Google is a proprietary search engine launched in 1998 that has become synonymous with online searching. However, using "Google" as a verb can undermine the inquiry process. While Google provides a wealth of easily accessible information, students must learn to ask meaningful questions, thoroughly investigate answers from multiple sources, and reflect critically on what they find. Teachers can help students develop digital literacy and guided practice in digital inquiry to move beyond superficial searching and gain a deeper understanding from their online research.

1. Google Is NOT a Verb!
Kathleen McKim
Al Bayan Bilingual School
PEAK 2013
http://www.slideshare.net/KathleenMcKim/google-is-not-a-verb

3. Google, v.2
The Dictionary Says…
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈ ɡl/ , U.S. /ˈ
ɡuˈ ɡuɡ(ə)l/
Forms: also with lower-case initial.
Etymology: < Google, a proprietary name for an Internet search engine launched in 1998. The name of the search engine was
perhaps conceived as an alteration of googol n., with allusion to the large amount of information contained on the Internet.
1. intr. To use the Google search engine to find information on the Internet.
1998 L. Page New Features in eGroups (Electronic mailing list) 8 July, Have fun and keep googling!
1999 Re: Hi Guys! in alt.fan.british-accent (Usenet newsgroup) 10 Oct., Has anyone Googled? www.google.com Ver ver [sic]
clean and fast.
2003 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 14 Sept. (Seven Days section) 7/3 You can google all you want and there's nothing there on
them.
2004 U.S. News & World Rep. 14 June 49/2 The couple found themselves Googling for a new place to live.
2007 Church Times 14 Dec. 25/3, I did find, when Googling around, that the second reference to the story was from an Islamic
website.
2. trans. To enter (a search term) into the Google search engine to find information on the Internet; to search for information
about (a person or thing) in this way.
2000 Re: $Emergency_Number in NYC in alt.sysadmin.recovery (Usenet newsgroup) 10 Jan., I've googled some keywords, and it
came up with some other .edu text.
2001 N.Y. Times 11 Mar. iii. 12/3, I met this woman last night at a party and I came right home and googled her.
2005 ‘Belle De Jour’ Intimate Adventures of London Call Girl 115 Obsessing over the details, including Googling his name every
few hours? Too right I did.
2010 Daily Tel. 18 Oct. 29/5 Googling ‘breast pain’ came up with eight million.
Source: Oxford English Dictionary

4. Overview
• Why It Matters
– Inquiry Process & Investigation
– Digital Research Culture
• What is Google Good For?
• Search Engine Extravaganza
• Wrap Up

5. Why It Matters: the Inquiry
Process
Source: Stripling, 2010

6. Why It Matters: Investigation
Investigation Teaching and Learning
Strategies
Investigate Find Information
Find and evaluate Two column note-taking
information to answer •Notes/Reflection
questions, test hypotheses •Main Idea/Details,
examples
•Guided Practice
Think about the •Ideas from
information to illuminate text/connections to prior
new questions and knowledge
hypotheses •Organize sources and
evaluate information
Source: Berger, 2010

7. Why It Matters: the Inquiry
Process
“Students must acquire the skills of digital
inquiry: connecting ideas to personal
interests and a desire to know, asking
questions that probe beyond simple
fact gathering, investigating answers
from multiple perspectives, constructing
new understanding, expressing the new ideas
through a variety of formats, and reflecting
on both the process and product of learning”
(Stripling, 2010).

8. “If all you have is a hammer,
everything looks like a nail.”
“Technology and, in particular, Web 2.0 tools and
services can be used throughout the inquiry
process to support the appropriate thinking skills.
The key is to focus on student learning, not the
Web 2.0 technology. The focus is on the
phase(s) of inquiry at which students are
concentrating and deciding which
technology tool can best support the
thinking processes and instructional
strategies of that phase of inquiry. This
increases the effectiveness of both the learning
experience and the use of technology” (Berger,
2010, p. 17).

9. Opportunities in a Digital
Research Culture
• Information available on practically anything
that students want to know
• Multiple formats and languages
• Levels from novice to expert
• Natural language searching
• Diverse formats
• Diverse types, from opinion to research
• One-stop information access
• High engagement and participation
• Collaboration and shared thinking
Adapted from Stripling, 2010

10. Challenges in a Digital
Research Culture
• Too much information pressures students toward
passive acceptance of whatever they find to avoid an
unending search
• Information accepted if found quickly and easily; little
in-depth probing
• Lack of sequence and hierarchy in information (order
has nothing to do with time, place, or even synchrony
with researcher‟s main idea
• Specific information with little or no contextualization
• Pressure for speed
• Environment favors access over reflection
• Ability of individuals to post and publish leading to
assumption of authority
Adapted from Stripling, 2010

11. Think/Pair/Share
Other Opportunities Other Challenges

12. Questions for Google
Address Bar: where is the page I know
exists but can‟t remember the URL
– Voter registration for Kentucky
– State of Texas Teacher Certification
Adapted from Arment, 2011

13. Questions for Google
Reference: What is the answer to this
specific, unambiguous question?
– Who shot Abraham Lincoln?
– Recipe for Rice Krispie Treats
Adapted from Arment, 2011

14. Questions for Google
Guide: where is some good information on
a specific topic?
– Applying liquid eyeliner
– How to start a blog
Adapted from Arment, 2011

15. Questions for Google
Product Research: what are some opinions,
recommendations, reviews or even
general information for a certain kind of
product or need, even a specific one?
– Underwater diving camera
– Book reviews
– Jet skis
Adapted from Arment, 2011

16. Think/Pair/Share
• What can‟t Google answer?

17. Search Engine Extravaganza

22. Ready, Set, Begin!
• Choose a partner in your grade level or
academic subject area.
• Choose one or two of the search engines that
look interesting to you.
• Chose a topic to research (one from one of
your assignments or a topic you are very
familiar with). Research your topic in your
chosen search engines.
• Fill in the chart, and be prepared to share
your results with the class.
• http://tinyurl.com/bqm75nv

23. Share!

24. Not Included in Today’s
Discussion
(but worth thinking about)
• Databases
• Primary Sources/Archives (Library of Congress)
• E-books (Project Gutenberg)
• Media-specific Search Engines (Check out
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/100-alternative-
search-engines-you-should-know/)
• Bing, Yahoo
• Medical-specific searching (MEDLINE)
• Search Organization Tools

25. AASL Standards Addressed
1.1 Skills
1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer
questions.
1.1.5 Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of
accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social
and cultural context.
1.2 Dispositions in Action
1.2.2 Demonstrate confidence and self-direction by making
independent choices in the selection of resources and information.
1.2.7 Display persistence by continuing to pursue information to gain a
broad perspective.
1.3 Responsibilities
1.3.2 Seek divergent perspectives during information gathering and
assessment.

26. Bibliography
American Association of School Librarians. (2009). Standards for the 21st-century Learner. Chicago:
ALA.
Anderson, M.A. (2009). The power of primary sources. Multimedia & Internet @ Schools (n.v.): 35-38.
Arment, M. (January 5, 2011). Google‟s decreasingly useful, spam-filled web search. Marco.org.
Retrieved January 27, 2011, from http://www.marco.org/2617546197.
Berger, P. (2010). Student inquiry and Web 2.0. School Library Monthly 26(5): 14-17.
Burkhardt, J. and MacDonald, M. (2010). Teaching Information Literacy: 50 Standards-Based
Exercises for College Students, 2nd ed. Chicago: ALA.
Cohen, N. (31 Jan 2011). Define gender gap? Look up Wikipedia‟s contributor List. New York
Times.com. Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com.
Evangelista, B. (31 Oct 2012). Teachers call online search mixed bag. SFGate.com. Retrieved
December 4, 2012, from http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Teachers-call-online-search-
mixed-bag-3998816.php.
"Google, v.2". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press.
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/261961?rskey=0WuoDK&result=2 (accessed December 04,
2012).
Stripling, B. (2010). Teaching students to think in the digital environment: Digital literacy and digital
inquiry. School Library Monthly 26(8). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from
http://www.schoollibrarymonthly.com/articles/Stripling2010-v26n8p16.html
Wright, A. (2009, February 23). Exploring a „Deep Web‟ That Google Can‟t Grasp. Ocala Star-Banner
(FL) n.pag. Retrieved December 4, 2012, from NewsBank on-line database (Access World News)