Beyond Googling:
Applying Google Tools to Teaching and Learning
Google is much more than a search tool. Let's go beyond the basics!
From identifying quality text, audio, video, and images resources to exploring our world with Google Earth, learn practical applications of Google Tools in teaching and learning.
Explore Google for Information, Multimedia, Collaboration, Creation, and Communication, Fun and Learning, and Teaching. Also, explore Issues.
Google is wonderful at helping you locate information on any topic. Let's use the example of fossils. Download the Arkansas Mystery Rock PowerPoint.
- Google Web Search
- Google Images
- Google Maps
- Geograpy Awareness Week - Lots of Google ideas
- My Wonderful World Project
- Google Blog Search
- Google Scholar
- Google Books
- Google News
- Google Patent Search
- Search for famous inventions (sort by date) such as VELCRO or the PUSH PIN
- Search for people you know who are inventors such as Benjamen Rathsack
Use Google to locate a wide range of multimedia resources including visuals, maps, and videos. Let's say you're doing literature circles on the topic of Civil War and students are working on the CivilWarLit wikispace. One group might be reading the book "How I Found the Strong" by Margaret McMullan set in Mississippi during the Civil War. Another group might be reading "Shiloh Attack: Battle of Shiloh" by Hama, Wagner, and Moore. Students might search for resources about the key battles (Battle of Shiloh) discussed in the book.
- Google Book Search: How I Found the Strong
- US Government Google Search
- Search for government resources from National Parks, the Library of Congress, NOAA, NASA, CDC, Military sources and more.
- Google Video
- Battle of Shiloh 140th Anniversary video
- Do a keyword search for videos
- Use title:Shiloh for a title search
- Upload your own videos for free
- Google also owns YouTube
- Search for "Smith County Mississippi"
- Search for "Battle of Shiloh"
- Explore lots of examples in the KML Gallery such as rising sea levels and City of London.
- Google Lit Trips
- Ideas: Visualize a children's book such as the location for Make Way for Ducklings, Tar beach, Grandfather's Journey, or Flotsam.
- Google Sky
- Google Mars - check out the Mars surface
- Virgle: The Adventures of Many Lifetimes (April Fool's Day page, but fun for speculation)
Google for Collaboration, Creation, & Communication
The Google Apps include a wide range of tools for collaboration, communication, and creation.
- Gmail
- Great spam filter
- Built in chat
- Use filters to manage files
- Endless space
- Google Calendar
- Google Docs/Spreadsheets/Presentations
- Idea: Post your curriculum and add resources (i.e. books, videos, websites, lesson ideas)
- Idea: Keep a spreadsheet of science data shared between two or more classes
- Idea: Share presentations across classes or schools
- Idea: Weekly Reader project with a focus on collaboration and revision
- Google Photos
- Google Reader
- Google Notebook
- Idea: Brainstorm ideas for a grant project
- Idea: Share favorite websites
- Google Groups
- Google Talk - Talk Gadget
- Orkut - social network
- iGoogle
- About iGoogle
- Create an entry point for your class for each subject area
- Add Widget to your page such as Sudoku or Weather
- Google Pages
- About Google Pages - provides directions
- Create your own web pages using their template such as http://eduscapes.googlepages.com
- Upload your own content (text, audio, video, documents) - up to 100MB
- Google: Blogger
- Google: Sites
- Special Projects
- Have some fun and help Google Images by doing Google Image Labeler
- Google Features - lots and lots of tools to try Google Labs
- Google Experimental
- Try Google Timeline
- Google Translate
- Translates google pages into other languages
- Google Finance
- Trace and chart
- Goog-411
- Google's 411 service is free and easy using any phone.
- Google Sets
- You enter five words. Google will predict other items in the set and give you links.
- Examples: enter types of pets such as dog and cat; it will come up with more
- Examples: enter language terms such as noun and verb; it will come up with more
- How could you use this to generate word lists for specific activities?
- Idea: Generate ideas for a class project of paper
- Idea: Get the "big picture" of a topic
- Idea: Identify new ideas when you have writer's block
- Idea: Look for topics, name, approaches you may have misse
- You enter five words. Google will predict other items in the set and give you links.
- Google Transit - select a transit system and plan a trip
- Ideas: Use this as a story starter
- Ideas: Use this to plan the trip, then create a spreadsheet of costs
- Ideas: Use this to plan a trip, then write about the climate, cities, customs, history, etc.
- Ideas: Use this to plan a trip, then create your own map
- Google Trends - See what people are searching; About Trends;
- Enter a word and see how often it is searched
- See the 100 fastest-rising search queries (Why do you think they are popular?)
- Google Educators
- Contests
- Doodle 4 Google - Design a logo
- Google Highly Open Participation - Coding contests
Some schools have issues with using Google. What are your issues? Filtering, passwords, supervision, skills, time, focus, activities.... ?
- Google's SafeSearch Filter - Go to Google Preferences (to the right of the search box)
- Use strict filtering (Filter both explicit text and explicit images)
- Use moderate filtering (Filter explicit images only - default behavior)
- Do not filter my search result
Know the issues. Demonstrate quality examples. Take a stand.