Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Blog Post #12

I have to start by saying: I LOVE GOOGLE, so that my make me slightly biased in creating this assignment. Not only do I have an Andriod phone, but Google services pretty much get me through my day, even before EDM 310. I think that a good blog post would be a more in depth look at Google. This is an assignment that I would give at the beginning of the semester so that students can begin to truly grasp the diversity of resources that Google has to offer. Here's my assignment:

I want you to dive deep into the world of Google. Google is much more than just a search engine. It is an expansive collection of services that we will be learning about and using in EDM 310. Google offers tools that can help you bring technology to life in your classroom. Begin by reading these posts:

Services You Had No Idea Google Offered and Free Technology for Teachers.

For your post, choose three Google services you've found that will help you to incorporate technology into your future classroom. Write a minimum of 3 paragraphs on the services you've found and what you've learned about Google through your research for this post.

Kissing computer with Google on

My example:
Through my research I have found so many Google tools that are useful in my everyday life. What I deem as the most beneficial tool would have to be Google calendar. I use Google calendar for everything! I have several different types of calendars that I view and share. This feature allows me to easily view by school and work schedules separately or together. I'm also able to share schedules with my husband and co-workers so that they will have up to date information instantly to their computers and smartphones. It really does keep me organized and make my life easier. Google calendar will help me in my classroom by giving my students planned schedules that they and their parents can easily view.
Another feature I frequently use would be Google talk. Google talk allows me to communicate easily with friends and group members from my phone or a computer. It is another free service offered, so I'm not charged a texting fee. I think this will be a good tool for the classroom because it will allow me to stay available to my students or their parents.
Lastly, I love Google Earth. I've seen Google Earth before this class but I'd never really spent time using it before. Google Earth will be so easy to teach students how to use. It opens doors and allows you to look at places that were never available to me growing up. Instead of telling students about the world, you can show them. I think it's amazing that all these services are free. My future students will definitely know what Google is and be using it daily.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Erin,

    Good assignment! I think that this would be a great post for the students in EDM310 to start on. I really am a fan of Google's tools; I think right now my favorite tool is Google Voice. It really did help me in my literature class when we had to do a group presentation. I didn't want all of my members to have my real cell number, so I gave them my Google Voice Number.

    Also for this blog post assignment, you needed to actually do the assignment that you suggested.

    Stephen Akins

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  2. Hi Erin,

    I think you have certainly come up with an original idea here. I definitely love all of the uses for Google. But, usually I am just using it to browse. I think this would be a great tool for our classmates to use, and get to know Google in ways we did not know existed. Again, I commend you on a great idea and I am exploring Google on a much different level now.

    Kenny

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