Google applications in the classroom!

The four applications I took a look at were google calendar, Picasa, knoll and igoogle. All four of these tools can be very useful in a classroom setting for both teachers and students. I loved the google calendar and I think with my major being special education this will be a great tool to use. Every student that I will work with is different and this tool can be used to make individual calendars for them that fits their needs. Then the students parents can use it as well. Igoogle can be used to pull up things that you are interested in. I thought it would be a good tool to you use if you are doing current events, or learning about the weather. Each student can pull up information and then share it to the class. Picasa is used for finding pictures, you can use this tool find as many pictures as you want and you can use them for assignments or just to have in your classroom. I think this is a great tool for art teachers because they can pull up pictures and have students interpret what is going on or try to draw how the picture makes them feel. Lastly, knoll can be used to get background information on topics. Knoll is great when you need answers fast and do not need a credible source.

Wikis!

The use of wikis are becoming more popular among society. You can do so many things such as planning trips, writing letters, planning lessons or school projects. You can even use wikis outside of school or work to do fun things such as plan that trip you are going to take and then you can write about your trip and send it to your friends and family. Using wikis at school or work can be extremley helpful and creative. You can come up with so much to do that can make learning fun! I always thought as wikipedia as a bad thing because that is what my college professors have taught me. But I think it can be useful to use but I wouldnt use it as a source for big research projects or formal papers. But if you need to look up something fast it is a great tool!