Posts Tagged ‘google’

We have recently acquired some very cool webinar software known as Adobe Connect.  This software allows us to interact with others all across the nation…and all from the comfort of our offices.  All you will need is Adobe Flash Player software (which is already installed on more than 98% of Internet-enabled computers), but don’t worry about that right now.

Aaron and I would like to start offering monthly webinar sessions that demonstrate or describe topics that are useful to our network.  We’d like to get this party started with a webinar about GIST.  It will likely take place during the week of December 15th, but first we need to hear from you!

Thank you for your input and we look forward to collaborating with you in the future.  Further details will be posted soon.

P.S. This handy little survey was created using Google Docs. Pretty cool, huh?  You can check it out here.

Several blogs are reporting today that Google is rolling out video and voice chat in Gmail, its free web-based mail service. I don’t use Gmail myself but know lots of other people around here do–has this feature shown up in your account yet? Have you had a chance to give it a try?

My understanding is it works on both Windows and Macs, and just requires a Firefox plugin.

Google Launches Video and Voice Chat for Gmail–ReadWriteWeb

Those of you who attended our session at the last SIM Conference know we’re big fans of the Common Craft Show and the clever way Lee LeFever simplifies concepts for the masses. In the latest episode, Lee tackles a problem we’ve all had: How do you narrow search results to find exactly what you need? I won’t spoil the surprise–watch the video to learn. Even if you know these tips, watch the video anyway–it’s not too long and might give you some ideas about how to explain a concept in a different way.

Thanks to Gail Tiemann for pointing out that this new episode is available!

Okay, not really but I did have the opportunity to attend the Mid-America Association for Computers in Science (MACE) conference in Bonner Springs, Kansas. I’ve picked up a few tricks today that I want to share with you.

Morning Session: Google 24/7-Searching and Beyond
Jerry Fort - Cherry Creek High School
Greenwood Village, CO

Fort opened the presentation by handing us a list of 20 questions and dividing our room into two groups. One group could only use their noggins, each other’s noggins, or a dictionary to answer the questions. My group was allowed to answer the questions by searching in Google. Want to guess which group finished first?

Yup, it was my group. The times have changed, my friends. He then shared some very handy tips to improve the information yielded by a Google search and to ensure the information gathered is as credible as that 10 pound* dictionary they were lugging around.

*(I had to Google that)

Here are a few things that I didn’t know about Google:

1. Speaking of Asterisks (*)…they can save your sanity

When you can’t think of all the words to a song or a concept you can use an asterisk to fill in the space; it works like a wildcard. You can also use an asterisk to replace any missing information when performing a search in Google.

Example: An apple has * calories or “Its the * of the tiger…”

2. Determining Credibility

Before you send someone to a particular website, you can use Google to determine the site’s legitimacy. It is easy to assume that a website ending in .org or .edu will be a safe bet. Not these days. By typing “link:” and then the website’s name into a Google search bar you will find the creator of that website.

For example: http://www.martinlutherking.org — This sounds like a good website, right?

Wrong. A quick Google search will reveal that this website is created by a white supremacist. This will save you lot of time without sifting through the entire website and subjecting yourself to questionable content.

3. Google isn’t the only search engine available

Okay, so I already knew this but sometimes its hard to determine which ones fit your specific needs. Here’s a list of different engines and why they are worth your time:

ChaCha- you can type in a request and get answers from a real person
Ditto - find images on the web that might not show up in a Google search
Ixquick - search for international telephone numbers across the pond
Cranky - this focuses on information that is, ahem, age-relevant for people who don’t want to deal with a lot of overhead
Ask for Kids - this is the highly filtered, kid-friendly version of the original Ask Jeeves
DMOZ- For you Firefox users out there, this is their search engine and it is directory based (Yay for categories!)

Mr. Fort has created a huge list of additional search engines that he updates on a regular basis. Click here to visit his page.

Thanks Mr. Fort!

I’ll be here for two more days so check back to see what else I’ve learned, I’m always happy to share!

Do your attempts to find a needle in a haystack on Google leave you with information overload? Often, due to how Google weights certain pages’ content, you may not find what you’re really looking for until the second or third page. You can narrow these search results with a little know-how of a concept called Boolean searching.

Boolean search is based on rules of logic defined by George Boole, a 19th-century mathematician whose name you may recall from Algebra class. Boolean logic is essentially what you use when diagraming a concept with a Venn diagram–it helps you refine results based on what you know about a topic.

With a little practice it’s fairly easy to get good at using Boolean logic to find exactly what you need (or, as can be the case, finding that exactly what you need doesn’t exist online). A new tool called Boolify makes this even easier.

Boolify is a graphical tool for building boolean searches. As you build your search by specifying what it should and should not include, you get real-time Google search results. Watch as your results narrow to (hopefully) yield the exact information you need. Boolify also shows you the proper Google syntax for the search, so you can begin using these methods in your regularly-scheduled searching.

Someday, I think it would be compelling to develop Learning Strategy-style strategies for information literacy. In the meantime, give Boolify a try to help your students (and yourself) become a little more Google-savvy.

Google has, yet again, taken a bounding leap forward in the online world. Google Sites is the new collaboration playground and it is open for people of all ages. I had the chance to set up a site for some people a few days ago and it went something like this:

1. Visit Google Sites.

2. Create your log in name and password.

3. Google will send you a confirmation email … so go check your email.

4. Once you get signed into Google Sites you can see who else is using this tool and set up your site.

5. Let the collaboration begin!

Click here to watch a demonstration or here to see how other people are using Sites. I have set up a few collaborative areas on here…so if you’re nice, I’ll let you join my tester group.

I know many of you spend quite a bit of time in the air–or more appropriately, waiting in airports. You probably knew you could track flights online, but now it’s super-easy thanks to Google: Just type your airline and flight number into the Google search field (see below) for the flight’s current status. (And yes, I checked; it works on an iPhone!)

Google School: Track Your Holiday Flight with Google [Lifehacker]