Products missing @ Google for Educators
[Disclaimer: I work at Google, but not on any of the products I am mentioning below]
Google just launched “Google for Educators“. It is part of an effort on the way to more Google certified Teachers.
Google has done very few outreach projects (also known as marketing), another (barely known) one is the College Video “The New Roommate“:
Anyway, here is my list of products that should have made the list, but did not:
- Advanced “Define” Operator. This is the operator I use all the time, anything from rare diseases to metaphors . Just type define:keyword.
Why is should be on the list: You can answer any “What is ….” questions immediately. - Google Groups is an outstanding tool. Since the relaunch a few days ago, it has become much more of a collaboration tool than just an email distribution list. I do not understand how this did not make the list!
Why is should be on the list: You can create a group for your class to collaborate easily, email and discuss, upload documents, etc. - Google Answers, one of a large list of unknown Google products, is a Question and Answer site which I like a lot. For a fee, pre-qualified researchers do research for you. Now, that in itself is great, but the real power is in the repository of already researched questions. All of the answers that someone paid for to be researched are available online.
Why is should be on the list: Some 100,000 questions researched by professional researchers. Great content! - News Archive Search, also a relatively new product that allows to search Google News with date restrictions. Great for just passed current events such as the Monica Lewinski incident or the Kyoto Protocol, but the archive also covers older news such as the moon landing and the nurnberg trails.
Why is should be on the list: Especially useful for history class. Allows you to bring history to life. - Google Notebook is an incredibly useful Firefox extension. It is a little difficult to explain in a sentence, but trust me, it makes research gathering and sharing on the web a lot easier. Give it some time to understand, one you get it, you will use it all the time.
Why is should be on the list: Research any topic and cut and paste content into a new document. You can even share it with your class.p
Other products I considered for this list:
- Google Reader
- Google Toolbar (with translation and spell correction)
- Gmail