While attending the GaETC conference in November, 2007, I met many new friends. The one I found most helpful was a spider aka as a googlebot. Thanks to Google, a lot of research in a variety of areas has been accomplished by these spiders, and what is even better, they are constantly at work each and every day working for you and me providing updated web pages and all related links. Mr. Patrick Crispen delivered this information in a clear and informative manner most appropriate for educators.
Google has made information very accessible for individuals in a variety of professions and callings. For educators, it is especially advantageous and beneficial.
All disciplines require some amount of research and Google provides several applicable tools that teachers and students alike can use in and out of the classroom. A few of these sites are discussed below.
The site books.google.com allows one to research over one million books in order to find what the book contains and where to find the book. If a book is out of copyright, you can view any page in the book and download it as a free PDF file. Snippet views of books are also available. This is like a card catalogue system which shows a few sentences to display your search term in context.
Mr. Crispen also introduced attendees to scholar.google.com. which is especially beneficial to teachers who are working on higher degrees, looking for scholarly information, such as, abstracts, articles, professional societies and academic publishers.
News.google.com provides and excellent source for research. Students can gain access to news articles related to their topic of interest dating back 200 years from all over the world. This allows the student to view the topic from a personal and time related aspect.
Taking notes on index cards has always been an organized way to keep your notes. On Google.com/notebook, you can create your own internet research cards. At any time you may view, edit or add notes to your notebook. For those students who lack organizational skills, this could prove to be a most helpful tool
. Q and A, calculator and dictionary are quick ways to a storehouse of information. Just type in your question, equation or keyword to be defined and your search is complete in seconds.
Many Google tools require Google accounts which are easily obtainable, including a method to create a set of classroom e-mails. Once this is done, you are on your way to importing and exporting power points, spreadsheets or creating your own web page.
As a true technology nerd, as I learned I am labeled, I found this presentation to be most helpful. I know to keep searching on Google for updates that are being introduced everyday. What a great resource! I plan to improve technology skills in the classroom for me and my students by using Google at least on a weekly basis.
