Reflective Searching -- " Hey! Google it!!!"

Just a few years ago, my students heard me say "look it up in your dictionary". Now I say "hey, Google it". Times have changed. I still have my Collins Robert French English dictionary on my book shelf by my desk but it has become a tool of torture or a threat device for those in the classroom who are too lazy to "Google it" and dare ask me questions that can easily be found on Google translate or on an online dictionary. I also often tell my students that they hold in their hands the knowledge of the universe and that they should inquire, become curious, search, seek, want to learn and know!

I talk a lot and tell other people what to do because that's what teachers do but if I look at myself, I am not sure how proficient I am at "Googling" things. I actually learned quite a bit by reading the various articles about the Google search. Being a university student surely encourages me to use the online library tools for online books and research but in no way was I inclined to do so in the past. The word surfing the internet applies to my style of searcher. If you Google the word "surfing", you will find out that it is a surface water sport. So I do just that, stay on the surface very much like most teens in my classroom. No deep water snorkeling, no diving under, nothing but stay on top and stay afloat!

Can I expect anything else from my students than what I do myself? Absolutely not! That is why I enrolled myself in this Technology Instructional program. It's coming, I'm learning. The skill gap is closing. As I know more, I start demanding more from my students as well. My instruction is changing. My projects are changing. Our Google searches are different, less filtered and restricted, more and more international, more French, more Canadian, more African, more... more... more...