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Showing posts with label Google+. Show all posts

Google on Your iPad or iPhone or iTouch...

If you love Google and you have an iPad there are several must have apps that you’ll love! What is important to know is that you don’t want to just go to Google in your browser.  Go to the App Store and download the actual apps.  

Start by searching “Google” and download the apps you see which will likely include
  • Google
  • Google Gmail
  • Google Translate
  • Google Books
  • Google Earth
  • Google Currents
Once you have the apps downloaded, go to Google and notice some cool features including a very accurate voice search, a icon that takes you to all your Google apps, and Google Googles. Googles is cool. It is a visual search that let's you search by taking a picture of something i.e. a book, a painting, a monument, etc. Watch this video to learn more. Note: To see the cool screen I have in the shot below, you may need to tap the word "Google" on your device.

When you tap "Applications" you'll see a screen like the one below which has a listing of all your Google Apps.

A few more Google Apps


Below are some of the other Google Apps you'll see. There are more, but I'd suggest starting with these. You might also want to name a folder "Google" and put all the Google apps in that folder.


Google Earth - Hold the world in the palm of your hand. With Google Earth you can fly to far corners of the planet with just the swipe of a finger. Explore the same global satellite and aerial imagery available in the desktop version of Google Earth, including high-resolution imagery for over half of the world's population and a third of the world's land mass. 


Google Books - The Google Books app offers access to over 3 million Google eBooks on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or whatever device you choose! Take your favorite books with you on the go. Shop in your browser at the Google eBookstore, and read in your app.

Google Translate - Translate words and phrases between more than 60 languages using Google Translate for iOS. You can speak your phrases and hear the corresponding translations. This is AMAZING for travel abroad, or communicating with students or parents who don't speak English.

Gmail - With the Gmail app, you can:  Receive notification badges for new messages. Read your mail with threaded conversations. Organize your mail by archiving, labeling, starring, deleting, and reporting spam.  Keep track of important messages with priority inbox. Auto-complete contact names as you type. Send and receive attachments. Search through all your mail

Google Currents - Google Currents delivers beautiful magazine-like editions to your tablet and smartphone for high speed offline reading. 


These are the Google Apps I use everyday and my top recommendations for Google on your iPad or iPhone or iTouch.  If you're ready for more, you can choose from dozens available at this link.
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For more ideas about effective ways to use mobile devices for learning, including research-based strategies, lessons, and more order Teaching Generation Text. 
You have read this article Google / Google Apps / Google for Educators / Google in Education with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2012/02/google-on-your-ipad-or-iphone-or-itouch.html. Thanks!

Getting Googley in NYC


My staff and I incorporate Google into our daily practice because Google contains wonderful tools that are not only unmatched by competitors, they're actually FREE! It seems word is out. As a result, my staff and I are thrilled to have been invited to present at the Google offices in Manhattan to share how and why the schools we are connected with are getting Googley.


Check out this presentation below to see for yourself.

We'll also be leading a breakout session to discuss how and why schools are using Google Chrome and Chromebooks. You can see what we'll be discussing at this link:

http://oetmanhattan.wikispaces.com/Google+PD

As part of the breakout session, participants will be checking out the Chrome Education Webstore to discover and share an App they might find useful for learning.

They'll share via the Google Presentation below.
 

If you're not using Google to support learning, the ideas shared here from others may very well inspire you.  Are you (or do you plan to be) using Google in these ways or others?  If so, please share your experience.
You have read this article Google / Google App Marketplace / Google Chrome / Google Chrome Extensions / Google Chrome Netbook / Google for Educators / Google in Education with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2012/02/getting-googley-in-nyc.html. Thanks!

Losing My Faith in Google+ and Google Chromebook

Guest post by @GDhuyvetter | Cross posted at Work With Hope - Courageous Education in Frightening Times


As with most disillusionments, this one came on slowly, starting with irritations, growing to disappointment, and blossoming in questioning. Finally, I couldn’t deny it any more, and I said out loud (via Twitter) what I had not yet completely admitted to myself.
“I don’t know if I believe in Google any more.”
Let me clarify. I have loved many Google products. No matter where this googlagnosticism goes, I will still use many Google apps and recommend them to others. Google search is like oxygen for cyber travel (I can’t believe that I used such a lame expression). Google docs is a million times simpler than Sharepoint, and probably the best collaboration tool. I also have always liked Google’s ability to provide free tools for educators, businesses and others.
But two products in particular have shaken my confidence and made me question my love affair, and both have to do with dependability.
1) Google+
I was excited by the release of Google+. I saw in this filterable social sharing tool the answers to Facebook’s weaknesses. The ability to create and broadcast to specific circles is genius, and I saw great possibilities for creating discussion groups with colleagues, or even possibly between teachers and students. Lots of little details, like the ability to edit posts and the ability to create longer posts made me think that this was truly a Facebook killer. I encouraged all my friends to leave Facebook and start using Google+. It was a revolution, a Googlepocalipse.
But what happened? 
I notice now that weeks go by when I don’t open Google+, and longer than that without posting anything. This experience is shared by the few friends who have come over. Somehow Facebook and Twitter continue to be a more satisfying and useful experience. 
Google put out this exciting new platform, but they haven’t put the time or money into making the case to the general public as to why they should use it. Likewise, Google is yet to make an application that makes Google+ fully functional on the iPad. Interestingly, there is now a Verizon commercial showing how to use circles with the Samsung Nexus, but there isn’t any reference to Google+ (if that is what this commercial is showing). 
I am somewhat apologetic to the people I invited over and feel like my credibility has been lessened by this whole experience. Google+ may survive (in a recent development, Google is finding a new and annoying way to integrate your search results with your Google+ account), but there is a perception at least in my circle that this one more WAVE or BUZZ…a great idea going nowhere.
2) Google Chromebook
And what about the Chromebook? A little more than a year ago, in the midst of the netbook craze, Google announced that it was building a lightweight operating system designed to work solely as a web interface. This new chrome operating system would reside on notebook computers called netbooks. By embracing the cloud for all operating functions, the new device was going to be lighter, faster, and with better battery life.
And what happened? First, lots of time passed. Google itself seemed uncertain how the Chrome OS fit in with Android development, and certainly couldn’t make this case to the casual user. Chromebooks are now being released, but the silence behind this release is deafening. No public campaign, no splashy release to schools, no advertising in the mainstream press. So it appears that Google has released a device that solves yesterday’s problems in a form factor that no one wants.
Out of touch?
In general, I have this nagging suspicion that Google no longer has its finger on the pulse of users and doesn’t know how to explain itself to them. When a great product like Google+ dies on the vine, and a product like the Chromebook arrives with a thud, you can’t help but to be wary of jumping on the Google bandwagon so quickly.
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Superintendent of Catholic schools in OrangeCounty, CA. Reluctant iPad convert 

You have read this article Google / Google + / Google Chrome Netbook / Google for Educators / Google in Education with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2012/02/losing-my-faith-in-google-and-google.html. Thanks!

The Innovative Educator’s Five Fave Ways to Create a Global Communication Center with Google

Whether you’re a classroom teacher or home educating family, you and the young people around you can collaborate with and connect to the world using Google tools. I’ve used numerous Google tools to connect to help myself and others connect to the world.  I love using tools like Docs, Hangout, Goggles, Translate, Earth and more!

To learn more, watch this video overview and share with others who are interested in using Google’s free tools to connect with the world.  Then read about my fave five with a description of how to use each.

1 - Google Docs
I love creating Google docs with others who share my passions and interests.  I simply begin by creating a doc, spreadsheet, form, drawing, or presentation and then I reach out to others who are interested in the topic via Twitter and Facebook. Before I know it, people from around the Globe are working together to create a unique resource that is useful to all who share our interest.  Below is a description of each type of Google doc. 
  • Docs - Create and share documents on the web and access them from any internet enabled device. The familiar desktop feel makes collaborative editing easy.
  • Presentations - All the tools you need to create beautiful presentations, combined with the sharing and collaborative editing features only offered on the web.
  • Spreadsheets - Create and share spreadsheets online. Google spreadsheets makes it easy to track budgets, run financial calculations, track data and more.
  • Drawings - Work together to create drawings and diagrams in Google Docs and insert them into your documents, spreadsheets, presentations and web pages.
  • Forms - Collect information by creating a form in Google Docs. All the great features you expect from a form creation tool with none of the upgrade costs. It's free.
2 - Google Hangout
Whether you’re home in your pajamas, in the classroom, or out and about, Google video hangouts let you bring up to 9 people together from around the world directly to you. You can act out a play, do a musical jam, or be the star performer to up to 9 other sites in the world. It’s the next best thing to everyone being there and you don’t have to deal with commuting or airport security.  Here are some resources via Larry Ferlazzo that may be helpful for those looking to hangout.
3 - Google Translate
Google Translate allows us to finally be able to communicate with others even if we don’t speak the same language via text or spoken word.  This can be a terrific tool to use when Skyping with other young people. Simply talk in your language and Google Translate will translate your speech to text and speak in the language you choose.  This is also a great tool if you are connecting with another class or student who has a blog or website. Google translate lets you read that site in your native language. Another way I LOVE using Google translate is to find out about historical events through the perspective of those who speak another language. How did the French capture the French revolution or how did those whose native tongue is Spanish record the Spanish Inquisition? Wikipedia is a great tool to look up historical facts. Newspapers are ideal for current events. To follow are three ways to use Google Translate.
4 - Google Goggles
You can find out about anything in the world with Google Goggles.  Goggles lets you snap a photo of what you see to find more information about products, landmarks or famous paintings, and even solve Sudoku puzzles. Imagine taking a fieldtrip where you can use Google Goggles to give you more information about what you are seeing. Imagine going to a museum and using Goggles to learn more about the artwork in front of you.

5 - Google Earth
There are a number of ways to go globetrotting right from your laptop with Google Earth.  Below are some of my favorites.
·        Showcase
From discovering shipwrecks in the ocean to zooming into 3D cities around the world, you can explore an expansive library of tours, videos, and imagery that have been created by Google Earth and supporting partners.
·         Classroom Resources
Google Earth can help you bring a world of information alive for your students. It can be used with all grade levels, and the possibilities are endless with your imagination! Students can use Google Earth to explore topics like the progress of human civilization, the growth of cities, the impact of civilization on the natural environment, and the impact of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Teachers can use Google Earth demos to get their students excited about geography beyond the static map, or use different Google Earth layers to study transportation, demographics, economics, and in specific local or exotic contexts.
·         Google Lit Trips
Google Lit Trips are free downloadable files that mark the journeys of characters from famous literature on the surface of Google Earth. At each location along the journey there are placemarks with pop-up windows containing a variety of resources including relevant media, thought provoking discussion starters, and links to supplementary information about “real world” references made in that particular portion of the story. 
·         Heroes of Google Earth
Google Earth heroes salutes these individuals and shares these wonderful stories in the hopes that they will inspire even more initiatives to help make the world a better place. 

These are my five fave tools, but there's a whole lot more.  You can check them out here and when you do I hope you'll come up with some more great ideas for creating a Global Communication Center with Google. 
You have read this article Google / Google Chrome / Google Earth / Google for Educators / google hangout / Google in Education / Google+ with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2012/02/the-innovative-educators-five-fave-ways.html. Thanks!

What Does Google+ Mean for Education

I became a Google+ user this week and I like it.  From what I can tell it lets you do pretty much everything Facebook lets you do with some bonuses including being able to edit your status updates and comments and that you can select who the feed goes to via the circle(s) in which you share your updates.  The circles I'm using are colleagues, co-workers, GTA, friends, family, volleyball.  The status updates still don't have a feature which I really want:  nesting of comments.  Is that really so hard???  It does let you tag people in your status which I find useful.

Another cool feature is hanging out.  This lets you connect with up to ten people via audio, video, and chat and from my experience it works rather seamlessly.  It also has a YouTube video share which I think will be powerful as a teaching and learning tool.  While as an educator, my initial thought was only ten people?  My next thought was, the reality is that it is difficult to have meaningful discussions with more than ten people.  The rule of ten might in fact result in much more interesting and effective learning.  For instance:

  • What if students were empowered to lead hang out discussions and if necessary the teacher could move from discussion to discussion.  
  • What if the teacher set discussions with groups of students as it made sense.
  • This could be great for meetings of educators who are not from the same school.  Think librarian hangouts, science teacher hangouts, etc.
  • This is a nice tool that could be more efficient for staff who are located in different districts.  Rather than spend time commuting, just set up a hang out.

Here is what I like, love, a great tip, and what surprised me about Google+

Top 3 things I like.
1-You can edit your posts
2-You can hit return without the comment posting itself
3-You can still tag people

Top 3 things I love
1-You can select who sees your message. I REALLY like this as I know my friends are annoyed by my work chatter.
2-Hangouts are really cool. They're so easy. I didn't need to install or do anything, though I believe this is because I use the Google Suite. If you don't, you may need to install some plug ins.
3-Creating circles. I don't know why but this seems so much better than creating groups in Facebook.

Great tip
Shorten your Google+ page url at http://gplus.to
This allows you to change the url for your Google+ page
to be something like this: http://gplus.to/InnovativeEdu
instead of this: https://plus.google.com/116727180683288878674

Surprise
One thing I wasn't looking forward to is re-establishing my personal learning network on Google+. I was surprised that this wasn't a problem. Within a few days it seems I already have all my Facebook work friends in Google+.  Rebuilding those I connect with was very easy and the circles are so nice because as people are added I quickly and easily dropped them in the right circle. Facebook let you just accept friendship without grouping people so there was no good way to connect with certain groups because I hardly grouped anyone.  The instant circles feature has allowed me to instantly group all and those I spoke with most on Facebook and Twitter are right there with me and in the right group :-)

That's as far as I've gotten so far with Google+, but if you want to learn more here are some suggestions :-)

1) Check out the Google+ Guide that is being created by hundreds of Google users, using Google docs.  How Google Coolgle is that??? Imagine what kids could do if we allowed them to use social networks to connect with others and make guides about things they cared about???

2) Eric Curts, who I was fortunate enough to have join my first hang out, shared with me a whole blog post he wrote about his ideas for Google+ for schools which you can read here.  If you're a Google Apps school, you'll love his App User Group which connects and assists schools in the use of Google Apps for education.  His post was also mentioned on the Read Write Web blog in their article, "Is This the Social Tool Schools Have Been Waiting For? by @audreywatters . Check it out.

3) Click this link for information about why it's great for folks who create graphic novels / comics.

4) Visit Larry Ferlazzo's round up of Google+ resources here.

5) Check out this Google collaborative doc that shares Ways to Use Google+ in Education.  Consider adding your own ideas too!

6) View "What G+ is really about (pst!!! it's not social") -- +Vincent Wong Believe it? Go here http://bit.ly/qfHKZQ and see his G+ photo album that argues the case. (Just click the first photo then use the arrows to see the rest.)

7) Google+ Shortcut Cheat Sheet

8) The GPlus Info: How GPlus Can Become The Social Network For Education by Rich Kiker

Unlike Google Wave which I waved goodbye to well before it disappeared and Google Buzz which I felt wasn't worth the buzz, I think Google+ has a place in social media arena.  Facebook, watch out. There's a new kid in town and I think he might become more popular than you.
You have read this article Google / Google + / Google Apps / Google Certified Teacher / Google for Educators / Google in Education / Google+ with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-does-google-mean-for-education.html. Thanks!

Google's Chromebook Plan Could Be the Answer to Updating Outdated Schools

It wasn't the device that excited me when I wrote Move Over iPad! Google Chrome Notebooks are Going to Be the Game Changer in Education. Instead it was the the way in which they were selling it to schools. The reality that I've witnessed as I've watched and supported one-to-one laptop rollouts in schools is that in many cases there are issues with internet access and device repair.  Unless devices can be counted on to work all the time and instantly replaced if they don't, hopes for such programs often dissipate quickly. 

If done right, the rumored plan could solve some major problems with how we use technology for learning in schools including:
1) Internet access at school
2) Internet access at home
3) Equipment repair and replacement
4) Imaging and reimaging
5) A way to purchase more devices with yearly school funding allocations
6) Students won't lose their work


This is because they are talking about selling schools subscriptions to their devices that includes instant replacement when necessary and 3G access on each device.  The plan isn't perfect, but it's changing the paradigm which is exactly what is necessary if we truly want to update outdated schools.

To better understand what the device had to offer, I turned to Steve Kinney on Twitter who shared his review of the device here and here as well as a follow-up that explained more about the 3G plan. Here are highlights.
Purchase Plan
  • Consumers:  The price is expected to be on par with other notebook/netbook devices going for between $350 and $500 out front. 
  • School Enterprise:  Google will rent you a Chromebook for roughly $28-$31 per month for businesses, but is expected to charge about $20 per month for schools when signing on for a three-year commitment. That totals to about $720 over the course of the contract and you have no laptop to your name at the end of it. Depending on how you budget shakes out and how much you’re currently paying for a support infrastructure, that may or may not make fiscal sense for a school or district.

3G Access Plan
The 3G-equipped Chromebooks come with 100MB of mobile internet provided by Verizon Wireless for about $3 more per month according to Engadget.100MB isn’t a lot and certainly isn’t enough to allow you to get rid of your wireless network, but it’s not bad either for $3 a month. 

What 100MB Could Get You
Kinney advises that 100MB is pretty meager, but has some ideas around how this could be beneficial. 
  • With 3G-access, you could take a dozen Chromebooks with you on a field trip and create interactive and collaborative activities for your students. You’d have plenty of data for occasional visits to the school garden.
  • It might serve as a leveler for students without Internet access at home. 
  • It could fill in at wired schools when there are connectivity issues.
Device Imaging
There is little to no setup and no loading on an image with all of the necessary software and settings baked in. Connect it to wifi, log in with your Google account and you’re back in action. Kinney notes this is a tremendous advantage as with high-end computers, a colossal amount of time can be wasted wiping out hard drives and reloading images from external hard drives.

Never Losing Your Work
Because these devices are cloud based, you never have to hear stories of work being lost or as Kinney explains, “but I saved my work on that computer and now Sally is using it.” As long as you’re logged in with your Google account, you’re ready to rock and roll on any device.

For lots of other insights and details, check out Steve's original posts here, here, and here. 
You have read this article Google / Google for Educators / Google in Education with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/06/google-chromebook-plan-could-be-answer.html. Thanks!

Google Tools to Support Blooms Revised Taxonomy

In his latest book, "Teaching Digital Natives. Partnering for Real Learning," Marc Prensky discusses 21st education in terms of verbs (skills) and nouns (tools).  Kathy Schrock does an excellent job of bringing this to life in her Google Tools to Support Bloom's Taxonomy.

Click the graphic below to see her clickable image map that enables you to click on any tool to visit it. 
You have read this article Google / Google Apps / Google for Educators / Google in Education / marc prensky with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-tools-to-support-blooms-revised.html. Thanks!

Empower Students to Bridge the Home-School Connection by Teaching Parents Tech

Google has a fun way for students to connect with parents with their Tech Support Care package that enables students to teach parents how to do the following:
This is a fun idea that in part answers for parents, "What'd my child do in school today?"

The idea could also be taken to a whole new level with the class creating their own videos in areas of interest for others to learn from like Eric Marcos student's do with Mathcasting.
You have read this article Google / Google for Educators / Google in Education / parent involvement with the title Google+. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/01/empower-students-to-bridge-home-school.html. Thanks!
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