Docs

Google Docs is a free online word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation editor that allows you to create, store, share, and collaborate on documents with others. If you know how to use other word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation programs, you can easily use Google Docs. Instead of emailing files back and forth between collaborators, Google Docs allows people to work on a single version of a document together online. The chat feature on presentations makes it possible to create a “permeable classroom” by bringing experts into a lesson to interact with students online. You can also create web-based surveys to collect information from students, teachers, or parents.

 Activity Ideas:

·         Work on their files from any computer—all they need is a internet connection.

·         Get instant feedback on their work from multiple collaborators and their teacher.

·         Publish their papers and presentations on the web for an authentic audience.

·         Provide timely feedback to students at any point during the writing process.

·         Collaborate with colleagues on shared materials and assessment data.

·         Publish handouts and presentations online for students and parents.

Maps/Earth

Google Maps is a powerful, user-friendly mapping tool available on the internet and viewed in your web browser. In addition to driving directions and local business information, Google Maps also provides terrain maps, satellite imagery, and (in places) a 360 degree photographic “street view” of the real world. Using the “My Maps” feature students and teachers can also collaborate to create their own custom maps by adding new placemarkers that include text, images, and video. Custom Google Maps can be shared by copying a simple web link or embedding the map in a class website.

 Google Earth is a free, downloadable application that combines satellite imagery, maps, 3D terrain and 3D buildings to create a highly realistic virtual globe. Teachers and students can create their own virtual tours and share them with others. They can explore content developed by organizations such as NASA, Discovery Education, Jane Goodall and others. In addition, Google Earth now allows students and teachers to turn their gaze upward to explore the night sky in staggering detail.

 Activity Ideas:

·         Keep track of class pen pals

·         Take virtual tours of countries where a language they are studying is spoken. (Include planning for local transportation, site-seeing, dining and hotel reservations!)

·         Learn about animal and plant life by embedding information in maps of different habitats.

·         Plan a field trip with students.

·         Create a map of the school or school events for parents.

·         Teach history by embedding primary documents into interactive maps for students to explore.

·         Create tours of their school or community

·         Study climate change and the effects of global warming

·         Track earthquakes in real-time

·         Explore the animal kingdom and endangered species with National Geographic content

·         Teachers can use Google Earth to:

·         Set the scene for geography, history, literature, astronomy and other lessons

·         Adapt traditionally abstract lessons to the “real-world” by having students interact with virtual real-time data such as weather, earthquakes, bird migrations, etc.

·         Engage students in pro-active engagement in a wide-range of Google Outreach projects at: http://www.google.com/earth/outreach/showcase.html

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Google Search is now widely recognized as the world’s largest search engine, an easy-to-use free service that usually returns relevant results in a fraction of a second. Using Google, students and teachers are able to access a variety of information in many different languages: stock quotes, maps, news headlines, videos, images, books, and much more. Students’ curiosity is no longer bound by the limits of the school and local libraries - they can search billions of sources from around the globe.

 Activity Ideas:

·         Research class topics

·         Find pages similar to ones that are relevant to their school work. Simply click “similar pages” below a successful search result.

·         Search for images to use in multimedia projects. http://images.google.com

·         Search the web right from their mobile phones. http://sms.google.com

·         Translate web pages for English Language Learners. http://www.google.com/language_tools

·         Search for instructional materials in specific file formats including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF. http://www.google.com/advanced_search

·         Use Google’s “Safe Search” settings to restrict the search results on student computers. On the Google homepage, just click the small “Preferences” link next to the search bar.

·         Create a custom search engine to focus students’ search efforts on safe and relevant sites. http://www.google.com/coop/

 Sites

 Activity Ideas:

·         Manage a to do list for their assignments and activies.

·         Create a personal portfolio of their work.

·         Collaborate and share ideas with other students for group work and peer tutoring.

·         Teachers can use Google Sites to:

·         Create a class web page, including handouts and tutorial videos.

·         Collaborate with other teachers on department or school-wide projects.

·         Manage a international project that connects teachers and students around the world. Ask students to create pages about subjects they are interested in.

 iGoogle

iGoogle is a personalized home page that gives students and teachers at-a-glance access to key information from Google and across the web. Personalized gadgets can be added to this self-designed page, including Google News, local weather, a personal calendar, and many other time-saving tools. There are educational gadgets such as the SAT/ACT Word of the Day and powerful gadgets like Google Reader, which brings together information from many sources. Collected gadgets and tabs that are specific to a unit of study or personal interest can be shared via iGoogle, sparking class discussion and communication. Gadgets can even be added and removed as the class progresses through different subjects during the year.

 Activity Ideas:

·         Stay informed with breaking news and current events.

·         Add gadgets such as class calendars, to-do lists, encyclopedias, and dictionaries that will help them organize and complete their schoolwork.

·         Create customized tabs for assignments, activities, or personal interests

·         Teachers can use iGoogle to:

·         Keep up-to-date with blogs for their own professional development.

·         Add gadgets for planning and organizing the instructional day.

·         Develop a custom tab for access to their online professional learning network.