This week we have been going over the multiple tools google has to offer. As a middle school and then high school student, I was primarily familiar with Google's slides, docs, and forms app. I would use these often for presentations and assignments. Much of my grad was planned through google form submissions. Outside of the classroom I, much like many students my age, would find my own house on Google Earth and other places I'll likely never see in real life. My favourite tool has always been google docs. Its easy to use and has all the same tools Word has with a more streamlined format for beginning writers. Its a great tool in the classroom as well because of its simplicity. Little did I know, Google has much more to offer.
Throughout our lesson in Google, we went over quite a few apps and tools google has to offer. Some apps that stood out to me were Google Arts and Culture, Google Draw, and Google lens.
Google Arts and Culture can introduce students to a world of art and history. Students have the ability to visit art, history, and science museums without the need for a field trip permission form.
They also include minigames that teach students about other cultures, historic works of art, and musical theory. One of its many minigames include icons with historical sites on them. If you click on the site, it pulls up an AI powered chat bot that students can interact with and ask questions.
Google arts and culture has a place in any unit and makes and excellent learning tool with its easy access and interactivity. This page on google will show more information on uses for the classroom: https://artsandculture.google.com/project/learn
Google Draw is another versatile tool that can be used in any grade and subject. We used it to recreate our own images using the sketch and draw tools. This tool would be great for science fair prep in creating diagrams and charts. Or in art class to plan projects. It was a very fun tool to use once we got the hang of it. One suggestion I have is to use the shapes tool for more complex images. Blocking out the shapes made it way easier to plan out my image.
Here is my own example: The story behind it is that my friend rescued a pigeon and we had to take him to a greenhouse so he could get better. He did! And flew away two days later.
Using Google Draw is difficult in the beginning but once you get started and familiarize yourself with the tools, it gets easier. Here is a link for some tips and tricks to using Google Draw! https://sites.google.com/isd423.org/draw/tips-and-tricks
Last but not least, Google Lens. This isn't an app, more like an addition to the Google search bar. This tool is best used through the smart phone Google app. Google Lens is convenient for searches that are hard to describe or find. For example, if you need to find a specific type of animal, simply taking a picture of the animal will allow Google to analyze the image and provide information needed. I think this would be a great addition to a lesson on plant life and photosynthesis. One activity could be have students take their devices if possible, and go out into the field or nearest green space and identify plants based on the image along using Google lens. Its a simple tool, but highly effective when you don't have the right words.
Google has over 250 tools that can be used both in and out of the classroom. Each are very effective and nearly all can be used in a variety of activities and subjects. The top three I listed, I highly recommend!
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