100+ Google Tricks That Will Save You Time in School – Eternal Code [via onlinecolleges.net] With classes, homework, and projects–not to mention your social life–time is truly at a premium for you, so why not latch onto the wide world that Google has to offer? From super-effective search tricks to Google hacks specifically for education to tricks and tips for using Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, these tricks will surely save you some precious time. Search Tricks These search tricks can save you time when researching online for your next project or just to find out what time it is across the world, so start using these right away. Convert units. Google Specifically for Education From Google Scholar that returns only results from scholarly literature to learning more about computer science, these Google items will help you at school. Google Scholar. Google Docs Google Docs is a great replacement for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, so learn how to use this product even more efficiently. Use premade templates. Gmail Use the Tasks as a to-do list.
Why Google Plus Hangouts is the Killer App: Docs Google Plus got a bunch of new features today, many of them involving Hangouts, the video chat feature. This is not the only social network with video chat in town, but Hangouts always had some stand-out features. First of all, they can be public, so anyone can see one in their stream and join in, which is a very honest interpretation of the word "social." They also support two-way chat for up to 10 people, which can be chaotic, but often in a fun way. Today's update brought Hangouts to mobile devices, and it added "On Air" mode to allow users to broadcast to the public (once On Air opens to everyone, that is). Making Stuff Together With screensharing and a shared sketchpad, and especially with Docs, Google Plus is now a platform for making stuff together, face-to-face. Plus for the Enterprise? So, does that mean enterprise collaboration suites like Citrix or WebEx are in danger? Would you use Google Plus Hangouts for work?
Ten Search Tools and Tactics Teachers and Students Need to Know I often find myself in conversations with teachers and students about Internet search strategies. Often times the conversation reminds me that what's obvious to me is amazing to someone else. Last week I had that very experience as I taught a couple of teachers some search techniques that they are going to pass along to their students. As a follow-up to that experience, I've crafted the following list of search tools and tactics that every teacher and student should know. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Sweet Search is a search engine that searches only the sites that have been reviewed and approved by a team of librarians, teachers, and research experts. Wolfram Alpha is billed as a computational search engine and this is exactly what it does. Twurdy is search tool that automatically displays the readability of your search results for you. Twurdy with Pop - searches using Twurdy's most complex algorithm which includes looking up the popularity of words within the text. 10.
Managing Google+ Circles : 7 Essential Tips One of Google+’s main advantages is privacy management by way of organizing your friends into different circles. While this makes perfect sense, this idea isn’t as intuitive as you might think because of the years of Facebook and Twitter habits ingrained in us. As it is a new concept, some people feel circles are cumbersome and tedious to manage – but it doesn’t need to be that way. Not at least, if you follow these essential tips: 1. Unlike facebook and just like twitter, you don’t have to approve people who want to connect with you on Google+ . So the rule of thumb, if you don’t want to listen to this person’s stream, you probably shouldn’t add them to any circle at all – not even your acquaintance circle. This greatly lessens the burden of managing circles, and dramatically cuts down on the noise you get in your stream. 2. People you know probably come from different groups. So basically here’s an example of how I would do it (This of course is a recommendation, not a rule of thumb) 3.
Use Gmail, Docs, Google Calendar Offline With the Chrome App Last week Google launched the Offline Google Mail Chrome App. The app which is available for free in the Chrome Web Store will allow you to read and respond to messages in Gmail even if you don't have an Internet connection. When you get to a place where you do have an Internet connection your messages will be sent. Items in your Google Docs and Google Calendar accounts can also be viewed offline now. Applications for Education When I read about the new Google Mail Chrome App I immediately thought of my students who spend close to an hour on a school bus each morning and afternoon. 10 ways to use Google+ in the classroom | The Theatre Professor Circles Obviously you are going to want to create a circle for your class and guide them through making a circle for the class as well. But as cool as that is, it doesn’t stop there. Photos/Video Because photos and videos are dropped into albums, privacy settings allow you to make albums that only certain circles can see. Google Talk Because google is already part of my “always open” tab club it is much easier to set up a place for students to initiate a quick chat session through google rather than the ANGEL chat client or Skype. Ability to control notification methods Google+ alllows the user to determine just how they will be contacted with new material has been posted, messages sent, photos tagged. Mobile apps Google+ now has a mobile app available for iPhone and for Droid. Group Work By creating smaller circles students can work in groups. Google Docs and Calendar A great add-on to google+ is the ability to upload/edit/create documents within the system as well as scheduling events.
5 Years of YouTube Politics [INFOGRAPHIC] YouTube, which has quickly become the media site of record, has put together an infographic celebrating five years of political highs and lows. If someone important does anything wonderful, stupid or wonderfully stupid on camera — it is likely the site has the video. This is typically true of the political arena, as politicians often make gaffes while they're on the road, whether it's during bill debates or a casual conversation. YouTube and other video hosting sites provide a place where the public can find and watch hours of clips featuring elected officials. More than 500 U.S. candidates for office have official channels. Of course, it's not all fail videos and mistakes, YouTube has also played an increasingly large role in elections and the day-to-day operations of the White House. Take a look at how YouTube and politics have grown, from President Barack Obama's weekly addresses, CNN's debates in 2007 to the 2012 presidential announcement videos.
Behind Google+'s Stealth March On Foursquare, Instagram, Gaming, Facebook, Your Life Foursquare-challenging check-ins If you run the mobile app version of Google+ you can't help but spot the Check-ins feature--it's right there on the front page. It works with admirable simplicity: Push it, select the appropriate location which is spewed from Google Place's database, and tap "check in." Plenty is missing from this bare-bones service: There're no badges, no mayorships, no location-based deal vouchers in association with AmEx. in short, it's not a game. But that's not to say that Google won't implement some or all of these features or even surpass them--it's not short of coders, and if Google+ takes off then it would probably be mere weeks of work to get a gaming angle built in. Color/Instagram-challenging photo sharing Continuing Google's recent trend of oddly askew naming, there seems to be a new social photo app called Pool Party due to hit imminently. Very possibly, it wouldn't take much coder effort. Gaming versus everyone Questions versus Quora, Answers.com Facebook