Lesson Plan - Session 1 – Google & Beyond

LRS / Course / Date
Set Up:
●Read this lesson plan in full, and do the exercise yourself, before starting anything else.
●Understand Google’s Limits and be able to articulate those clearly to students.
●Identify a search engine in Search Engine Colossus that shows the benefits of going beyond Google (These engines can target local information. These sources have multiple languages represented. Also, they don’t have same restrictions as home country might put on Google - example: Spain no longer shares information with Google News because of copyright laws in Spain. However, these sources might not contain information that Google does. Best strategy is to not use Google in isolation. Explore requests, by country, for Google to censor their information.)
●Create an introductory email for your class, asking students to bring their laptops to the first session.
●Set up the Analyzing Sources Documentfor your specific study group.
●Draft an outgoing email for use *after* this first session.
Connections: Students have heard about LxC in their parent courses, and have possibly read their syllabus description of LxC. They will have some idea about what it is, but they’ll still be unclear.
Your Goal(s):
●Ensure that students understand LxC’s purpose, grading structure and participation expectations.
●Facilitate students’ understanding of how their interests and research fits in the study group.
●Generate discussion on the importance and benefits of searching internationally and know which sources are available.
●Begin a discussion of how students gather information for personal and academic use (Google, social media, news sources, library search engines, and BU Library databases)
●Explore ways to use Google more effectively & think about other search engines (See search Engine Colossus)
●Set-up discussion today so that it can lead to a discussion of other sources in the next session - Session 2.
Your Lesson:
  1. Introduction and Reading Proficiency (global & traditional) Speaking Proficiency (traditional only) (Explain that the proficiency forms are only a guide to help you design appropriate work for them). Ask them to talk about why they signed up for LxCestimated 10 mins)
  2. Syllabus overview (estimated 10 mins)
  3. Ask the students to research a question during class. The question should be rooted international views on parent course content.
  4. What Engines did they use? How many distinct search engines did they use? What persons didn’t use Google? Why is Google always the first stop? (5 min)
  5. Ask: How do we search more internationally? How do we get beyond Google’s limits? (Do they know what Google’s limits are?) What other search engines do students use? (5 min)
  6. Explore other search engines that demonstrate why it is necessary to go beyond Google, and how Google is more effective when combined with other engines. (10 min)
  7. Introduce students to features in Google that help them personalized their news stream) and ask students to select a country or region of interest and to commit to keeping this feature active for two weeks (or longer) (10 min)
  8. Introduce the assignment for next time: Homework: Students will find and investigate at least 2 databases or sites where they can find non-US materials, and/or materials written in languages other than English. Here’s the ANALYSING SOURCES documentstudents will work with. This assignment should be due to you no less than 48 hours before the next session. (5 mins)
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Note: There’s a good deal to cover in this session. If you feel you need to have an extra task, you may want to prepare what is below. It’s always good to have one more trick in case you need it.
Accomplishments & Reflection:
Other Notes:
**Send out the draft email giving students the assignment in writing with all of the working, appropriate links. Be sure to give students an appropriate deadline that allows you time to read through and analyze their homework before the next session.
After class and before your next session, review the language proficiency forms to get to know your students better and to know their self-reported abilities.

October 17, 2016