Everything Google Just as the title of this section implies, you can do almost everything on the Internet and beyond using Google. It is not even necessary to use Google Chrome as your browser to be able to use almost all of the special Google apps and features. As a teacher, you will surely find many of the Google apps useful in the classroom setting. As a busy person, there are lots of other cool features you are sure to enjoy. We will include a few of those in this section as well. Creating a Google Account To make the most of Google s many apps and features, you need to create a Google account. Go to https://accounts.google.com/signup and complete the short form. Your Google account allows you to save search preferences, such as Instant Results and SafeSearch, which will be discussed shortly. You will also be able to use important features such as Gmail (Google s e-mail service) and Google Drive (Google s storage service). While you are able to use Google without creating an account, you will not be able to take advantage of the best that Google has to offer. Creating a Google Account automatically generates a Gmail address for you. If you would like to use this e-mail address, select the Continue to Gmail button after creating your account. Follow the setup instructions on the page to learn more about Gmail and make the most of its many features. Google Search Engine Google as an excellent choice for a search engine has already been discussed. Hopefully you have taken the time to try each of the search engines to determine which you prefer. Even if you prefer a different search engine, you can still use other useful features of Google. There are a couple of special search features in Google that were not addressed in the previous section. Since this section focuses only on Google, they are presented now. These features may help you narrow your searches, which is always helpful! Instant Results: As you enter your search terms in your browser, Google immediately begins returning results. You may find that Google shows you the results you need before you ve even finished typing! This feature is enabled by default.
Advanced Search: Google offers an advanced search feature that allows you to narrow your search results and find even more relevant information. You may have noticed that performing a basic search returns a large number of results. Try it now by searching for the term sandy in Google. This search yields over 400 million search results and gives you everything from the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting of 2012 to the city of Sandy in Utah. Perhaps you were looking specifically for information regarding 2012 s Hurricane Sandy s damages. This is where Google s advanced search feature comes in handy. Now, go to http://www.google.com/advanced_search. In the search box labeled this exact word or phrase, type in hurricane sandy. You should use this box only when searching for a very precise word or phrase as it limits your search results to only your keywords when listed together. In the search box labeled all these words, type in damages. This box should be used to determine the order of your results. Lastly, type hook elementary in the search box labeled none of these words. This excludes pages that contain these terms. Now, click the Advanced Search button at the bottom right-hand side of the page. By using the advanced search, the results are now narrowed down from over 300 million results to under ten million; filtering out about 98% of the search results. I m Feeling Lucky: Short on time? Want to quickly see the web page Google finds most relevant to your search term? Use the I m Feeling Lucky button! This button leads you automatically to the top search result for your search terms. While the Instant Results feature has made I m Feeling Lucky less useful, it still has advantages for users with slower Internet connections. In order to use I m Feeling Lucky, you must first disable Instant Results. Start by clicking the Settings button and selecting Search settings.
Under the options for Google Instant predictions, select Never show Instant results, and click the Save button at the bottom of the page. Now you are free to use the feature. Test it out by typing apple and clicking the I m Feeling Lucky button. Google automatically brings you to http://www.apple.com without showing you a list of search results. This button can shave valuable time if you are confident the page you re looking for is the top search result. If the I m Feeling Lucky button is clicked without any search terms, Google sends you to an interesting page that is selected at random. SafeSearch Filter: Google has a safe search filter which can be very helpful in the classroom. Likely, your district has a firewall that protects against students accidentally getting to a website that is inappropriate. However, if your district does not have such a filter or you just wish to be on the safe side, you can set specific safe search guidelines. To use this feature, click Settings and then select Search settings. At the top, check the box next to Turn on SafeSearch. Click Lock SafeSearch if you wish to have SafeSearch on permanently, no matter who is using the computer.
Custom Image Search: You can narrow your image/graphics search results just like you can with regular searches. This is very helpful when you or your students are looking for a specific graphic for a presentation or paper. To use this option, go to http://images.google.com/. Type in the search term. Once you see the results, click Settings and then Advanced Search. You can specify the size of image, type of image, if you want only black and white or color, as well as enter words to help narrow the search and more. Moreover, you can change the usage rights option at the bottom to search for only images that are free to use, share, and/or modify. Below is a screen shot of the advanced image search options.
Books: If you want to search for books to use in your classroom, you can use Google Books. This way, your search is limited only to books. Access the Google books search engine by going to go directly to the site at http://books.google.com/books or by clicking the More button at the top right side (if you are logged into your Gmail account) and scrolling down to Books. Scholarly Material: When students conduct searches for a research project, it can be tough to work through the volumes of links and find those that are actually research based to use in a paper. For purposes of writing research papers, students may find it more useful to use Google Scholar which can be found at http://scholar.google.com/. Google Scholar also has an advanced search option which can really help in narrowing results. To access the Advanced Search for Google Scholar, go to the aforementioned link and type in a search term. Then, click the down arrow on the right side of the search box. The advanced search options appear as seen below.
Maps: To the extent you need a map to help you get from one place to another, or that students need maps to include in a project or assignment, Google is there to help! Go to https://maps.google.com/. Type in an address you wish to find. A map appears showing you the location of that address. If you click on Directions, you can enter any address as the starting point and then receive complete driving directions. If the location is nearby and you want some exercise, you can click on the graphic of a person walking on the top left side of the screen, which gives you the best walking directions to the destination. Craving pizza? Type in your address and then select Nearby. Type in pizza to receive a list of pizza places close to the address you entered. News: Google News offers an easy way to search for information about current events. Go to https://news.google.com/ and enter your search to see relevant news articles. Click on the Personalize button on the right-hand side of the page to display articles that are most important to you. Other Cool Search Stuff Below is a list of a few more cool things you can do in Google to get very specific information. Simply type the information into the Google search box for the desired results. Time: Want to know the time anywhere in the world? Type in time followed by the city name. Dictionary: Need to define a word? Type in define: followed by the word. Math: Computing grades and need to know what 30% of 75 is? Type in 30% of 75. Weather: Need to know what the weather will be like? Type weather and the city name and state. Unit Conversion: Need to convert inches into feet? Type 476 inches in feet. Money Conversion: Quickly convert US dollars into any other currency. Type in 100 USD in Euro. Hopefully you will share the tips you have learned with your students so that everyone in your classroom can conduct productive searches on the Internet.
Connecting with Other Teachers Let s face it. Teaching can be an isolating job. You are alone in your classroom with students most of the day. There is not much opportunity for interaction with colleagues and peers. Many teachers have turned to online options for connecting with teachers. You can find others who teach in your area or expand your horizons and find out how other teachers are doing things in classrooms around the country. Or, if you have a particular interest, such as children s literature, you can go online to find groups that share this same interest. Google has a specific search engine called Google Groups that locates discussion groups based on your particular interests. To navigate to Google Groups, go to https://groups.google.com. You can search a topic of interest to you and find others who share that interest. If you can t find a group you like, how about starting one of your own? At the top of the Google Groups page, click on the Create Group button. If you are signed into your Google account, you can start your own group and even define the users who will be allowed access. The screen shot below shows you the options available.
Organizing Your Pictures Google Photos allows you to upload, sort, edit, organize, and share photos. Use this link to try it out https://photos.google.com/. You may wish to use this app to help students organize their pictures for projects or you may use it to help you organize all those many family photos currently stored in random places on your computer. To add photos, Click Upload at the top of the screen and select photos stored on your computer. Google allows you to store up to 15 GB of photos for free, with options allowing you to store even more. Google Photos is extremely easy to use, even for younger students. A great project for early primary students is creating their own letter books using pictures they save into their Google Photos albums. You can create albums for each student, and within the album they can have folders for each letter. Take a look at the lesson idea below from Computer Activities Through the Year provided courtesy of Teacher Created Resources. Click here for more information about Computer Activities Through the Year or to order the resource for your personal library.
A copy of the picture letter book activity can be found in the Course Guides folder.
Google Calendar Teachers are very busy people. Not only do you have your classroom responsibilities and the little things that come up during the course of a day or week (assemblies, field trips, etc.) but you also have the administrative tasks such as grade level meetings, faculty meetings, training schedules, etc. And, of course, there is that personal life thing too! Google has a calendar function that can be very useful for keeping track of what is going on in your classroom life and personal life. You must have a Google account to use this option. If you have already set up your account, then go to http://calendar.google.com to get started or simply select the Calendar option from the menu. If you like to keep your work and personal lives separate, you can actually set up two different calendars in Google. Another nice feature is the ability to share your calendar. Imagine that you have a separate calendar for dates specifically related to your grade level. You are the grade-level chairperson this year and have to coordinate with three other teachers at your grade level. You can keep dates in your grade-level calendar and make this a shared calendar that all other teachers at your grade level have access to and can see. Google Drive Google Drive allows you to save files and folders as well as access them from any computer connected to the Internet. It also offers a basic set of online programs to edit your files. To use Google Drive you need to sign in to your Google account. Then, choose Drive from the main menu.
From within Google Drive, you can create Google Docs (word processing documents similar wo Microsoft Word docs), Google Sheets (spreadsheet creator similar to Microsoft excel), and Google Slides ) presentation creator similar to PowerPoint). To get started, select the New button on the left side of the page, then select an option from the list based on your needs. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. These apps are extremely convenient because you can view a document in Google Drive from
any computer by signing into your Google account or from the Google Drive app from your smartphone, ipad, or tablet. Google Sites Not at all surprising, Google has a great option for creating a free classroom website at https://sites.google.com/. You need to be signed into your Google account to use this app. Specific instructions for creating a website using Google Sites are provided in the section Creating a Class Website. Google Translate Google Translate can be used to translate over 70 different languages. You can access Google Translate by going to www.google.com. At the top right, click on the Apps icon and then click Translate. Or, visit https://translate.google.com/. To use Translate, simply select the desired language to translate to using the Spanish, English, or Arabic buttons. If you prefer another language, click the down-arrow button to select from a wide range of options. Then, type a word in the box on the left and the translation will be provided in the box on the right. Definitions and word variations will also be provided for you below the word. Probably the most useful feature of Google Translate for teachers is its ability to translate documents. From the main Google Translate page, click on translate a document.
You are prompted to choose a file from your computer. Select the file from your computer that you wish to have translated and then click the blue Translate button on the right. Consider how easy it will be to translate your classroom documents to any language for your students and their parents. Ask Google You have learned about the basics of many Google tools that will help you both in and out of the classroom. This is really the tip of the iceberg. Take a look at Google s full list of products here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/. Then, consider which tools you think will be most helpful to you based on the introductions provided in this section of the course.
If you re interested in learning about all of the educational possibilities that Google has to offer, you may be pleased to know that PDI offers a course on using Google in the classroom. The course contains detailed information about Google products that are most useful to classroom teachers. Moreover, the course provides comprehensible explanations on how to use each tool. To learn more about the course Google as a Classroom Tool for Learning, go to http:///flex/google.html.