Google

Google Info.....

Google offers a tremendous variety of resources for many age levels. Google Calendar - can be created for a specific class and then shared with students almost as a “syllabus” and can also be used by students as an organizational tool. Google Image - offers “safe search” so that a teacher can manage the parameters and then allow students to search for images as they research a topic. Google News - also has “personalized” features so that only specific topics come up. Google Translate - As we discussed during our last class session, this can be used for a variety both ELL and students in foreign language courses and is available both online and as an app. Sketch Up - creates 3d images and can be tremendously complicated and ENGAGING! Fusion Tables - This is a really neat tool that allows students to create timelines, charts and graphs. Google Scholar - This is a research database. Enjoy checking all the options out! *Lori

Don't forget that Google owns Youtube. Even though they have a separate 'Google Video' section YouTube is really the cream of the crop in online videos. Some colleagues of mine have students create videos for class and then post them on YouTube to present.  Google Docs combines Micrsoft Word and a flashdrive in one place. It works virtually the same as Microsoft Word but is web-based. And unlike wikis you can edit in real time with someone else and not have to worry about deleting someone's work if you worked at the same time. Google Scholar works in a similar method to Ebscohost. It searches all sorts of journals and legal briefs. Blogger is a free blog site you are able to use and control in your classroom. Allow students to interact and discuss with each other in a way very similar to what we are doing here on this wikispace today. I have a student that is on homebound instruction and she created a blog to use to keep in touch with her classmates. Google Sites is a free website. Very user friendly, very free. You can integrate all of these tools we have mentioned here and introduce or customize them in a way that will fit your classroom. **Bob

 Well, since my partners in crime got here before me I tried to see about some of Google's products that weren't discussed yet. Google Custom Search - create a search engine for your students to use for web research. The best part is you only include websites you have checked to be user friendly.

Google Books  - Search Google’s thousands of books for information on a topic of your choice. If they have the book you choose, you can read it online right then and there.

Google News  - I enjoyed searching for news articles with results covering decades. Any news with the words from your search appear in a neat list for you to look at. I was disappointed that some had to be paid for, though. -Sarah

Google Books- It is amazing in this day and age to be able to have thousands of books right at our finger tips. Not all children have families who encourage them to go to the library and read. Teaching students to use Google Books will allow them to find books at home and on their own!

Google Scholar - This is such an easy to way to do research. Not only is it easy (it has awesome advanced search engines!), but it is also free. Free access to scholarly journal articles and past newspapers is a rarity these days.

Google Video- You can find visual "how-tos" for almost anything out there. Not every child learns just from hearing or reading. These videos can help reinforce skills taught in class as the students work on finishing homework.

Google News - Global, national, and local news all in one place. On a snowy day like today I am especially grateful to be able to read the news without having to bundle up.

Gayle