Skip to main content

Google Everything

From Google Search to Google Docs to the upcoming Google Goggles, it's pretty amazing to continually see new tools appear.....beginning from a simple, free Google email account creation.  In this blog, I'm going to share some of the tools I've recently discovered, explored as well as some that I've used for awhile and are my favorites.

  1. Google Search mobile app - I've completely replaced my mobile Safari browser with my Google Search mobile app.  The best feature I've enjoyed is "voice search." With a simple click on the microphone icon on my iPhone, I can speak into the phone for a simple search.  Even Katelyn, my 4-year old, enjoyed it.  Guess what she searched for?  "Hello Kitty" followed by "Dora the Explorer"
  2. Google Translate has most recently been a favorite tool of mine.  Having lost most of my Chinese written language, I've been able to translate some words and phrases conveniently as I communicate via email with my mom.  Pronunciation is also available with a simple click on the speaker icon.
  3. Google Handwrite mobile was a feature I thought would be great to use via the Google Search app.  Unfortunately, after further exploration, it's not available via the Google Search mobile app, but is available via the Safari browser once you  modify your settings.
  4. Google Calendar is my personal calendar tool that allows me to separate my personal calendar from my work calendar.  Via my iPhone, it's very easy to combine all my calendars once set up using the calendar setting. 
Do you have any new Google tools or favorites to share?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Geotagging

A "wouldn't it be nice" idea that's been around a while is the ability to tag a map with images that are linked to more information about the site. Kelly C suggested it as a way for students to share knowledge about a cultural/historic site or the geographic area they live in with classmates. (right, no addresses!) There are now cameras and even storage media that embed latitude and longitude into images as they are shot. But you don't need fancy new toys to do this. I tried Flickr's geotagging map and it's fun and supereasy. Want to try it? Log in to Flickr http://www.flickr.com Sign in as " techedine " password " wist101 " yea, corny. Click the " You " tab then the " Your Photostream > Map " or Organize > Your Map links. Click the Satellite link in the upper right. Cool view! (you may need Google Satellite downloaded). Images along the bottom of the screen with colored dots have already been droppe...

Avatar Chat

Aloha all, Here's my o wau topic for this week. We all know the power of the Avatar and their popularity with our learners from our A`o Makua courses and I know we have discussed ways to incorporate them into our `Ike Hawai`i classes as well. Well, I can't take credit for finding this resource. Our resident Avatar expert a.k.a. Christy told me to check it out because Avatars can now chat. So please join me in finding out what other engaging and motivating feats these amazing characters can do to help us provide meaningful learning experiences for all our students. You can read about OddCast and their AvatarSpace or go to their Web site and test out some of these features. I'm hoping that this may provide us with a motivating way to get students, in both programs, to participate in some cooperative learning and sharing. Let me know what you think and if you feel this would be a valuable application to use. Mahalo - look forward to reading your responses! Kelly

Zoho Creator

I thought I’d share this web application I came across in my quest to find a relatively simple app to help us manage our mentoring data in the DL Orientation. Our specific needs were that it be a free online database, password protected, had the capability of rapid form development without too much programming knowledge and was easy for the end user to use. The application that met these requirements was Zoho Creator ( http://www.zohocreator.com/ ) a part of a suite of online applications including word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, wikis, organizers and more. What’s great about Zoho Creator is that they have an online repository of applications already developed that you can download to your account and use for free. Initially, I tried some of these applications, but it was overkill for our needs. Zoho Creator can do a lot if you know programming and they have a pay model where it allows you more flexibility and features. I think Zoho Creator would be a useful tool for both...