to use the various features of Google, and there are many that I had no idea even existed.

This image comes from Google.

The videos are short and the demos are engaging enough that you can follow along and learn as you go, plus the activities are simple, yet challenging at the same time. Most of the questions are multiple choice, requiring you to do a quick Google search, putting into practice the skills you've learned. If you get an answer wrong, no sweat, you just try again. It's very low stakes, and very at-your-own pace. Plus, for those looking for additional challenges, there is a very lively forum of classmates (Is that the right word?) offering other challenging searches up for discussion, which is really neat. Also, there are two "exams," to take, a midterm and a final. The midterm is, again, at your own pace, and you get to fix your mistakes as many times as you want before submitting your score, which I guess is when it becomes official. 

Here is a short list of things I have learned so far as a result of taking the course, or at least these are the sorts of things I knew Google could do, but had never tried, and the course revealed to me that they were very useful:

1. Pasting an image into the search bar and having the Internet find where that image came from.- This was really cool. 

2. Searching for related images by color.- For instance, you want a cool picture of Shakespeare, but the backgrounds of the pictures you find are always really subdued and boring, try searching by red or yellow, or some other more exciting color.

3. Narrowing search results by time period. This feature is especially useful for verifying the authenticity of quoted material because you can search the materials of the time period from which the quote supposedly comes. Very cool. 

There are several other cool things to learn; even if you think you're a Google pro, there's probably at least one tidbit or idea that will make your Googling more effective.

Plus, I was finally able to find a picture of a neat sculpture (actually a model of a sculpture) I had seen on vacation in Rhode Island, that I was really miffed I couldn't find. Here is the statue, in case you're interested: http://flic.kr/p/9JYubC The real one is in France.

Probably the most valuable part of the entire course came in Unit 5 in which we are taught how to verify the quality of the information. I like this part because it come straight from the company, telling students that they can't be passive users of the site, and because it has a lot of really good tips. For instance, the video covers several issues I frequently have to address in the classroom (I include them in bold because I find myself repeating these to students every time we do research) :

1. Just because a result comes up first in a Google search does not make the the most credible, authoritative or reliable source on your topic.

2. Check the quality of your sources by reading the URL of the site.

3. Search again. (I would add to this last one that "re-search" is called that because it literally means "look again." It's not called "Google once and quit.")

I would recommend anyone in education take the online course, which they will hopefully offer again soon. Here's why:

1. You really learn how to make Google do exactly what you want, and it adds a ton of tools to your search arsenal.

2. While the skills learned in the course are specific to Google, they are beautifully transferrable to other popular search engines and research databases, which have cool tools of their own to learn. Anything that shows the students they can do more with a search engine than than type "What was men's fashion like in the 1920s?" is an edu-win in my book.

3. The classes are easy and fun.

4. From a teaching perspective, the testing is no-risk and will raise a lot of questions about the way we do things in the classroom. For instance, I earned a 70% on my first attempt at the midterm, but the test told me I could raise my score if I reviewed a few modules, so I did, and I learned the material and earned a 100%. Should I have been punished for not knowing the answers the first time? Should our students in our own classrooms? What would it take to get my classroom to run more like this Google course? Can it be done within the confines of the education system status quo? Again, the course raises some interesting questions.

5. Speaking of interesting questions, is this course not an example of gamification? I really want that certificate from Google. Is it not a badge?

I am eager to finish, and I'll post again with some final thoughts.