Google Love

I am in love with Google, and this article from the New York Times only makes me love the company more.  I can't imagine going through research projects with using Google, and these handy tips could be quite useful in the classroom.  For example, students can use Google as a spelling aid by searching for their best guess of the word, and Google pops up with suggestions in less than second. Or if students have to convert currencies in a math class, they can just type in something like "300 dollars in pesos," and Google immediately tells them that it's 3,663.76 pesos.  Google even has a built-in calculator; enter "5 + 2" and Google completes the equation.

However, I do wonder if these new, easily accessible tools with make some classroom lessons and units obsolete.  How much spelling do you need to teach when your students can look it up on Google less than a second?  I don't think it's an easy-to-answer question, but I'll be interested to see how much my students memorize, and how much they just look up on Google.