Journal 1

Johnson, D. (2007). Your Google guide. Learning & Leading with Technology, 34(8), 25-26.
I love the elegant, friendly Google box I have my home page set to. It invites me to discover something new in my world every time I wake up my computer. But Johnson says, I’m probably not Googling well. Indeed, I should frame my search in the form of a question so that I enter more search terms, narrowing the results Google will send me. I must learn to interpret the descriptions so I can cast aside diversions or dead ends on my knowledge quest.
Johnson advises using operators. An Advanced Google Search provides a form that walks me through various choices. I don’t find the Advanced Google Search as appealing, because the only source of color, the word Google, is much smaller. Oh, well. What’s important?
It’s important to realize that web pages on a Google Search are ranked by the number of other pages that link to them. Is the Pope Catholic? If Catholics are prolific and write lots of web pages, those pages will probably link to each other and rise in the Google hierarchy. This popularity may or may not represent credibility, but more minds evaluating more web pages and finding reason to link to them suggests a belief in their authority.
Just as we need to discern the authority of advertisements in print medium, all must be alert to the vested interests represented by sponsored links which will rise to the top of the search results.
Lastly, Google provides specialty search engines for Images, Maps, Scholarly Publications, and Books. This I knew, Mr. Johnson. This I knew. I really like pictures.
Question 1
The Advanced Search minimizes the frustration of diversions and dead end quests. Since the form spells out various choices without having to remember “operators”, it is user friendly. The student will think more clearly about what sort of information he or she is seeking. This is so critical in our days of information overload.
Question 2
It would be fun to have the class choose a topic and pose challenge questions. I would ask, “What would you like to learn?” Together we would fill in an Advanced Google Search form. Then, we could check what we found out on a computer that projects to the front of the class. If this is a lab environment, I’d ask students to work individually on other challenge questions. In a class discussion, I’d ask what various students learned about the topic and what they learned about searching. Students could give suggestions for more questions and ways of refining Googling.