Google+Apps+in+Education



Google Apps are very useful classroom resources. All are free and provide exciting and engaging ways for students to learn.

[|Google Docs] are documents that can be viewed and edited by multiple people. They are great tools to use when collaborating with a group without the opportunity to meet in person. All group members can work on the document simultaneously and view what the other group members are doing instantly. Slide shows, spread sheets, and regular text documents can all be created using Google Docs. Teachers can introduce students to this application by allowing partners next to each other or on the other side of the room to work on a collaborative document. It is also great for schools in rural communities where getting together outside of school may be hard due to the distances students have to travel.

[|Google Earth] allows viewers to see real views of streets, buildings, countries, the ocean, and the moon. It is even possible to view the weather in particular region. Viewers can simulate walking down a street, or get an aerial view of a city by looking at recent pictures taken by Google. When used with Google Maps students can search directions from one place to another and view the journey on Google Earth for a real experience. They can see what the cities look like and what the weather is at the starting point and how everything changes by the time they reach their destination. Some students will also be able to find their house using Google Earth. This is a very real way for students to learn geography.

The app my group focused on was [|iGoogle]. iGoogle is a great tool to use as a homepage, especially for students. Many different links can be added to the page, such as [|Dictionary.com], [|CNN.com], and [|YouTube.com]. This feature makes iGoogle a great resource for research. Other features such as email, weather, and "interesting facts" can be added to the page as well. All of these features are easily accessed once students log in to their personalized iGoggle accounts. It is especially good for young students because they do not have to type into the address bar to look at different websites, once they are loaded onto iGoogle students can simply click on the box and they are brought directly to the page. Click [|here] to view my iGoogle page.