Journal #1

The article, Your Google Guide by Doug Johnson, at first sight seems to be just another how to guide, where a detailed explanation of how to use the most common, widely disseminated search tool was re-explained. What struck me the most was the authors end comment in which he stated, “I really do hope that the school media specialists reading this column have learned nothing new, that as the information specialists and the search experts in our schools, we have long since mastered the basics of Google and other search tools.” But, what we think most people know how to do might actually be the complete opposite. I definitely learned something knew from the article. Kudos to the author for simplistically giving advice that could benefit our future generations.
So, how could I take the advice and make it beneficial in my classroom? For one, I would print the poster of operators near the computers so that any forgetful student could easily look up and see beneficial ways to advance their search. And two, I would give a preliminary lecture and assignment that would require my students to learn and utilize the advance search techniques, not only for Google but for other search engines as well.
Why is it important to teach students to know the difference between sponsored and non-sponsored websites on Google? As the author said, it is important to know why the sponsored links are highlighted at the top of the page. They have paid to advertise so they have special privileges. While this does not mean that Google has a bias for them, it is important to understand that the most commonly seen websites may not pertain to the information that you are trying to find. A good analogy would be; even though you see and hear about the most popular kid, they may not have all the qualities that you would want in a companion. So you move on to make friends with the people who are not seen or heard about as much!