All things Google
All things Google
Whether you are a fan of Google or despair that Google is the ONLY search engine that students use there is no denying that Google has developed some exciting and powerful tools that support student learning.
The following list identifies some of these tools. It is by no means exhaustive, but is a great place to start. Also make sure you check out Google for Education for some excellent resources to help you engage more effectively with the Google suite of tools and Apps.
SEARCHING
Google Search
Where it all began - its search engine
Power Searching with Google
Provides a range of tutorials to help teach key features of searching for information online using the Google Search /Advanced Search tools.
Google Advanced Search
This search comes with more options, including file format, language, and reading level. You can also avoid faulty "unwanted words" to avoid search confusion. For instance, if you want students searching "Franz Ferdinand" as a historical figure, you can include "bands" or "music" in the unwanted words to avoid getting hits on the band by the same name.
A Google a Day
This game encourages efficient web researching. It is a great way to help your students research quickly and easily. Each questions identifies key features of Google search functions as well as the most efficient way to enter required information together a desired result.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.
Google Books
Google's online library lets you search by topic, title, author, subject period in time and much more. There are many free ebooks that can be downloaded also.
Public Data Explorer
The Google Public Data Explorer makes large datasets easy to explore, visualize and communicate. As the charts and maps animate over time, the changes in the world become easier to understand.
WORKSPACES (PERSONAL / COLLABORATIVE)
Google Drive
This online storage space is particularly handy for teachers when revising students' work and providing feedback. It allows you and your class to track what changes have been made, save each revision, and collaborate in real time. And it's a great organizing tool -- you can easily upload existing files to Google Drive so that everything is accessible in one place. Not only can your students create electronic Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Drawings, they can also connect other apps to Google Drive for tasks such as photo editing, video editing, and creating dynamic charts and presentations. There are many fantastic add-ons that you can use in Docs and Sheets to really amp up not only your own productivity but your students' productivity as well.
Hangouts on Air is a tool that allows you to host live broadcasts with just a webcam, a computer, and an Internet connection.
There are a lot of great uses for Hangouts on Air in the classroom. You can host guest speakers for your classroom with this tool. If you want to interview or interact with a special guest, but you can’t coordinate a visit, use Google Hangouts on Air to do so. With this tool, your entire class can interact with the person on the other side of the screen by taking turns to ask questions.
Another option for Hangouts on Air is to teach a class remotely, which makes sense if you’re collaborating with another teacher.
While Hangouts on Air is a live broadcast, you also have the option to save the file as a private (or public, if you prefer) YouTube video. This way, you can keep the record for future use.
CREATIVITY / PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
Google Docs
Google Docs is a word processing tool that you can use to create word documents. It is strikingly similar to Microsoft Word with two exceptions: Google Docs is free and it’s cloud-based. You can also use Google Docs in a collaborative assignment where a group of students work on a writing project together. Google Docs comes with a built-in chat module for real time teamwork.
Google Forms
Google Forms can be used to create quizzes and other assessments which are self grading. To set up a self-grading assessment, you’ll start by creating a new Form in Google Drive. (Navigate to New -> More -> Google Forms) Then, you’ll populate your test and create an answer key. To make it fully functional, you’ll need to install Flubaroo as an add-on. (Navigate to Add-ons -> Get add-ons…)
With Flubaroo, you can assign tests to specific student, record responses, and then send email results to both student and parent. Plus, Flubaroo is a free add-on for Google Forms.
Google Sketchup
This is a downloadable Google tools that allows you to create 3-D models from a piece of furniture to designing a room to designing a city for Google Earth. This can be useful when studying mathematical dimensions, literary settings, scientific environments and historical places.
SCIENCE
Google CS First
Goo idgle Computer Science (CS) designed for grades 4-8 (but works well for other grades, too) and gives teachers everything they need to implement a computer science club in their school. The program is flexible enough to weave it into the regular school day or create a before/after-school club. Everything is free and available on the CS First website. Students get to experience first-hand the impact of computer science across multiple real-world industries.
Google Science Fair
Google also runs its own science fair. This online competition is open to students around the globe, aged 13 to 18. Winners are awarded scholarship funding, mentorship, and an educational trip.
GEOGRAPHY AND WORLD STUDIES
Google Maps for Education
Google Maps for Education provides resources to help teachers and students explore, create, and collaborate with mapping tools. Students who are taught geography are better equipped to understand how human and physical systems interact and to make informed decisions based on that knowledge.
Google Tour Builder
Allows your students create their own interactive tours of historical sites, locations in literature, and travel guides.
Google Earth
This is especially useful in geography and social studies, but can even come in handy during history explorations. Take your students on a virtual field trip to the farthest reaches of the globe. In fact, you can use Google Earth in every major disciple, from computing math equations to understanding marine biology.
Download the desktop version of Google Earth or download the Google Earth plugin to view on the web. You can even access Google Earth through your mobile device.
Cultural Institute/Art Project/World Wonders
Explore things like world heritage sites, famous art collections, and information on significant historical events in this virutal museum.
VIDEO CHANNELS
You Tube Education
Get access to the great content offered by YouTube, but narrowed down to educational videos.
National Geographic
National Geographic's YouTube Channel is one of the best places to find science resources. There are nearly 3,000 videos.
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel uploads clips from their most popular shows including How Stuff Works.
Smithsonian Videos
From history to art & design, you can find many great videos on the Simthsonian's YouTube channel. Playlists on their channel are well organized so you can find what you are looking for quickly and easily.
Khan Academy
From biology to calculus, you can find instructional videos on just about any subject at Khan Academy's YouTube channel.
OTHER GREAT TOOLS
Google Translate
This easy translation tool is an excellent support for language learning classes as well as being helpful when language barriers exist in the classroom or with parents.
Google Keep
Keep is a simple note-taking app, but it's more than just text-based notes. You can use it to quickly save an image, make an audio recording, or create a quick to-do list. You can tag, title, and color code your notes however you see fit. An added bonus is that you can share any note with others to easily collaborate on a to-do list, or take notes together in class or when you attend a conference.
Google Alerts
Set up alerts so that you are notified about specific topics in the news etc without having to go searching fort.
Whether you are a fan of Google or despair that Google is the ONLY search engine that students use there is no denying that Google has developed some exciting and powerful tools that support student learning.
The following list identifies some of these tools. It is by no means exhaustive, but is a great place to start. Also make sure you check out Google for Education for some excellent resources to help you engage more effectively with the Google suite of tools and Apps.
SEARCHING
Google Search
Where it all began - its search engine
Power Searching with Google
Provides a range of tutorials to help teach key features of searching for information online using the Google Search /Advanced Search tools.
Google Advanced Search
This search comes with more options, including file format, language, and reading level. You can also avoid faulty "unwanted words" to avoid search confusion. For instance, if you want students searching "Franz Ferdinand" as a historical figure, you can include "bands" or "music" in the unwanted words to avoid getting hits on the band by the same name.
A Google a Day
This game encourages efficient web researching. It is a great way to help your students research quickly and easily. Each questions identifies key features of Google search functions as well as the most efficient way to enter required information together a desired result.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.
Google Books
Google's online library lets you search by topic, title, author, subject period in time and much more. There are many free ebooks that can be downloaded also.
Public Data Explorer
The Google Public Data Explorer makes large datasets easy to explore, visualize and communicate. As the charts and maps animate over time, the changes in the world become easier to understand.
WORKSPACES (PERSONAL / COLLABORATIVE)
Google Drive
This online storage space is particularly handy for teachers when revising students' work and providing feedback. It allows you and your class to track what changes have been made, save each revision, and collaborate in real time. And it's a great organizing tool -- you can easily upload existing files to Google Drive so that everything is accessible in one place. Not only can your students create electronic Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Drawings, they can also connect other apps to Google Drive for tasks such as photo editing, video editing, and creating dynamic charts and presentations. There are many fantastic add-ons that you can use in Docs and Sheets to really amp up not only your own productivity but your students' productivity as well.
Hangouts on Air is a tool that allows you to host live broadcasts with just a webcam, a computer, and an Internet connection.
There are a lot of great uses for Hangouts on Air in the classroom. You can host guest speakers for your classroom with this tool. If you want to interview or interact with a special guest, but you can’t coordinate a visit, use Google Hangouts on Air to do so. With this tool, your entire class can interact with the person on the other side of the screen by taking turns to ask questions.
Another option for Hangouts on Air is to teach a class remotely, which makes sense if you’re collaborating with another teacher.
While Hangouts on Air is a live broadcast, you also have the option to save the file as a private (or public, if you prefer) YouTube video. This way, you can keep the record for future use.
CREATIVITY / PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
Google Docs
Google Docs is a word processing tool that you can use to create word documents. It is strikingly similar to Microsoft Word with two exceptions: Google Docs is free and it’s cloud-based. You can also use Google Docs in a collaborative assignment where a group of students work on a writing project together. Google Docs comes with a built-in chat module for real time teamwork.
Google Forms
Google Forms can be used to create quizzes and other assessments which are self grading. To set up a self-grading assessment, you’ll start by creating a new Form in Google Drive. (Navigate to New -> More -> Google Forms) Then, you’ll populate your test and create an answer key. To make it fully functional, you’ll need to install Flubaroo as an add-on. (Navigate to Add-ons -> Get add-ons…)
With Flubaroo, you can assign tests to specific student, record responses, and then send email results to both student and parent. Plus, Flubaroo is a free add-on for Google Forms.
Google Sketchup
This is a downloadable Google tools that allows you to create 3-D models from a piece of furniture to designing a room to designing a city for Google Earth. This can be useful when studying mathematical dimensions, literary settings, scientific environments and historical places.
SCIENCE
Google CS First
Goo idgle Computer Science (CS) designed for grades 4-8 (but works well for other grades, too) and gives teachers everything they need to implement a computer science club in their school. The program is flexible enough to weave it into the regular school day or create a before/after-school club. Everything is free and available on the CS First website. Students get to experience first-hand the impact of computer science across multiple real-world industries.
Google Science Fair
Google also runs its own science fair. This online competition is open to students around the globe, aged 13 to 18. Winners are awarded scholarship funding, mentorship, and an educational trip.
GEOGRAPHY AND WORLD STUDIES
Google Maps for Education
Google Maps for Education provides resources to help teachers and students explore, create, and collaborate with mapping tools. Students who are taught geography are better equipped to understand how human and physical systems interact and to make informed decisions based on that knowledge.
Google Tour Builder
Allows your students create their own interactive tours of historical sites, locations in literature, and travel guides.
Google Earth
This is especially useful in geography and social studies, but can even come in handy during history explorations. Take your students on a virtual field trip to the farthest reaches of the globe. In fact, you can use Google Earth in every major disciple, from computing math equations to understanding marine biology.
Download the desktop version of Google Earth or download the Google Earth plugin to view on the web. You can even access Google Earth through your mobile device.
Cultural Institute/Art Project/World Wonders
Explore things like world heritage sites, famous art collections, and information on significant historical events in this virutal museum.
VIDEO CHANNELS
You Tube Education
Get access to the great content offered by YouTube, but narrowed down to educational videos.
National Geographic
National Geographic's YouTube Channel is one of the best places to find science resources. There are nearly 3,000 videos.
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel uploads clips from their most popular shows including How Stuff Works.
Smithsonian Videos
From history to art & design, you can find many great videos on the Simthsonian's YouTube channel. Playlists on their channel are well organized so you can find what you are looking for quickly and easily.
Khan Academy
From biology to calculus, you can find instructional videos on just about any subject at Khan Academy's YouTube channel.
OTHER GREAT TOOLS
Google Translate
This easy translation tool is an excellent support for language learning classes as well as being helpful when language barriers exist in the classroom or with parents.
Google Keep
Keep is a simple note-taking app, but it's more than just text-based notes. You can use it to quickly save an image, make an audio recording, or create a quick to-do list. You can tag, title, and color code your notes however you see fit. An added bonus is that you can share any note with others to easily collaborate on a to-do list, or take notes together in class or when you attend a conference.
Google Alerts
Set up alerts so that you are notified about specific topics in the news etc without having to go searching fort.