Google Tour builder is a tool created by google that allows the user to create a "tour" of places they have visited. A teacher could even use the tour builder as a way to enhance a topic that would benefit the students' understanding with a visual representation of geographical locations. Tour Builder was originally created to give veterans a way to record the places they went throughout their service. And fortunately everyone can now take advantage of this awesome tool!
If you're interested in creating your own tour click here! Check out the tutorial below if you need some more help.
Google Earth is a wonderful tool that allows the user to view the world from a more virtual perspective. You can also interact with google earth. One of the tools I love from Google Earth is called the Tour Guide. When you choose a location to check out you can open the Tour Guide feature and a list of pictures of popular monuments or places from that location will pop up. If you click on one of the pictures it will take you on a tour of it automatically! Pretty cool, huh?
Another tool that blew me away was the moon view tool. You can actually take a tour of the moon! I mean that is awesome! When you're checking out the moon you can see different artifacts that were left by humans.
If you are interested in downloading Google Earth click here!
The tutorial below will give you some more information if you need a little help figuring this tool out!
I definitely enjoyed Google Earth more because it was more of a fun way to play around with the tool. I have not done near as much as I could possibly do with Google Earth, but I will be using it more in my classroom to give my students tours of different monuments in the country. I think that Google Tour Builder is perfect for introducing a new topic or giving a presentation about yourself in a unique way. However, Google Earth is a more interactive tool that students could manipulate themselves.
Like I have covered in previous posts, Google has it all, and you can't even begin to take advantage of all that it offers to the user. I feel like I am always learning something new when it comes to Google! This week I played around with some really awesome tools that I wasn't familiar with. Below I will be covering some favorites of mine and providing you with some tutorials you can view! I consider myself fairly independent when it comes to technology, and by that I mean I have to watch a step-by-step video to help me.....ha ha. Which is why I'm always providing the video as an option to help you create a more comfortable relationship with Google!
The Tools:
1. Google Scholar-This tool is perfect for any high school, college, or graduate student. If you've ever had to write a paper and are in need of resources that are considered "legitimate", instead of wasting your time, just go to google scholar! It's also SUPER easy to get to! I included directions below:
Go to your google browser.
Type in google scholar, which will take you to the site.
Click on google scholar and type in whatever you are in search of!
You're welcome.
2. Google+ Hangouts-I am a total newbie when it comes to this tool, but it definitely took me back to my AIM days! Before my parents were FINALLY convinced that I needed a cell phone, my only form of communication outside of our family landline (seriously lame) was AIM. It was a communication tool used to talk to friends before texting was invented (for all of you born in the late 90s/early 00s). Well, Google+ Hangouts is the resurrection of AIM, but better. You can actually talk to ten people in the same chat room and even watch Youtube videos! The video tutorial below will give you the details if you're interested. Make sure to check it out!
3. Google Body-Another tool I had no clue existed! My husband is in medical school, so once I discovered this I obviously had to tell him about it. Well, he informed me that this is old news and he's known about it awhile. THANKS FOR SHARING HUBBY! I don't want you to feel as pathetically lonely as I did in that moment so I'm going to share it with you. It is a detailed 3D model of a human body, which could potentially become inappropriate fun for teenage boys. However, a wonderful tool that an anatomy teacher or future physician to take advantage of. The tutorial below might help you out a bit......ENJOY!
4. Google Books-This tool is wonderful for teachers and I've talked about this in a previous post, but I LOVE IT! If you are ever looking for a book that will help you teach a specific topic or unit and don't even know where to begin.....use Google Books. You can type in specific words or topics and it will search books that you might be interested in. An awesome feature of this tool is preview. You can actually preview books your interested in and then buy or rent them. If you want to check this out click here!
I hope I've rocked your world with some more Google knowledge!
Google Drive is one FANTASTIC feature of using Google Chrome as your browser. It seems a little scary at first because of all the possibilities Google Drive provides you with, but like anything great in technology all it takes is a little playing around.
I have actually used Google Drive for previous graduate classes because it makes life easier when presenting with a group. Something you may not have known.......if you have a group presentation to do you can actually all work on it through Google Drive without ever having to see each other. Using Google Drive for group presentations has been the main feature of the drive that I have used, however I've recently played around with the drive more and I'm thrilled with the other features it provides.
Google Drive Features:
You can create a document, presentation, spreadsheet, form, or drawing on Google Drive under the Create button. All of which can be shared between others that also have a gmail account! The options are endless when it comes to Google Drive, so I have included some tutorials below to help you understand the different features more. Good luck and enjoy!
Can you tell I love this guy? He makes things so easy!!!!
If Google could get any cooler it would be the most popular girl (or boy) in seventh grade! And just like that IT DOES.....You can actually customize your own search engine on Google. As a teacher, administrator, or even parent this is B. I. G. for your kiddos and your sanity.
How does this look in the classroom? Well, a teacher that might want her/his students researching information on animals (we do an animal research project in first grade) would customize their search engine to appropriate websites that their students could easily navigate for completing research tasks. These specific websites could pertain to those students that are completing enrichment projects or papers on their own or for upper grade research opportunities.
Any customized search engine will be a compiled list of websites for that specific search engine. So if a student was looking up information on lions their results will come only from the sites I have decided I wanted them to use for their search. Basically I will have compiled websites that are student friendly and related to animals. Sounds amazing, right? All you need is to have a google account. Check out the tutorial below for more help setting up your customized search engine.
Once you begin the process of building your customized search engine you can even go a step further and invite colleagues to partake in the fun! Eventually your search engine could be student centered and used throughout your grade level, building, or district.
I included my customized search engine below that will be used for the animal research project my firsties will be completing. Feel free to take it for a ride!
Typically I type in www.google.com and then whatever I'm looking for that day, or more appropriately that hour because Google has been the answer to all random, weird, or important questions/sources/pictures I've looked for over the past years. The saying "Think smarter not harder" was what I thought I was doing by quickly typing in what I wanted at that moment and awaiting the plethora of resources that would be at my fingertips. However, I failed to take a serious look around the my google browser or even look up tips for refining my searches to make life a little easier. Have you ever taken advantage of the other features Google provides you for better search results? If you're like me then NO because you didn't know and you didn't want to take the time to find out. I mean whose got time for that? Ha. Ha. There are many advantages to using Google as your browser (which I covered in my last post Google Chrome Browser) and searching for information is just another reason to consider Google Chrome as your number one. Well, below I've summed up and dumbed down my top five basic and favorite Google search tools you can start taking advantage of! Check out the features below and start refining your searches on Google today.
The Big Five
1. File Type- Raise your hand if you have done a paper or project at the last minute? Everyone! Okay Perfect! When you're searching for information on Google and you want a certain file like Powerpoint or excel you simply need to type in your topic, then filetype, colon, and then it's abbreviation. For example, if you want a powerpoint on classroom management you would type this into the search bar (omnibar):
classroom management filetype:ppt
TA DA! You'll have scoured the web for all Powerpoint resources on classroom management by using this simple little trick. The video below gives more of an overview of this tool.
2. Specific Source Search- Along the same lines as the previous search trick this tip allows you to get more SPECIFIC with your search results. Most of the time when you are in need of some seriously reliable information for school or classroom assistance you might look for the EDU at the end of that resource. I know I do because it's legit! Well, instead of just typing in your topic and praying you get lucky with some reliable sources towards the top of your search, you can just ask for it! For example, if you are looking for information on sea lions and you want to focus on educational resources you will type this into the search bar (omnibar):
sea lions:edu
And there you go! Sources that are from educational websites will fill your results. You can do the same for government or org based sources as well. The video below provides more information, and please ignore the strange woman on the intro. Enjoy!
3. Reading Level- This awesome trick truly amazed me! If you're having your kiddos do some research, and you want them to be able to actually read the results, you can search for information that is on their reading level. All you have to do is follow the easy steps below:
Go to your Google browser
Click on the options button and then scroll down to advanced search
Scroll down to reading level and select Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced
Click submit and the results will list the sources on that reading level
Mind=Blown. I hope some teacher's life out there in cyberspace just got a little bit easier! Watch below if you're confused.
4. Google News- If you need help researching a topic in the news that you want more information on from today and from history Google makes news searching easy. This tool would definitely benefit upper level student research or enrichment projects. Check out the steps below:
Type your topic into the search bar (omnibar)
After you search, click on the News tab under the omnibar
Click on the Search Tools box, then any time, and finally custom range.
Input the dates you want to specifically search to tighten up those results!
Click Go and you'll have news related information, on the topic of choice, within a time frame you want!
5. The Perfect Book- Primary teachers are ALWAYS looking for a book we can read that relates to a new topic we're teaching! This trick helps you find and preview potential books that can be used for a topic you're teaching. If you're interested in trying this out, follow the steps below:
Type in your topic in the omnibar.
Click on search tools and then any books
Select preview available, so that you can check the book out and decide whether it's what you're looking for
And BOOM! You got yourself a book. Check out the video below for more information or go to Google Books to try it out right now!
There are my top five! Spread the love and add more that you know below.......
.png)
