Actually, I’m not quite sure exactly how great of a tool it is? Let me back up and start by telling you what it is before I make a value judgement or make you engage your brain.
ChaCha.com is a new (don’t know exactly how new) search engine with the unique ability to HELP you search.
No literally, there is another person who helps you search. You have the option to search on your own, but if you are having difficulty mining through the chasm that is the World Wide Web, you can use a guide. There is a chat feature that connects you with a “search expert” who can help you with your search. The far left hand side of the window is a live chat with your personal "search expert," while the center is set aside for displaying the links he/she has found. Finally, someone who can hold our hand as we stumble our way through millions of webpage.My initial reaction was that of pure joy! I was skipping around telling everyone about this brand-new resource when I tragically realized that my students potentially may not ever need to learn how to search! Someone else can do that for them? After a moment of educational despair, I had a conversation with our Youth Director and local LHS Freshman English teacher Dan Stec who reminded me that we love choice! Those people who want to use the guided search WILL and those who don’t want to WON’T. Nothing will change. The divide will still be there. Instead of the divide being between rich and poor, it will now be between the (Please forgive the word usage) the smart and everyone else. As Jesus did say, “You will always have the poor among you.”
Check it out for yourselves. Give it a spin and let me know what you think?
