School CIO. eSchool News. Multimedia & Internet@Schools Magazine. In my last column, I wrote about how to keep up in today’s fast-moving world of technology. As part of my preparation, I posted a survey seeking ideas about how to stay current. One suggestion that was repeatedly offered was to “keep a kid around.” In other words, if you want to learn about technology, just ask a Digital Native—someone who has grown up with computers and the internet. I agree that we can absolutely learn from our students, children, and even grandchildren.
It is a terrible mistake to be afraid to admit to youngsters that they might know something that you do not and, thereby, avoid technology out of fear of showing your lack of understanding. At the same time, though, I think that adults need to be careful not to attribute more expertise and understanding to youngsters than is justified. As I started working on this column, the first question I asked myself was, “How much do kids really know about technology?” Here are some examples of what I mean: So What Should Be Done? Free 33 Page Guide - Google for Te. Google offers some wonderful tools for teachers, but I've learned over the last couple of weeks that while teachers are aware of many of Google's offerings like search, docs, and maps many teachers aren't aware of how to use these tools or what these tools offer beyond the obvious.
Therefore, I sat down yesterday and started putting together this guide to using Google search, docs, books, news, and maps in the classroom. This guide avoids some of the obvious things, like using Google Docs for collaborative writing, and instead focuses on some of the lesser-used Google tools options like publishing an online quiz using Google Docs. In all there are 33 pages containing 21 ideas and how to instructions for creating Google Maps placemarks, directions creating and publishing a quiz with Google Docs forms, directions for embedding books into your blog, and visual aids for accessing other Google tools.
Update: In July 2010 I released a companion to this guide titled Google for Teachers II.