Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Google Data Center
Google search cables: Ben Morse questions how the new search will affect the way we teach. Photograph: Google Handout/EPA
Google search cables: Ben Morse questions how the new search will affect the way we teach. Photograph: Google Handout/EPA

What will the new Google search mean for teachers?

This article is more than 11 years old
As plans for Google's Knowledge Graph and new search emerge, Ben Morse explores the impact these developments will have on education and people working in schools

As plans for Google's Knowledge Graph and new search emerge, Ben Morse explores the impact these developments will have on education and people working in schools

In an observer interview this weekend, Tim Adams met with Google search bigwig Amit Singhal. During the recap of Google's potted history, and it's ambition for the new Knowledge Graph, a question occurred to me, that should be bothering a lot of us - what does this mean for teachers?

Currently, Google search works reflexively - which is to say, it learns from you as you learn from it. The length of time you spend on a page, whether or not you click back and change your search, are all logged in a bid to make your search smoother and more efficient. Not only that, but it now free associates - the example given was that typing "10 Downing Street" brings up associated sites to do with government and the prime minister, as well as just the street address. Fairly soon, typing "Michael Gove" will bring up not only his policies, but presumably the Samaritans helpline as well. So, that really will be a time saver. I digress. So is this good news for education? Possibly. Mr Singhal pointed out that actually, "the more accurate the machine gets, the lazier the questions become". And working as a teacher, seeing how teenagers access internet content, that can be depressingly true.

But let's follow this line of thought through logically - if internet searching becomes more nuanced - if it can anticipate, associate and extrapolate meaning so that no matter how ham fisted the original question, an answer is derived with little effort, what does this mean for teaching? My father told me, when I was searching for a job, that "people will always need teaching". But now that's in doubt. Far from being a bulletproof profession, will something as simple as Google render us obsolete?

I don't think it will. But I still worry for the profession. Because what will happen is that the nature of education will seismically shift in the next 10 years. And we currently have trouble adjusting to tweaks to the curriculum. The nature of education itself has already shifted. Experts who have spent years distilling, refining and collating their knowledge have put it all online, and it's there at the touch of a button, for anyone with access to read. If, as Larry Page, Google co-founder (and apparently mad scientist) predicts, that the natural conclusion is that we all have chips inserted in our brains that can access the internet hive mind, what's the point in science lessons? Or any lessons for that matter? Google glass, the glasses with real time contextual information, and Google Now, the app that gives you information based on where you are and your search patterns, already exist. It's a bleak picture, and you might be forgiven for updating your CV in despair.

It's not all bad news though. Teaching simply needs to adapt. How we work with children, with forming brains and how they learn, and what we do with the knowledge we access could and should be a growing priority in education.

I'm reminded of a Reddit question that was asked: "If someone from the 1950s appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today?" The best answer? "I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers."

Knowledge is worthless without the tools with which to interpret it. Critical thinking, decision making skills along with group learning and knowledge interpretation will be prized highly in the very near future. In the meantime, we're bickering over teaching to the test, and if we should bring back Latin or not. We've found a shortcut around evolutionary learning. Teaching needs to adjust accordingly. So, why aren't we?

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get articles direct to your inbox, and to access thousands of free resources, sign up to the Guardian Teacher Network here. Looking for your next role? See our Guardian jobs for schools site for thousands of the latest teaching, leadership and support jobs

Comments (…)

Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion

Most viewed

Most viewed