One of the great things about using Google tools is that they integrate fairly well with each other. Google owns the company Blogger which is the platform that this blog is created on. You can use Google Docs to directly post to your Blogger account! To accomplish this simply log into your Google Docs account and create your post. When you are complete, select the Publish button. You will be given the option to publish to a blog. You will be given the option to select the blog you would like to publish to and once you are set-up, your post will magically appear on your blog when you are complete! You can now easily publish without ever visiting your blog page and logging in. Google Docs publish to Blog option works best with Blogger but it will also work with other blogging platforms such as WordPress. If you have Blogger account give it a try and let me know how it works for you!
In you classroom you can create a blog and allow your students to type their reflections and other classroom activities in Google Docs. You can then have them publish their work to the classroom blog and have a single place where parents can go and view the work of their child in your class. Wouldn't this be much easier than attaching twenty documents to a website? Let me know what you think!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
PBS on iTunes U
If you use iTunes to download podcast and other media content you now have another great resource at your disposal! The website iLounge is reporting that iTunes has added content from PBS to their iTunes U section of iTunes. You can download not only videos but also teacher guides from PBS. The offerings are free and are worth a look!
Why use Google Docs Video
Photo from: http://docs.google.com/
http://www.commoncraft.com/video-googledocs
Above is a link to a great video on why you should use Google Docs and not email to share and edit files. Collaboration requires everyone to "be on the same page." If you send a document via email to several collaborators to make changes to however you now have several copies of that document that need to be combined into one. Google Docs eliminates needless redundancy and creates one document that several collaborators can edit.
In a classroom environment for example, we can use this newfound collaboration to instantly update or give students feedback on documents they are working on, as they are working on them! The possibilities are endless!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A "del.icio.us" Google Bookmarks alternative!
The social bookmarking website del.icio.us is a great tool that you can use in your classroom in conjunction with search done through Google. Del.icio.us allows you to save your bookmarks for viewing anywhere on the web, but unlike Google bookmarks, you can share your bookmarks with other web users and your students. You can create categories such as Math, Science, etc, and give your students direct links to the bookmarks that you create. A great example of del.icio.us bookmarking can be found here.
To get started simply visit: http://del.icio.us/
Once you create an account you can add the browser buttons to easily tag the new sites that you find. You can then share the direct link to the websites you have tagged to your students.
If your students have del.icio.us accounts also you do not have to worry about them visiting your website. You can send links to them!
Del.icio.us is a wonderful tool to use to share interesting and academic links to teachers, students, and even parents. If you do not currently use del.icio.us its certainly worth taking a look at!
Scan Your Computer for Viruses Online
Photo from: Pics4learning.com. Photographer(Stacy Savickas)
As we use Web 2.0 tools in our classrooms, we become susceptible to viruses and other malicious items on the internet. Many of you already have a strong antivirus program. If you do not, get one now! Sometimes you forget to run the antivirus program that you have on your computer. There are online programs that you can use. Here is a handy quick tip via webware.com that you can use to scan your computer online quickly and easily.
Google Docs Offline
One the the greatest strengths of Google Docs is ironically also one of its greatest weakness. The ability to edit a document online at any computer, any time is great until you no longer have online access. Google is working to solve this problem using a tool called Google Gears. Google Gears is still in development but when complete it will allow you to view your documents in Google Docs even if there is no internet connection!
You can use Google Gears with both Internet Explorer and Firefox on a PC and Firefox on a Mac. More information about Google Gears can be found here and here.
Monday, January 28, 2008
gDocsBar for Firefox
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9859665-2.html
I found a link to this great add-on for those who use Firefox and Google Docs! You can manage your docs from a sidebar instead of an extra tab window. More information can be found at the link above.
The picture on the right is credited to Sandosh Vasudevan and taken from the website: http://www.gdocsbar.com/
If you are a Firefox user try it out and let us know what you think!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Creating Bookmarks in Google
Every have a website you love and added to your favorites in your internet browser? What happens when you are not using your computer at home and want to visit that link? You cannot! Having your favorites or bookmarks on just one computer is just not practical anymore with the different computers you can use at work and at home. Google provides a bookmarks service that allows you to save your bookmarks online and access them wherever you are, no matter what computer you are using.
Google provides its bookmark service at: http://www.google.com/bookmarks
You will need a Google Account. Once you log in you will see the following screen:
To add bookmarks to your Google account, simply follow the directions above and drag the icon to links area. You can then click on the words "Google Bookmark" and it will automatically add the page you are viewing to your Google Bookmarks online. You will get the chance to add keywords, or tags to your website to make it easier to find later.
There are other websites that allow you to save bookmarks online but if you are already using Google for all your other information it may be easier for you to store your bookmarks here also. Bookmarks on Google are for your personal use only. There is currently no way to share pages you bookmark.
If you have bookmarks already saved to your personal browser, you do not have to save them again to add them to Google Bookmarks! You can import them. More information can be found here.
Friday, January 25, 2008
FETC Google Tools Session
It was great to see all of the educators who attended our presentation
at the Florida Educators Technology Conference! The group was very
interactive! We have much more to share than what we were able to
mention at the conference and will be updating this blog to share the
information. Check back often!
Converting YouTube Videos
If you work for a school that blocks access to YouTube, one option you may have is to use some of the tools listed here. Remember to respect others copyright and if in doubt of the copyright on a video, ask permission!
Google For Educators Discussion Group
Google has a great discussion area for teacher who are using Google Apps in their classroom. You can view a lesson sharing discussion group here.
Sharing a Document in Google Docs
When you share a document in Google Docs, the document will automatically show up in the Google Docs account of the person you are sharing with! They do not have to check their email or have access to email to start editing the document. All they have to do is log into their Google Docs account and they will see the document added to their list. More information about sharing Google Docs can be found here.
A Quick Trip to the Park
Here is a quick tutorial you can use to create an appointment in Google Calendar. You can use the steps here to share any calendar items you create!
Google for Educators!
Thanks for coming to our presentation!
An Educators Guide To Google Apps for Education
An Educators Guide To Google Apps for Education
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