Google Search makes it amazingly easy to find information. Come learn about the powerful advanced tools we provide to help you find just the right information when the stakes are high.
Daniel Russell is doing a free Google class on how to search the web. Besides six 50-minute classes it will include interactive activities to practice new skills. Upon passing the post-course assessment you get a Certificate of Completion.
Advanced search skills are not only a useful everyday skill but vital to doing scholarship. Searching the web is a superpower that would make thinkers of previous centuries green with envy. Learn to use it well. I recommend checking out Inside Search, Russel's Blog or perhaps reading the article "How to solve impossible problems" to get a feeling about what you can expect to gain from it.
I think for most the value of information is high enough to be worth the investment. Also I suspect it will be plain fun. I am doing the class and strongly recommend it to fellow LessWrong users. Anyone else who has registered please say so publicly in the comments as well. :)
Registration is open from June 26, 2012 to July 16, 2012.
So far the units covered where "Introduction" and "Interpreting results". Isn't it a bit early to be complaining of this not being that useful? This is very much a procedural knowledge class. Since it builds on a everyday skill you shouldn't expect it to blow your mind, you should however expect it to show you two or three new things that will let you do stuff better. At the very least let them reach Unit 3 "Class 3 - Advanced techniques" rather than despairing at "Introduction" and "Interpreting results" not doing much for you.
Honestly I very much expected them to start at the pace they have, the things you mention seem very basic, but there is a huge demand for such basic introductions. This is why Udacity recently made the Stats 101 and the Physics 100 classes. Remember when he says that just using ctrl+f puts you above 90% of searchers. I'm pretty sure at least 10% of LessWrong users don't use ctrl+f.
To give you a related data point I didn't know you could use colour choice in image searches so this class has totally been worth it.
I think it must be aimed at beginners and not someone like me. Class 1 was just laughable, but Class 2 started to get into the real skill of searching: thinking about synonyms and alternative phrasings and how someone else would write what you want, and Class 3 (finally) covered the most useful operators like negation and
site:. The midterm was easy, but with the basics out of the way, I'm hopeful that 4-6 may teach me something new and so I'm going to continue (as much as it's otherwise been a disappointment).I also think the exercises & questions are skimpier than they ought to have been. Testing your syntax understanding is fine, but surely more can be done?