5 Reasons Google Drive is Great!

I learned about Google Drive in 2008 when my college advisor and I started our Collegiate DECA chapter.  At first, I was irritated...why did I have to create something 'in the cloud' when email worked just fine?  The more he had us use it as an officer team, the more I fell in love.  Fast forward a couple years and it's one of my favorite Google tools.

Here are some of my favorite things!

• Accessibility
  Google has, in my opinion, done a great job of making Google Drive and its file types accessible to many people on different platforms.  We are a 1:1 iPad district that uses PC computers...this presents many problems when students do work on iPads and forget to convert to PDF or Word when submitting them.  With Google Drive, I don't have to worry about that type of thing!  Students (and teachers) can also share documents and collaborate!
   
• Apps
  The apps for Apple, Android, and Windows are great, too!  I have been on a field trip with my iPad and I needed to jot down a few notes.  I was able to do it offline and then the document uploaded to my Drive when I was able to get Internet connection.  One thing I wish they would update, is that you need an individual app for everything - a Docs app, a Sheets app, etc. 
   
• Organization  
  I love the ability to create folders and organize my documents.  When I look at a student drive on our desktops, I typically twitch because they haven't exactly mastered the concept of file organization - they are getting there...less files named alskjfi...but there is still room for improvement!  With Google Drive, you can create tons of files and change the file color - I think it makes organization much prettier.

• History & Customization
  Another nice feature is the ability to see a change history - similar to the revision history in the documents, you can see things that have happened over time. You can also adjust general settings and manage applications for your own Google Drive from the settings tab.  These features are great for the basic Google Drive user, as well as someone who wants a little more control.

 

However, my absolute favorite thing about Google Drive is...

• FREENESS!
  All of it is free!  I have never paid a dime for my Google Drive account...now I'm sure if I need to increase storage (I have 17GB) at some point, I will have to shell out some dimes, but not right now!  I work in a district that is 75% low income.  While students have access to Microsoft One Drive, they will lose it once they graduate.  With Google Drive, students will have it until they close their account.  I encourage my students to create Google accounts so they can save the things they are proud of - like a resume - and be able to access it anywhere. 

Here are some more great features of Google Drive.  What are your favorite Google Drive features? 

6 Google Tools for Teachers

Google and Google Chrome are some of my favorite things on the Internet.  I mean, Google has become it's own verb.

My love for Google has lead me to create a list of some of the things I love the most...

1. Define ___________
As you can see above, if you type define and a word, Google gives you the definition nearly instantly!  This is one of the tips that I teach my kiddos when they are struggling with the definition of something.

2. Google the Spellchecker
I'll be one of the first to admit...sometimes spelling is hard.  Monday mornings and Friday afternoons being some of the most difficult times in a week to spell.  If you type a word into Google and spell it wrong, it gives you the correct spelling and runs a search with the correct spelling.

3. Quick and Easy Timer
When I trying to pace things or use transitions in my classroom, I use the Google timer.  I open a new tab, type "10 Minute Timer," and hit enter.  The timer automatically starts!  Its a great tool for me because I can help students and not worry about watching the clock.

4. Google Calculator
I'm not a math teacher, so I don't require calculators in my classroom.  However, when we do our business math unit, I need them!  One quick and easy tool is to use the Google Calculator.  Students will also use the installed Windows calculator or their phones, but this is a quick option.  Google will also do math problems that you type in the search bar.  Try it!

5. Google Translate
My school is very diverse and some of my parents have limited English skills.  If I'm aware of this, I will try to send communications home in their native language (most often is Spanish for me).  Google Translate is a great way to translate brief messages!  I will caution you that this is more formal Spanish and doesn't really consider dialects, but it can get the point across.  I will typically have a student who is bilingual read through it and let me know if I have the general gist of the message.  It also has a speaking function so you can hear what it should sound like.

6. Specific Search
This weekend, I was creating a PowerPoint presentation about banking and was looking for YouTube videos showing students how to fill out deposit slips, record transactions in a checkbook, etc.  I could type my search parameters in Google and add the word YouTube to see only results from YouTube.  This is a great shortcut for me!

These six tips barely scratch the surface of all the things Google can do.  Here are 17 Google hacks (I've mentioned some, but there are others!) you can use. 

What are some of your favorite Google search tips?

Google's Custom Search Engine

Next to "stop touching each other," one of the most used phrases in my classroom is "Google it!"  As much as I love Google - and I remember using it before it was a verb - it can be somewhat of a challenging space for students.  With over 100,000,000 gigabytes of information in Google's search index, information overload can be a real thing!  (If you want to learn how Google finds all the websites, check out this video)

Google Custom Search Engine (Google CSE) allows for users to create search engines that only search selected sites.  As a teacher, this is a valuable tool for many different areas of education.

This semester, I am trying something new - each week, students are responsible for completing a current event.  They are asked to find a news article, summarize the article, explain why that article interested them, and tell me how it could be tied to business.  Things went pretty smoothly the first week, but I noticed students were spending a lot of time sifting through search results.

When I heard about Google CSE, I decided that I would create a search engine for my students to use when searching for their current event article.

It is very, very easy to create a custom search engine - in fact, I was able to do it while watching football!  If you're a visual learner, like me, here is a video.  I had the video on one side and snapped my CSE window to the other side and just followed along.

I selected a wide variety of websites, including news and sports, because I let my student pick a news article that interests them.  In addition to websites, you can also search by the top-level domain (.edu, .gov, .com).

 

You can add and remove websites and top-level domains in quickly, as well as customizing the results format and theme.  Another feature that I like is the ability to use speech input.  Speech-to-text is one of the many accommodations that I make for students in my classroom.  Users can also choose to enable image search, too!

This seems like a very valuable tool that teachers (and parents!) can use to make the Internet a more navigable place.  To test my search engine, type your search parameters below: