Custom Search With Google

@LisaBerghoff/@Joe_EdTech

I grew up in a time when phones had cords, photos were taken with film that needed to be developed, and research was done with encyclopedias. I am amazed each and every day that my students have current, quality information at their fingertips and that communicating with experts on the other side of the world is possible with the click of a mouse. When students have questions, one of my favorite phrases to use in my class is "you have a very powerful computer in front of you, let's look it up!"  They will eagerly go to Google and type in a few words or a phrase to search. Inevitably, they will get somewhere in the order of 23,000,000 responses in .41 seconds. How amazing is that!? However, the excitement starts to wane as my students begin to sift through their results. Many educators believe that proper search skills are imperative for success in the future and I agree. Google has a whole curriculum for teachers about effective search skills. Click here to access Google Search Education. 

It can be tricky to teach search skills when the internet can be such an unwieldy place to learn. I was at a #GAFEtalk sponsored by TextHelp last week and learned about an incredible tool called Custom Search.  I don't know how I never came across this before but I'm happy to share it with you now. 

Custom Search was developed for users to add a search engine to their websites. When you are on a website, you may notice a search bar that says "search this site". It allows you to search for content that is located on just the website you are on. 

This has HUGE implications for the classroom. 

Here is an example:

In my biology class, we are currently studying trophic levels in Yellowstone National Park. I want my students to search for information, but I don't really want them to search the entire internet and then spend their time sorting through potentially bad sites. I can create a custom search for them, it looks just like a Google search, but will allow them to search within certain sites, such as NationalGeographic.com or NationalParkService.gov. I might want some of my students to search a site like newsela.com, where they can adjust the reading level. I will create a custom search for them and that will be their platform for finding information.

• Begin by going to the Custom Search Homepage. 
• Click "create a custom search engine" or "new search engine". 
• In the sites to search box, type one or more sites you want to include in the search results. You can include any sites on the web. Don't worry, you can add more later.
• In the "name of the search engine" field, type in a name to identify this search engine. I will call mine Yellowstone Research.
• When you are done, click "create".
• Click on the box that says "public URL" and that is the link you will share with your students though your website, Hapara, Google Classroom, or however you share digital information in your class.
• You can make several adjustments to your custom search including turning off image search, enable speech input for the search box, format the layout of the results, and see some of the analytics for your custom search.

Click here to try the Yellowstone Research custom search engine I just created.

Here is what it looks like:

5 Ways/Reasons to Use Google Custom Search

1. Easy differentiation. The search looks just like Google search but some students will do better with different search results.

2. Really focus and hone in on specific websites. Tired of students trying to take the easy way out with wikipedia? Not anymore!
Save time and frustration when students are searching.

3. Enable students to search and choose, but just stay within the sites you want them to use.

4. It allows students to search without needing to leave the page or site that you are on.

5. Your students will be researching sites that you have already vetted as high quality.

Are you using Google Custom Search? 

What are some ways you would (or do) use this in the classroom?

Go ahead and post comments below.