November 10, 2010

Google Instant and Preview

 
http://www.google.com/images/logos/ps_logo2.png

Recently Google made a change to the way search results are displayed when looking for information.  It is a small change that can have significant results for our students.  Before Google introduced what they now call "Google Instant", users would develop keywords to search on Google and then click each link to see if it would be of any use.  This took time and for some students it took much longer than others.  Now, Google has made searching the web more intuitive and even faster.  When you search on Google now you will notice that each keystroke will bring up new search results as Google searches your keyword(s) with each new letter.  This instantaneous list of search results is said to be 2.5 times faster than searching before Google Instant.  It is also very helpful for those students who don't know exactly what to search.  With each keystroke, Google will give suggestions as to what the most popular searches are involving your keyword(s).

To take this one step further, Google has also introduced Google Preview which allows users to click on a little magnifying glass next to a search result and see a preview of that site without ever leaving Google.  Pretty cool huh?  Head over to Google yourself to give it a try!

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