Friday, October 5, 2012

Google Power Search Course

So far, I've only completed three sections of the Google Power Search course. In the process, I have learned some fast ways to filter my searches by color, date, media type, and Creative Commons attribution. I have also learned how to get Google to define an unfamiliar word for me, in English, and then translate it into the foreign language of my choice. For my GED588F2012 course, I was asked to comment on ways that I might integrate some of my new learning into my instruction with students. One of the things that I've already been able to share with my students is how to filter their search of images/video/text/music to find Creative Commons licensed works. Many of them had never heard of this! I have also shown them how to use Google images to define their searches, using the color filtering and the "more" function, and I've showed them how to use the Google "goggles" program to find images that look similar to something mysterious that they might want to identify (a confusing historical artifact for example). After bringing in some mystery objects for my students to identify, I managed to stump my class with one item. Using the Advanced Search function, I showed my students how they could photograph the mystery object, use the Google "googles" program, and then attempt to identify the object that way. While they were not successful in getting a definitive answer about the mystery object, they were impressed with the potential for this search function.