Google Secrets - Even More Google Goodness

There are many resources connected to Google that can support collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity outside of Google Drive and Google Search. 

Here are a more than a few of our favorites and we've included additional resources in the interactive document below. 

• Google Keep - Hang on to every thought and find it right when you need it.
• Be Internet Awesome - To make the most of the Internet, kids need to be prepared to make smart decisions. Be Internet Awesome teaches kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence.
• Google Poly - Explore the world of 3D and download 3D objects or convert them to animated GIFS.
• Made With Code | Google CS First - Google projects created to inspire and support coding for students and in classrooms. 
• Google Expeditions | Google VR - Take students on immersive, virtual journeys. Field trips to virtually anywhere.
• Google Earth for Chrome - With the new Earth, we want to open up different lenses for you to see the world and learn a bit about how it all fits together. 
• Smarty Pins - Google Maps based geography and trivia game. Supports geography, history, and search skills.
• Google My Maps - Create and share custom maps. Mark locations with images, video, and descriptions. 
• Google Arts & Culture - Brings together millions of artifacts with the stories that bring them to life, in a virtual museum.
• Google Products - Explore a comprehensive list of Google products designed to help you work and play.
• Slides Carnival - Explore free presentation templates and focus on communicating your ideas.
• Google Trends | Google Visual Trends - Find out what's trending on Google right now. Search trends connected to current events.
• Fun Facts - Type “fun facts” in Google Search or the Chrome Omnibox and you get to learn something new. 
• A Google a day - An online Google Search Puzzle Game that supports search and research skills. 
• Tour Builder - Show places visited and the connected experiences along the way using Google Earth.
• Google News - Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, aggregated from sources all over the world.
• Chrome Experiments - Showroom of web browser based experiments, interactive programs, and artistic projects.Showroom of web browser based experiments, interactive programs, and artistic projects. 
• AI Experiments - Showcase for simple experiments that let anyone play with artificial intelligence and machine learning in hands-on ways, through pictures, drawings, language, music, and more.
• HyperDocs - Interactive digital workflow solutions that connect the 4 Cs to student-centered learning. 

Explore more in our Google Secrets Professional Development Interactive

What are your favorite Google Tools that we've missed?

The 4Cs and Google Apps for Education

Over the year's I've always looked to improve the way I teach and my students learn. Google Apps for Education has changed how I teach and how my students learn more than any other resource or idea. 

A few years ago I agreed to pilot Google Drive after spending years using Microsoft Office and Smart Technologies to support teaching and learning. Google was only a search tool that helped me find lessons and my students research ideas. My students collaborated on a variety of in-class activities, but we rarely collaborated using digital tools. My classroom was very teacher-centered. We focused on content first and foremost. The skills of collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity were an afterthought. 

I won't tell you that I started using Google Drive and I immediately became a different teacher. I was probably a full year before I fully engaged in Google Drive.
The shift to Google Apps for Education also brought a change in my teaching. My classroom has become more student-centered. We focus on using the content to teach essential skills.

Today the activities in my classroom start with the 4 Cs (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity). Google Apps for Education provides me with a great set of tools to support these skills in a learner-centered classroom. 

Since I shifted my classroom to be more learner-centered, my own learning has shifted to a great reliance on my personal learning network. I've learned a great deal about Google Apps for Education and a student-centered classroom and I am always driven to learning more. 

I learn the most by sharing, so here are a few resources that we've found or created to support learning in a student-centered classroom using Google Apps for Education: 

• Recharge Learning - GAFE Resources