An eBook for History Teachers and History Students
At the start of every school year I like to review search strategies with students. If you like to do the same and want some new ideas to try this fall, take a look at my eBook Teaching Search Strategies to History Students. In Teaching Search Strategies to History Students I outline activities that you can […]
When Bard is Better Than Google
Yesterday I was in charge of making dinner for my family. My plan was to make fish tacos. I’ve made them before so I knew that I needed a lime. But I wasn’t sure of all of the other ingredients that I needed. So I did what anyone in my position would do, I Googled […]
An eBook for History Teachers and Their Students
Earlier this spring I listed the educational technology topics that I’m still passionate about after all these years. One of those topics is search strategies and discovery tools for students. To that end, I’ve recently updated my e-book on Teaching Search Strategies to History Students. In my updated e-book Teaching Search Strategies to History Students […]
A New Google Bard Feature
Bard is Google’s alternative to ChatGPT. If you haven’t tried it yet, watch this video that I made in March and then give it a try. The newest feature added to Bard makes it easy to quickly transfer the transcript of your Bard chat into a Google Document. All you need to do is simply […]
Fun With Augmented Reality in Search
Thanks to where I live and the amount of time that I’ve spent hiking, camping, fly fishing I have slightly more experience seeing wildlife like bears and moose than the average person. My kids often ask me to tell a story about seeing a bear, a moose, or other animal. Unfortunately, when they ask for […]
Search Tools Your Students (And You?) Are Probably Overlooking
AI search tools like ChatGPT infused into Bing and Google’s Bard are getting a lot of attention right now. But when it’s time to search most students still default to Google.com. Unfortunately, by relying on just Google.com and trendy AI search tools students are missing out on a lot of excellent excellent and helpful material. […]
Seven Google Scholar Features You Should Know How to Use
In this week’s Practical Ed Tech newsletter I made the case for using Google Scholar as part of your research process. In the newsletter I included a short video overview of Google Scholar features you should know how to use. That video is embedded below. Video – Google Scholar Features You Should Know How to […]
Searching With ChatGPT in Bing
Last week I got access to the new version of Bing. The new version of Bing includes a chat function that is powered by ChatGPT. With this function enabled you can search and get results in the traditional manner or you can view results in a manner that is conversational. As you can see in […]
An Overview of Microsoft’s Search Coach
Last summer Microsoft announced a new Teams product that would be rolling to education users over the coming school year. That product is called Search Coach and it appears to now be widely available to all Microsoft Teams education users. As its name implies, Search Coach in Microsoft Teams provides students with tips to improve […]
How to Search Within Desktop and Mobile Pages
How to search within documents, web pages, and spreadsheets is one of the first things that I teach to students at the start of a new semester or new school year (for year-long courses). It’s a simple thing that can lead to more efficient use of time spent on research. Over the weekend a reader […]
Searching is a Thinking Skill
Have you ever had a conversation with a student that went like this? Student: “Mr. Byrne, Google has nothing on my topic.” Mr. Byrne: “What is your topic?” Student: “The Civil War.” Mr. Byrne: “Are you sure that Google has nothing about the Civil War?” Student: “Well I looked at a bunch of links, but […]
Spot the Differences – Another Founder’s Day Lesson
As I mentioned in a blog post yesterday, I’m spending today helping with one of our community’s Founder’s Day events. The event that I’m helping with is the car show. I’m doing it because I’m friends with care-taker of the collection and because it gives me a chance to look at the cars up close. […]
In Pictures – A Good Resource for Prompting Current Events Lessons
Over the weekend while browsing some news articles on the BBC News I was reminded of a good resource that I used for many years to prompt discussion and small research activities in my current events class. That resource is the BBC’s Week in Pictures which is a section of their more general In Pictures […]
Other Search Engines for Students to Try
While Google is the default search engine for many students (either mentally or technically because of browser settings), there are other public search engines for them to use. In some cases using an alternate search engine will give students a different list of results and or may give them the information they’re seeking a little […]
How to Refine DuckDuckGo Search Results
DuckDuckGo is becoming a popular alternative to conducting searches on Google.com. The reason for that popularity is a reflection of DuckDuckGo’s claim to not track search habits of individual users. While it is a good search engine, it still has a way to go to compete head-to-head with Google’s advanced search options. That said, there […]
Challenge – Introduce Students to Academic Search Engines and Databases
In the minds of many students yelling “Hey Siri, tell me about Martin Luther King, Jr.” or “Hey Google, when did the Soviet Union collapse?” is conducting research. As teachers we know that research is a process that goes far beyond telling a machine to give us some information. The challenge is to get students […]
Save Time by Searching Within Favorite YouTube Channels
One of the tips that Rushton Hurley and I have passed along in a few episodes of Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff is to search within the YouTube channels of people whose tutorials you’ve found useful. For example, whenever I need help with a WordPress problem I head to WP […]
Vocabulary Lists, Jazz, Grateful Dead, Conversations, and Search
On March 29, 1990 Branford Marsalis sat in with the Grateful Dead. It was an unlikely pairing. It produced amazing music! Here’s a sample to enjoy. I’m sharing this music trivia because of a conversation that I saw on Facebook this week. The gist of it was that a friend who teaches high school language […]
The Three Most Common Searches on Free Technology for Teachers
Every month I take a look at the most popular posts of the month. At the same time I look at the search terms that visitors enter most often on Free Technology for Teachers. This month the three most frequently searched terms were “random name selector,” “kahoot,” and “photos for class.” Below I have assembled […]
Search Strategies for Students – Webinar Recording
Yesterday afternoon I hosted a free webinar, sponsored by Choosito, all about search strategies that all students can employ. The webinar was recorded for people who couldn’t attend live (I realize that 4pm Eastern Time isn’t the most convenient time for teachers). The recording is now available for everyone to watch. The video is embedded […]