Web 2.0 Tools, Chapter 2

In Chapter 2 of Choosing Web 2.0 Tools for Learning and Teaching in a Digital World is all about using the internet and more specifically using the internet and the various search engines found on the world wide web. The chapter starts off by giving a brief history of how searching engines have progressed over time. More specifically though it talks about how search engines use has improved over time, meaning how they have been adapted for Web 2.0 use.

In addition to basic knowledge about search engines, the authors provide a few steps on how to teach the search engine process. This is an important skill that I never really thought of having to be taught. But after thinking about it, it only makes sense that classroom teachers do some type of instructing on how to use the average search engine found on the web. Plus the added bonus of teaching a few minutes about how to use search engines makes sure that all students are at the same level of expectations when they are released to use google search for instance in a classroom project. The authors provide the following steps when approaching search engines from an instructional standpoint:

1. Go Beyond the basic Google Search. 
2. Use Synonyms 
3. Use word definitions 
4. use more than one search engine 
5. take advantage of advanced search features in advanced searching 

Overall this chapter was useful but to be honest a little dry. Reading about searching the internet is not the most of interesting topics. I would compare it to literature you would read if you were waiting at the doctors office. It something you only read because it's the only thing relatively available. With that statement, the material is not irrelevant to everyday classroom instruction. This chapter I think would be more beneficial to the student than the teacher. I would think of it as the way a bike is approached. You never really forget to ride a bike. A student never really forgets how to search the internet after they use it for everyday classroom instruction.