Thing 29: Google Tools

Google Alerts--Now this one I will use. I love it, especially for HS research projects. We have our advanced composition class research very recent topics. This would be a great way to keep up with the new writing on their topics. I think this one will be invaluable, and I plan to require every student to set one of these up next year!

Google News--This one is cool too. It's a little confusing to know where I'm logged in now that I have the alerts, the email and the news. I know I don't have to log into the news, but it gives me my login email at the top plus a series of tabs. It looks a lot like my igoogle page, but with a few tabs different. That's a little confusing. I hope they join all of these. For research, this could be very cool indeed, much like the alerts. I'm not sure if students will need both or now, but it's nice to have options. I like the timeline view too, but I'm not sure if students will use it too much. What I like most is that you can see when the most was written about the topic. On global warming, for instance, most was written in 2006.

Google Search Wiki--Interesting idea. The negative article was a little too negative. This is an optional feature. If the writer doesn't like it, he certainly doesn't need to use it. The other article gave some nice examples. I liked the idea of weather--put your local forcast information at the top, so to get a forecast, all you have to do is type in weather. That could be a nice time saver. I do agree with the naysayer, however, in believing that Google is not completely altruistic. I'm sure they are harvesting data to make them more money. I can't blame them. We do live in a capitalistic society, which means much of the motivation to improve is financial. If that motivates Google to improve its products, I guess that's oK with me. People just need to understand that. I'm not sure I'll be using this much, but I don't have a problem with it being there.

Google Web History--Cool or creepy? A little of both. I decided not to sign up for this one. Maybe it's because I am a digital immigrant (though I immigrated a long time ago, I did not grow up with this). Maybe it's because I've grown up more conservative about giving out my personal information. I do think it is a bit generational, but I don't think that means the old generation is wrong. I worry about my students who don't worry enough. They suffer from information prmomiscuity. I love that term. I heard it at the MEMO conference a a couple years ago. They leave their digital footprints all over the place and have little awareness of it. I try to teach them this at school, but I worry it does little good. They think online activity is as private as a conversation in their bedroom with a friend. While I'd like being able to review my web history, my need for privacy outweighs the need for convenience. Google says it gives you total control, but I question that. Nothing is every totally gone on the Internet. I think I'll pass on this one for now.