Google: Going Beyond Searches and Docs

Every day I am amazed at the cool stuff created by Google. When time is taken to explore their vast resources, I could sit for hours just playing around with the new tools that I find. In March I was lucky to attend Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association's annual conference in Wisconsin Dells. Chad Kafka, Google Certified Teacher, presented a session entitled "Google-Palooza", highlighting fun ideas and tips using Google tools. While many new tricks were shared, below highlights some of my favorites:

1. It can be frustrating to find the right copyright-free image for students to use in multimedia projects.  This problem becomes easier using Google's Advanced Image Search.  At the bottom of the search screen, users can limit images to those "free to use or share."  The search results will limit students to images in the public domain.

  
2.  YouTube has a  YouTube for Teachers site that organizes educational YouTube videos by subject.  This is a nice way to search for YouTube's quality educational offerings.

3.  Google Maps has added new street views of some awesome world locations.  Browse Google's Street View Collections to visit the streets of Italy, Israel, the Amazon, and other amazing places.  Think instant virtual field trip!  You can also take a tour of the Swiss Alps and imagine yourself on the beaches of Hawaii.

4.  Finally, some Google fun.  Use Google's Font/Logo Generator to create headings in the Google style.  Visit DemoSlam to vote for your favorite video showing creative uses of Google tools.  Challenge your searching skills (and those of your kids) by going to A Google a Day to get a daily Google search assignment.