Search Coach features
Search Coach supports more than the mechanics of searching. It also helps learners think critically about what they find—and gives teachers a window into how they got there.
Search Coach tips
When learners open Search Coach, they may see a Search tip of the day. Tips rotate and help build stronger habits over time.
While searching, additional tips appear beneath the search bar. Some rotate randomly; others are triggered by what students enter.
Tips help learners understand that browsers operate on inferred intent, or guessing what you want and serving results that seem to match.
These tips can spark rich class discussions about how search engines actually work. To explore this essential concept further, check out the Search Coach lesson plan for Choosing a pet.
Insights
Insights gives teachers visibility into how a class—or individual learners—are searching. Teachers can filter by the whole class or drill down to specific students, and see:
- Which filters learners used most often
- Which domains appeared in their results and which ones they actually visited
- Common search terms across the class, displayed as a word cloud
Some educators project the word cloud during class to let students see their peers' searches in real time. It's a surprisingly engaging discussion starter—and it surfaces patterns teachers might not catch otherwise.
Use Insights to spot where learners need more support. Are they writing vague queries? Ignoring filters entirely? Selecting the first result without comparing options? This data helps teachers target their instruction.
Note
For assignment-specific Insights tied to a particular project, Search Progress adds Compare to class views inside Assignments. More on that later!
Lesson plans
We partnered with the Digital Inquiry Group-a nonprofit founded by Stanford researchers who spent over two decades studying how people evaluate information online - to develop lesson plans designed specifically for Search Coach. Topics include:
- Lateral reading: checking what other sources say about a source
- Verifying social media claims: tracing viral content back to its origins
- Evaluating search results: moving beyond surface cues
Each lesson is designed for middle to high school classrooms and takes 1-2 class periods.
Looking for shorter activities? Lesson starters cover specific Search Coach features and can work as whole-class warm-ups, small-group activities, or independent practice.