Bing

In case you've missed the millions of commercials and ads inundating us about the new search engine Bing, it is a search engine that supposedly sorts through the crap websites for you, only returning results relevant to your search. They claim that it will enable you to find the website you are looking for without having to sort through ads or majorly irrelevant sites. To our make-everything-easier society this should be and is a very marketable product.

I, however, am completely unsettled by the idea of Bing. I find it bothersome that someone would suppose to know what I'm looking for. I find it irksome that I am not given all of the options and allowed to choose for myself. I find that this tool censors ideas based on the fact that they believe I don't want to be exposed to them. Shouldn't I make the decision about what I want to be exposed to? Shouldn't I be able to sift through the sites myself and click on those that fit my desired purpose? I feel like Bing flies in the face of my rights to free thought, my intelligence, and my goals in teaching students.

One of the key skills I try to teach students is how to look at several sources and determine which source is most helpful and relevant to what they are trying to prove. This involves looking at a list of titles or a list of websites, clicking on and reading the excerpts and then weighing the validity of the article and the relevance of the article to make an educated decision about the value of the piece. Bing tells my students that they no longer need this skill. It advocates for laziness, for not having to think for yourself. Students already believe that they can type a topic into Google, click on a few sites and have the information they need; Bing adds another layer to this. It will be easy for them to believe that because they've used Bing the source must be relevant to their topic. I sometimes feel like technology strips kids of essential skills in the belief that it is making life easier. But since when is easier always better?

One example of easier isn't better in my classroom is when I teach MLA. I get so frustrated when my students resist learning MLA citation. It is an important process to understand, and an important college-level skill. It is also an academic hoop that they need to learn to jump through, just as they will jump through hoops in any higher education or job. In their resistance to learn the process, because it's hard or cumbersome, they use a website called EasyBib. This site allows you to plug in the information and it will chug out the citation. I have a deep loathing for this site because it reflects the laziness of my students and their unwillingness to try, and it also incorrectly cites. I try to be an MLA master for this reason. I tell them up front that I can find EasyBib citations quickly and they will be penalized. My students don't believe me, use EasyBib and find lower grades as a result. This is an example of how the process is more important than the product. I want them to understand the MLA process, just as much as I want them to understand the process of discerning valid and relevant sources.

So once again I express my frustrations with technology. I am sure that the creators of Bing are well-meaning, I'm sure that they feel that our lives will be revolutionized because we will no longer be inundated with ads and filthy websites. But I'm okay with a little sifting, a thorough scan, as long as it means that my choices are not being censored and I can continue to strengthen my skills and those of my students.