At a recent family gathering, we had a rather animated discussion around the dinner table about the role technology plays in our lives. My oldest son was singing the praises of KitKat, the new Android OS, and more specifically, Google Now. Some around the table were unfamiliar with the amazing features of Google's predictive search assistant, Google Now, so Matt was happy to wow everyone with a recount of some of his recent experiences with Now - receiving notifications of his flight details, the time he should leave for the airport and an offer to book a taxi - directions offered to a restaurant he casually mentioned in an earlier conversation - and more. The concept that Google Now is gathering data from our messages, searches and even conversations was unsettling to some and thrilling for others.
It was at this point in the conversation that my 10 year old niece announced, "I remember when Google was just a search engine." Our first reaction was laughter. Our second was wonderment at how these types of wisdoms can so easily fall out of the mouths of babes. Next was the OMG - was it actually 10 years ago that Google was just a search engine??
You have come a long way Google! Over the years, we've been offered Mail, Calendar, Docs, Drive, Plus, Hangouts, Blogs, Sites, Maps, Talk, YouTube, Picasa, News, Books, Earth, Moon, Finance, Alerts, Translate, Keep, Chrome, Code, etc. etc. etc. - there is a multitude of services that Google offers, and it is growing and changing every day.
Many of these Google tools offer incredible new options to support the teaching and learning happening in our classrooms. Admittedly, it's a challenge to keep up with the rate of change in the world of technology, however, as educators, I believe it is part of our responsibility in these times. Although my niece is correct, Google is 'much more than a search engine', sadly, this is all that is presented to some of our students. How much they and their teachers are missing!
How do you keep yourself current? Do you share your new learnings and discoveries with your colleagues?
There is a wealth of information easily accessible and networks of passionate educators ready and willing to share, discuss and collaborate about technology innovations. Education is a vibrant, exciting, ever-changing profession. Technology is offering opportunities to do new things and in ways that have never been possible in our classrooms before. It's incumbent on all of us to keep informed and to embrace the idea of innovation in our profession.
It was at this point in the conversation that my 10 year old niece announced, "I remember when Google was just a search engine." Our first reaction was laughter. Our second was wonderment at how these types of wisdoms can so easily fall out of the mouths of babes. Next was the OMG - was it actually 10 years ago that Google was just a search engine??
You have come a long way Google! Over the years, we've been offered Mail, Calendar, Docs, Drive, Plus, Hangouts, Blogs, Sites, Maps, Talk, YouTube, Picasa, News, Books, Earth, Moon, Finance, Alerts, Translate, Keep, Chrome, Code, etc. etc. etc. - there is a multitude of services that Google offers, and it is growing and changing every day.
Many of these Google tools offer incredible new options to support the teaching and learning happening in our classrooms. Admittedly, it's a challenge to keep up with the rate of change in the world of technology, however, as educators, I believe it is part of our responsibility in these times. Although my niece is correct, Google is 'much more than a search engine', sadly, this is all that is presented to some of our students. How much they and their teachers are missing!
How do you keep yourself current? Do you share your new learnings and discoveries with your colleagues?
There is a wealth of information easily accessible and networks of passionate educators ready and willing to share, discuss and collaborate about technology innovations. Education is a vibrant, exciting, ever-changing profession. Technology is offering opportunities to do new things and in ways that have never been possible in our classrooms before. It's incumbent on all of us to keep informed and to embrace the idea of innovation in our profession.