I have tried to pinpoint the person or thing that made me Google while listening, but, I can’t quite put my finger on it. In the fall of 1997 (after quickly giving up on dreams of becoming a DJ) I started my career as “Technician I” at the International Academy. Google and the Internet as we know it now had just made a way into schools. (When I graduated in 1994 we had computer labs, floppy discs and Netscape navigator, but, Google (as we know) changed things.) In my role, I was not *just* a network administrator. I helped the faculty and students use the technology in their classes (we were not called “Tech Coaches” or “Learning Designers” back then!) Maybe it’s this early integration into educational experiences that led me to so much Googling when I started my PhD in 2004.

One of the earliest digital artifacts I have of this habit is a working bibliography I made while I was a student in Dr. Rand Spiro‘s CEP 957: Learning in Complex Domains. The class was a mixture of readings, lecture and discussion. When in lecture or discussing – if a resource/person was mentioned, I googled/looked them up in the library database and added to the document throughout the semester.

The file still exists in the original form here (long before google docs were a thing!)
https://www.msu.edu/~gravesle/complexbib.htm and I thought, 12 years on, that it may be time to modernize it and turn it into a google doc so I don’t lose it and so others can find it and contribute.  I often still reference it (as a matter of fact, that is what prompted this post!)

SO, if you’re looking for some resources on learning in complex domains – enjoy!

Click here to see the google doc (also embedded below) & add comments/suggestions.