Power Searching with Google – What next?
My exam results – Power Searching with Google
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The up- and downsides of my Google results.
Good results in the final assessment, but with a missing mid-class assessment no certificate 😦
Nevertheless, the upsides outweigh the downsides.
Plus 🙂
- I learned new search techniques and further improved my existing knowledge
- I improved my own search skills
- The course design (combination of videos and activities) inspired me for my own teaching – keyword: flipped classroom
- Many of my readers liked my ongoing reports about my course progress (Thanks 🙂
- Free course (embracing the Web 2.0 philosophy of sharing, OER (open educational resources)
- supports life-long learning
- facilitated cooperation through forums, google groups, hangouts on air
- Final assessment could be taken as often as wanted
- Certificate –in case you passed
Minus 😕
- Time-consuming – each class required about 50 minutes, plus time for the pre-, mid- and post-class assessment
- Timeframe was pretty short and restrictive.
- PR stunt from Google to promote his own product
- More free data for Google through registration and final evaluation
- No certificate (but that was my own fault)
Well, I know it is arguable whether all points in the minus list can be regarded as complete minus. Some might find spending about six hours work into a course is not too much. I agree with them. I only had a problem with the short timeframe applied for the whole course.
I like Google and it is my major starting point for each search. Nevertheless, we all know that nothing is for free. It is undeniable that Google, who just recently changed his privacy policy collects Big Data, including personal data, but as well our surf behavior. You might also want to read the article “Google data policy raises privacy worries” from The Sydney Morning Herald. It is always wise to bring issues into question.
However, the decision to participate in a course is up to everyone. Some, like me, think it’s a fair tradeoff to get free training in turn for providing personal data, which is already known by Google, since I have a Google account 😉
Sylvia's Blog 
Very well done. And thanks to your blogs, I learnt a lot too. Thanks, Sylvia!
If you’re like me and impatient, then you went with the text-based lessons (after watching the first few). That brought each “class” down to only about 15-20 minutes each.