Just received an invite to take part in a 'virtual seminar' to assist businesses in utilizing Google to "boost your rankings" (via MarketingProfs.com). While I won't be taking part, there were a number of ideas that stood out, and in a follow-the-rabbit-down-the-hole way connect to larger ideas about education.
Let me first list the salient elements that comprise part of the virtual seminar:
- Understanding Google's PageRank scores...as either a 'red herring' or useful metric (here is a decent link for understanding how Google uses pageranking)
- Discussing the value of a link
- Creative strategies for building link-worthy content (here is a link to a link 'broker' if you want to learn more)
- Leveraging the blogosphere
- Pitfalls to avoid if buying or bartering links
- Google Bombing (here are 2 links for a clear definition: Link 1 Link 2 )
Here's why this seemingly unrelated matter associated with business marketing via Google demands attention from all of us interested in the future of education, schooling, learning, etc:
1. Aside from the noble use of public education to create literate and responsible citizens, in many ways it has stood the test of time because it was the 'great filter' for information. Teachers were 'experts' or at least were able to advocate for expertise, and students did their best to master and memorize key elements of content, facts, and truths. Then came the Internet and an entire shifting of how to access information, facts, truths, etc.
2. I speak often about the power of Web 2.0 tools (or any read/write, customized/interactive content systems)...and I am on a daily basis becoming a bigger and bigger advocate of such tools. While basic 'search engines' are not an example of this, the first generation of the Internet (Web 1.0) allowed unprecedented access to information that teachers of the past or even a library can't offer student on their own. Google quickly became the single most powerful search engine for the world at large, and certainly the average student doing research, and has even lead to the intriguing "just google it" phrase (or the even more intriguing "I just googled you", which is an entirely different beast). In essence, if you want to 'find' info, you use Google.
3. So, where does this put us? Here's the quick shot across the bow as I re-read the above set of marketing techniques linked to the most widely used search engine:
- Facts vs. Evaluation: Traditionally, being well educated meant being in possession of the most facts or being able to memorize and retain info. Today, the shift is towards 'learning how to learn' or learning how to distinguish between relevant information and useless information.
- Accurately Cite a Source vs. Informed 'Sight': If traditional teaching techniques (geared towards memorization) continue in an Internet-based world, a student's ability to discern info (or knowing which Google seach item to read or cite, for example) would seem to be limited. In the future, it will be more important to be able to have good 'vision', to choose between one cite or another, than to simply be able to find the info.
- Fear vs. Managing Risk: If I were a teacher today, I think I'd take serious note of the above 'marketing' seminar as a way to better understand the 'management' of information with my students. In essence, if businesses are putting enormous resources into positioning their PageRank, I would want my students (and colleagues) to know this as they launch into their next "hey, let me google that..." efforts. In other words, if an item comes up with 15,000 (or 150,000,000 links), a typical student might only look at the first 5 or 10 or maybe 50 before 'settling'. So, PageRank counts for a great deal! A fearful teacher would roll back the hands of time and demand only books or hard copy sources (which would be at the very least antiquated if not down right limiting to a thoughtful research assignment). On the other hand, a teacher and student who is less fearful would see that having to sort through such behind-the-scenes positioning of information would be a true 21st century skill. It becomes a matter of managing risk, rather than fear. It becomes more about active learning rather than passive memorization.
- Real World Learning, pure and simple: It is, in other words, what the rest of us in the real world have to do each day...and perhaps teaching students to navigate with the same eye would be good not just for them, but for the world they are about ready to enter.
As a final comment, great educators have always helped their students understand not only ideas and facts, but also the way that systems were built and how theories and facts came to be known in the first place. Because of the ease of how Google allows any student to literally search the entire known universe of ideas, it would seem incumbent to understand how a link makes it to the top of the list of possibilities.
Perhaps this leads to students knowing not only now to find info, but also how to evaluate the links that lead them there in the first place.
Perhaps...
It's certainly true that the nature of education is changing ... particularly in what it means to be literate. The traditional definition of literacy is melding with the newer concept of "media literacy." they are becoming one and the same. they are becoming, in David Warlick's terms, the New Literacy. And, unfortunately, it's catching some districts/schools/teachers with their pants down.
Posted by: Josh Thomas | November 02, 2005 at 06:45 AM