After attending today's 'Ohio Goes Google' conference (#ohiogoesgoogle), any doubts one might have had about the usefulness or ability to implement Google into K-12 education should be subdued! Despite our lack of useful Wi-Fi access within the conference (ironic for a 21st Century Skills type conference!), the sessions and networking opportunities have certainly given many of us useful ideas, wonderful links, and fantastic insight that can be instantly taken back to our schools and implemented for increasing student achievement.
Obviously, I am a Google user (Googler?)... I maintain multiple Blogger blogs, cram Google Docs down the throats of my staff, and upload ALL of my pictures to Picassa. In fact, I also use You Tube, Calendar, Reader, Gmail, and Maps, and I have a Droid powered by the Google Android Market. What don't I do with Google? Very little. As I said about a year ago (to a small circle of people!), Google is taking over the world. If you don't believe me, imagine one hour without Google...
But what does Google mean to education? For most of us, this is a game changer... there are so many ways to be innovative and to engage learners in (and out of) the classroom using the Google Tools.
Here are a couple of resources shared with me today... check them out:
- bit.ly/hby9jO
- goo.gl/eQmom
- goo.gl/u5LHD
- visit http://www.ohiogoesgoogle.org/ for more
What's the next step? For me, its all about passing this information on to my teachers. Beyond the many ways I discovered today for sharing and collaborating, I also host 'Tech Tuesday' to share ideas with others -- every Tuesday we discuss a different tech tool that can be used in the classroom. We also share and collaborate on a staff blog and through Google docs.
Please share your thoughts on Google, ways you spread the word, or links you took away from the Ohio Goes Google conference.
