Google MOOC about searching techniques

[Garson O'Toole]

When I tweeted about the Google course I included the question "What is a MOOC?"
Ben Zimmer replied with a tweet linking to a famous movie scene:

"What's a MOOC? I'll give you MOOC!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmrQ70gJUJI

The ever diligent Paul McFedries at WordSpy has an entry for MOOC.

http://www.wordspy.com/words/MOOC.asp

McFedries includes a cautionary note reflecting the complications that
word-trackers (and quotation-trackers) are facing with increasing
frequency.

[Begin excerpt]
Education researcher Dave Cormier is the coiner of MOOC, but as far as
I can tell no online cite is available for the first use. The earliest
citation links to a website called Connectivism Wiki that probably has
the first use, but alas that site has been taken down.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 3:10 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Google MOOC about searching techniques
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Google is offering a free course designed to: "Sharpen your search skills".
>
> It starts on Monday, September 24, and I think registration is required.
>
> Now you can learn what "MOOC" means experientially by participating in
> a Massive Online Open Course. I think the same (or a similar) course
> was offered in June, but I learned about it after registration was
> closed.
>
> http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/
>
> I saw some video segments from the previous course and thought Dan
> Russell's presentations were great. He is the primary teacher, and a
> senior research scientist at Google.
>
> Based on incoming traffic the "Quote Investigator" blog was probably
> mentioned at some point during the previous course, but I do not know
> how it was described.
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Knowing how to find answers on Google is an important skill in today’s
> digital age. Taught by Google’s Search experts, this online class will
> help you search smarter, so you can find the information you need —
> even in the most challenging situations.
>
> How it works
>
> The course begins on September 24 and ends on October 10. Register now
> and we’ll send you an email when class begins.
> …
>
> Schedule
>
>     Pre-class assessment available 2012-09-24
>     Class 1 - Introduction available 2012-09-24
>     Class 2 - Interpreting results available 2012-09-26
>     Class 3 - Advanced techniques available 2012-09-28
>     Mid-class assessment available 2012-09-28,
>        deadline 2012-10-10 11:59pm PT
>     Class 4 - Find facts faster available 2012-10-01
>     Class 5 - Checking your facts available 2012-10-03
>     Class 6 - Putting it all together available 2012-10-05
>     Post-class assessment available 2012-10-05,
>        deadline 2012-10-10 11:59pm PT
>
> [End excerpt]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org