Blog Archives
Getting Google calendar working for you
Image via CrunchBase
The interface of Google Calendar is similar to desktop calendar applications such as Microsoft Outlook. Events are stored online; consequently, the calendar can be viewed from any location that has Internet access. The video below gives you an introduction to Google calendar, following by links to some of the more advance features available through Google calendar
Google Forms -use in the classroom
Collect RSVPs, run a survey, or quickly create a team roster with a simple online form. Then check out the results, neatly organized in a Google spreadsheet.
The screencast below gives an introduction to Google Forms
There are numerous applications for Google forms in the classroom. Tom Barrett used Google docs to collate information from a diverse group of teachers on how they use Google forms in the classroom
A brief guide to ScreenR.com – the web based screencasting tool
ScreenR is a web based screencasting tool that makes it very easy to create and share screencasts
You must have an account to record and publish a screencast but you can sign into an account through Facebook, Twitter, Google, Windows Live or LinkedIn. Alternatively you can just create a “ScreenR” account
This video gives you a very quick overview of screenR
with a more comprehensive walk through available in the video at the bottom of this post
The good points
- It’s free
- it’s easy to use
- it’s web based so its accessible from everywhere with the internet
- you can download your video or export it to youtube
The bad points
- you are limited to five minutes
- zooming in and out during recording is not possible
Some examples using screenR
- How to create a mathcast with a tablet, MS OneNote and Screenr (2mins)
http://www.screenr.com/4AA created using Screenr and a tablet
- Compound Interest Example (3mins)
http://elearn.itcarlow.ie/FM/CEx1/player.html created using Screenr, a tablet and Articulate Studio
Related articles
- 3 Screen Capture Software Options: From Free to Not So Free (professorjosh.wordpress.com)
- 8 Free Screencasting Tools For Making Video Tutorials (smashingapps.com)
- YouTube Settings Teachers and Students Need to Know About (kylepace.wordpress.com)
Using the “advanced search” in Google
Google is an amazing search tool and within seconds can find exactly what you are looking for. But we have all been there, searching for hours on Google and NOT finding what we wanted. This simple tutorial shows you, through a few simple clicks , how you can optimise your time on Google.
Hopefully it proves useful
Blogger – Googles Blogging platform
Blogger (same as Blogspot) is Google’s own blogging tool. Easy to use, comes in many languages and very competent. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com
Google have created a strong set of support resoruces associated with Blogger: http://bit.ly/H4Ydkk however below is my playlist of useful youtube videos to help you get started
Blogger has the following limitations on content storage and bandwidth, per user account*:
- Number of blogs = Unlimited
- Size of pages = Individual pages (the main page of a blog or archive pages) are limited to 1 MB
- Number of labels = 2,000 unique labels per blog, 20 unique labels per post
- Number of pictures (hyperlinked from user’s Picasa Web Album) = Up to 1 GB of free storage
- Size of pictures = If posted via Blogger Mobile, limited 250 KB per picture; posted pictures are scaled to 800px[14]
- Team members (those that can write to a blog) = 100
- Stand-Alone Page = Limited to 20 stand-alone pages
* Retrieved from Google support – http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=42348
Google for schools
Despite being less than twenty years old, the company Google has made a huge impact in the developed world today. There are 31 billion searches on Google every month. In 2006 there was only 2.7 billion. The growth of Google in short space of time has been phenomenal. Though very few people realize the other benefits of Google beyond an apparently simple search through the internet.
This post is the first in a series of posts collating of useful tips on using Google in the classroom.
Google Docs
Google Docs is a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, form, and data storage service offered by Google. It allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with other users.
Documents can be saved to a user’s local computer in a variety of formats including: (ODF, HTML, PDF, RTF, Text, Microsoft Word). Documents are automatically saved to Google’s servers to prevent data loss, and a revision history is automatically kept. Documents can be tagged and archived for organizational purposes. The service is officially supported on recent versions of the Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome browsers running on Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, and Linux operating systems. Documents can be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users at the same time.
To find out more about Google docs have a look at the two links on YouTube:
Technology Enhanced Learning 