The Comprehensive Guide to Google's Free Tools for Educators, Teachers, amd Students

Compiled and Reviewed by Med Kharbach The editor of:

1-Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

www.educationaltech-med.blogspot.com 2- The Best of Mobile Technology www.freemobiletech.com )

Who is this guide for?

This guide is designed specifically for educators, teachers, and students. The purpose is to help them learn and discover better ways to use Google other than just searching the web. I believe the educational potential of Google is huge and we only need the right tools to leverage it .

Why this guide ?

I know several other edubloggers have already covered many of Google tools before but this is the first slideshow to have more than 20 Google services all in one place. Every single tool is accompanied by a video tutorial and a text description. I am hoping that teachers as well as students will find this presentation easy to access, share and use in their learning experience.

Any restrictions for the use of this guide?

There are no restrictions as to the use and redistribution of this presentation. Just remember that I have spent dozens of hours working and compiling every material included here and therefore I deserve to be given credit whenever you embed it somewhere else online. It is strictly forbidden to use this guide for any commercial purposes or to charge others for its use.

One Last tip

This guide has video tutorials on every Google service I have included here. Just click on any video and you will be able to watch it right here. There are also some links to other articles for further reading, make sure to check them if interested.

What is Google Play ?

Before you start exploring the Google tools included in this presentation you need first to learn about Google Play which is the latest thing released by Google Google Play is " a digital entertainment destination where you can find, enjoy and share your favourite music, movies,books,and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet." Google eBookstore, Google Music and Android market are now part of Google Play. This means that the Android market will be upgraded to the Google Play store app in the next coming days. The same goes on to your videos, books, and music apps for they will also be upgraded to Google Play Movies, Google Play Books and Google Play Music apps. Watch the following video to learn more

How to Create A Google Account

Creating a google account is your first step into the Google world. The process is very easy and once you are registered Google syncs your logging information to all its services. This means that when you are signed in to your account, you will not need to re-sign in to each of its services. The following is a video on how to create a Google account.

Click to watch the video

Gmail

Gmail is Google's free email service. It has several features that makes it ideal for both teachers and students. I refer you to the following article to learn more about what it offers to its users: Awesome Gmail Tips.. Watch the following video to learn more about Gmail.

Getting to know Gmail Settings Click to watch

2-a

How to use Gmail email basics Click to wach

2-b

How to use Gmail labels Click to watch

2-c

How to create filters in Gmail Click to watch 2-d

How to attach files to an email Click to watch 2-e

How to use Gmail Search Click to watch

2-f

Google Calendar

Google Calendar allows students and teachers to manage their events and keep them organized. This makes scheduling much easier and teachers can use it to share class calendars and give access to students to view.Watch the following video to learn more

How to create an event in Google Calendar Click to watch 3-a

Sharing your Calendar with specific people Click to watch3-b

3-c Sharing your public calendar as a web page Click to watch

3-d How to embed your calendar in your websites Click to watch

Google Docs

Google docs is a free office suite with word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, and drawing apps. Students can use it to create, upload, and download documents, PDFs, and slideshows. It also offers real time collaboration a feature that allows more than a user to work on the same document at the same time. Read This Article to learn more and watch the video

Google Docs: Spreadsheet features Click to watch

4-A

Googled Docs: How to Use Forms Click to watch

4-B

Google Docs: Using Tables Click to watch

4-C

Google Docs: Drawings Click to watch

4-D

Google Docs: Presentations Click to watch

4-E

Google Docs: Creating a Document Click to watch

4-F

Google Docs: Creating slef-graded quizes Click to watch

4-E

iGoogle

iGoogle is a customizable Google homepage. You can add several services such as Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar, Reader, Bookmarks, and many more. This is a great way for teachers and students to have a quick access to all of their information in one single interface. Read this article to learn more Watch the video to Learn more

Google Reader

Google Reader is Google RSS Feeds service. It allows users to subscribe to their favorite blogs and websites and stay updated about the newest articles. It is great for students to use to track content on their classroom blog or other websites of educational interest. Read this article for further reading. Watch the following video to learn more

Google Earth

Google Earth is a 3D interactive view of the Earth. This is a great way for students to learn geography and explore the world using 3D imaging. It also has several interesting features such as adding different layovers and information for different areas in our planet. Watch the following video to learn more

Google Earth= How to record a narrated tour Click to watch

7-A

Google Earth: How to put pictures into Google Earth placemarks Click to watch

7-B

Google Earth: How to put videos into Google Earth Placemarks Click to watch

7-C

How to mark locations in Google Earth Click to watch

7-D

How to use Google Earth Street View Click to watch

7-E

Google Sketchup

10

Google Sketchup is another free Google service. It is basically a 3D modeling software that students can use to create 3 D models of buildings,objects and many more. Watch the following video to learn more about this service.

Sketchup: Concepts Click to watch

10-A

Sketchup : Drawing Shapes Click to watch

10-B

Sketchup Modify Tools Click to watch

10-C

Sketchup Create a Chair Click to watch

10-D

Creating Sketchup Models for Google Earth Click to watch

10-F

Google Chrome

11

Google Chrome is a great browser that I recommend for teachers and students. It is fast, secure and has several awesome exstenions relevant to education. Read my artilce ' Reasons Why Educators Need to Use Chrome' to learn more . watch this video to learn more

Top ten Google Chrome Extensions Click to watch

11-a

Picasa

12

Picasa is a free photo editing software. Students and teachers can use it to edit, organize, and share their photos. It can also be used to search for all photos and graphics in your computer. School projects are way better with the help of Picasa services just keep in mind to respect copyrights of images you might be using. Watch this video to learn more about Picasa

Blogger

13

Blogger is a free blogging platform provided by Google. Blogger together with Wordpress are considered as the best blogging softwares online. Students and teachers can use it to create free blogs for their classroom where to post assignments, have discussions, post resources, reminders and many more. watch this video to learn more about Blogger

Post to Blogger from Mobile phone

13-a

One of the amazing features that Blogger offers to its users is the ability to post articles right from your phone to your Blogger account. Grab ideas whenever they come to your mind and send them to your blog on the go. Watch this video to learn more

Get A Custom Domain Name for Your Blog

13-b

When you decide that your Blogger blog deserves to have a custom domain under your classroom name for instance, you can go ahead and buy one just for 10 dollars a year. The advantage of getting a custom domain is removing blogspot from your URL, you benefit from the hosting service blogger offers for free and makes your blog look professional. Watch this video to learn how to do it.

Google Voice

14

Google Voice is a great calling software for busy educators. It gives them one phone number that can ring any phone they select.You can for instance pick just one phone to take with you and all your phones will ring into it.. Some of the other amazing features that Google voice has are: 1. Voicemail Transcription 2. SMS to Email 3. Number Porting 4. Conference Calls 5. Making Calls from Computer Watch this video to learn more about Google voice and proceed to videos about the above mentioned features.

Voice Mail Transcription Click to watch

14-a

Number Porting Click to watch

14-b

Sms to Email Click to watch

14-c

Conference Call Click to watch

14-d

Make Calls from Computer Click to watch

14-e

Google Search Tips

15

Performing a search in Google does not mean just typing in a search query and wait for the results. There are several tips that if used properly could improve your search experience way better. I have some great resources to help you discover these tips. Read the following articles: 1- Google Search Tips You Must Know 2- Series of Google Search Tutorials 3- Useful Tips on How to Use Google Search 4- 3 Effective Ways to Search The web

A Great Infographic on Google search tips click to enlarge the image 15-A

Google Search: Related Searches Tip Click to watch

15-B

Google Custom Search Click to watch

15-c

Google Books

16

Google Books is a great rich resource for educators. It provides a wealth of digitally accessible books , some are free and can be downloaded and others are paid. The interface of this website is designed in such a way that users can easily navigate , search for and find books. With Google latest update, Google books has been integrated into Google Play. Watch the video to learn more

Google Scholar

17

Google Scholar allows you to search across different disciplines and sources to look for theses, books, abstracts, articles, surveys and many more. The results are mainly submitted by academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Using this free service will make your academic researches much more easier than ever before. For further reading, check out this article Watch the following video to learn more

Google News

18

Google news is a computer generated news site that allows its users to have a free access to an aggregated directory of the latest news topics worldwide. It collects news from different sources and group similar articles together and display them according to your personalized interests. Students can use it to look for news tips to include in their classroom projects. Watch this video to learn more

Google News Badges Click to watch

18-a

Google Squared

19

Google Squared is a new experimental search tool that lets you customize your search results in a table. It basically extracts data from Web pages and presents them in search results as squares in an online spreadsheet. This can be a very good learning tool for students and teachers. Watch the following video to learn how to use it.

Google sites

20

Google Sites lets you create simple, secure group websites. Share information with a few people, a whole organization, or the entire world. Teachers can use it to create collaborative platforms for students where to share educational resources and also assignments. Watch the following video to learn more about Google Sites.

Google Alert

21

Google Alert lets you keep track of the latest publications about a topic , a celebrity , a product or any other thing .It is a free service from Google that automatically notifies users when new content from news , web , blogs,video and or discussion groups matches a set of search terms selected by the user and stored by the Google alerts service. Watch the following video to learn more

Google Groups

22

Google Groups is all about helping users connect with people, access information, and communicate effectively over email and on the web. There are some great educational groups where teachers share resources and exchange their expertise. Here is a great group that I am a member of ,check out Google for Educators Discussion Groups Watch the following video to learn more about Google Groups.

Google Takeout

23

Goolge Takeout is a service provided by Google for its users to help them back up their data and even transform it to other platforms . It also lets you download your data into your computer. You can either download all of it at once or go around selecting the services from which to download it. Google products covered by the Takeout are : Circles, Contacts, Docs, Buzz, Knol, Picasa web album, Profile, Google Voice, Google+ Stream and Google+. Watch the following video to learn more about Google Takeout

Google Voice Search

24

Google Voice Search is a newly released feature by Google. You no longer need to type in your search query but just speak it out loud and Google will do the rest. Watch the following video to learn more about Google Voice.

Google Accessibility

25

Google Accessibility has made it down to earth easy and possible for the impaired students and those with blindness, visual impairment, color deficiency, deafness or hearing loss, and limited dexterity to use its products and benefit from the features Google Lab Store provides for education. Watch the following video to learn more

Google Plus

26

Google Plus is Google social networking service that allows its users to create circles, share resources, make conversations, have video conferences,and many more. This is a great tool for teachers and students. To learn how you can use this tool with your students read this article Watch the video to Learn more about Google Video

Google Apps education

27

This is a must know resource for educators, students, and parents. It has separate sections for each category. For instance under ' for teachers' tab you can find classroom tools such class vidoes, lesson plan search, educator resources, and many more. It also features professional development tools and students resources. I highly recommend this service for you. Watch the following video to learn more

For more reviews of educational web tools visit : Educational Technology and Mobile Learning For Educational mobile apps reviews visit : The Best of Mobile Technology By Med Kharbach : Teacher, Edublogger, and researcher in MSVU department of education. Halifax, Canada.