15 More Instant Google Searches for You and your Students

A while back I shared a post on 20 of my favorite instant Google searches (you can see that post and those resources at this link.)

The idea is that when you do a Google search, sometimes Google goes above and beyond the normal list of search results and provides instant search cards at the top of the page. These cards contain the information you searched for, but also include interactive controls to let you dig deeper, branch off, or experience the information in a more engaging manner, which can be valuable for both teachers and students.

In my earlier blog post we explored search tools for rolling a die, setting a timer, defining a word, calculating areas, running a metronome, and more! Since then Google has added many new interactive instant searches, so I thought it was time to share a second installment. See below for 15 new searches with details on how they work and how they can be used in school.

Making Learning Transparent - Finding, Making, and Using Transparent Images for Learning

As educators and students we use images all of the time in the projects we create. Most of the time any picture will do, but sometimes we're looking for an image with a special quality… transparency.

A transparent image is a picture where some part of the image is see-through, like the image has been cut out. This is useful because transparent images look much better when combined with other images, allowing you see the background or other items behind the picture.

Pictures with transparency can be used in lots of fun educational activities. In this post we will take a look at ways to find as well as create your own transparent images. We will also look at practical uses for these images in student projects.

Hipster Google: Library Edition

A few months back I shared a blog post and webinar on "Hipster Google - Google Tools You Probably Never Heard Of".

Recently I had the privilege to do a new version of that presentation with a focus on tools that would be valuable for libraries, media literacy, research, searching, and more. This was done for Infohio, Ohio's PreK-12 Digital Library, as part of their Boot Camp 2017 series of webinars.

For "Hipster Google: Library Edition" we take a look at a dozen Google tools that are lesser known, or maybe some you heard of but have not had a chance to use much, or even tools that are brand new to you. Even though these tools may not be as popular or as widely known, they are still very useful in school settings.

See below for access to the 1-hour Infohio webinar, as well as the slideshow presentation, and details on all of the Hipster Google tools covered in this particular training. For the original version of Hipster Google (with many different tools) see my earlier post "Hipster Google - Google Tools You Probably Never Heard Of".

You're So Random (with Google Tools)

As educators we like to be well planned, prepared, and organized. However, sometimes it can be good to be a little random.

Randomization can be useful in a classroom in many ways. These may include:

• Choosing a student at random in a discussion to make sure no one dominates the conversation, and that a diversity of students can express their ideas.
• Randomly selecting questions or vocab terms for review in class.
• Randomly generating math problems with a variety of numbers.
• Randomly generating data to be analyzed, graphed, and explored.
• Creating random writing prompts for journal entries, stories, poems, and such.

Thankfully there are a wide range of technology tools that can be used to generate random numbers, data, and other information. In this blog post we will explore several Google tools you can use for this purpose.

Making Google Searches more Personal

Out of everything Google is known for, its search engine is most likely at the top of the list. We use Google many times every day to search the entire Internet for answers to our queries. But what if the answer is not located in the far reaches of the world? What if what you are looking for is right under your nose?

Recently Google has added a new advanced filter to its search that allows you to run "Personal" searches. This means rather than searching the entire world, you can just search your own data, such as your calendar, your images, your email, and more.

This can be a quick and easy way to find personal files or information across many of Google services, all from one place. See below for details on how to take advantage of this new "Personal" search option.

Hipster Google - Google Tools You Probably Never Heard Of

Google is well know for certain tools and services - Search, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Maps, Chrome, and such. These are all powerful and useful tools that are transforming teaching and learning in schools around the world.

However, in addition to those tools, Google has also created a wide range of services, apps, extensions, features, and other tools that are not as well known. Even though these tools may not be as popular or as widely known, they are still very useful in school settings.

These are the "Hipster Google" tools.

In our culture, one of the defining characteristics of the hipster movement is to appreciate things that are not mainstream, to use services that are not well known, or to embrace something before it becomes popular among the masses. With that thought in mind, I have collected a list of tools from Google that the average person may not know about yet.

Of course with any such list, there will be some tools that you do know, but hopefully you will pick up a few new ideas and resources from the bunch. And of course simply by sharing this blog post I am potentially making these tools more well known.

Below you will find my 1-hour recorded webinar covering each of the tools, as well as the session slideshow, and a write-up for each tool with a description and related links. So, jump on them now while it is still cool to say you used these before they were popular!

Simple Search Lifesavers for Students

Recently one of my sons brought home a school assignment where he was supposed to visit five websites and then answer a few questions from each. Sounds pretty simple, right?

I thought the same until I noticed his attitude change from positive (well as positive as an attitude about homework can be) to confused to frustrated. I went over to investigate what the problem was and to see if I could help. What I found was a printed worksheet that asked him to visit the following five sites:

This was a paper worksheet with printed web addresses. Not a Google document, or a blog post, or a Google Classroom announcement, or any sort of digital format with clickable links.

As a 6th grade boy with a short attention span and basic keyboarding skills, he was trying to type in these URL’s … and failing miserably. Between the five sites that’s 353 characters to type in, without messing up any of the slashes and dashes.

Thankfully this was a great chance to turn a challenge into a learning opportunity. See below for two simple searching tricks I showed him that made the assignment a snap, and may help you and your students as well.

20 Instant Google Searches your Students Need to Know

Google strives to make their search as useful as possible, bringing back the most appropriate results for the terms you entered. Sometimes though Google goes above and beyond the normal list of search results by providing instant search cards at the top of the page.

These cards contain the information you searched for, but often also include interactive controls to let you dig deeper, branch off, or experience the information in a more engaging manner. As students learn to become better at searching and researching, many of the instant search cards can be useful to them in a variety of their school subjects.

See below for 20 examples of instant searches students can do, the interactive results they get, and ideas for how these could be used to improve learning in school.

Google Save - Your new home for saved images and links

Recently Google has quietly rolled out a new tool that lets you save and organize images and websites to one central collection. How quietly? Well, as far as I can tell the tool doesn’t even have an official name yet, and there have not been many posts or announcements from Google about it. So for now I am just calling it Google Save.

So what is Google Save? In short it is an option to save and organize images or websites in an online collection.

Of course we already have Google options for both of these tasks. For example, you can already save online images to your Google Drive with the Save to Google Drive extension, and you can save images to your Google Photos with the Clip It Good extension. And of course you can save websites by simply bookmarking them in Chrome.

It is not exactly clear how Google Save will supplement or change or work with or replace any of these already existing options. For now though it is another option that you may find useful and at least is worth taking a closer look at.

So, see below for an overview of how to access and use Google Save…

3 Cool Countdown Timers for your Classroom

Countdown timers can be a useful tool in the classroom for many reasons:

• As a teacher you may give your students a specified amount of time to brainstorm, discuss a topic, work on a project, complete a sample problem, or such.
• Or your students may be performing an experiment and collecting data for a class activity where time is a constraint.
• Or students who need some additional structure or motivation to complete their work could set time goals to work, and then reward themselves with a break or fun activity afterwards.

Whatever the reason, there are many available tools to use as countdown timers. Below we are going to take a look at three great examples that are free, work well in a classroom, and use Google tools in one way or another.

See below for a short video demonstrating the tools, and read the rest of the blog post for additional details and links.

4 Fake Sites to Teach Students Website Evaluation

As adults we (hopefully) know that not everything online is true. For our students though, this is a concept they need to learn.

Students can use Google to quickly find millions of websites matching their search request, but are they able to determine which sites actually contain information that is accurate, unbiased, up to date, and written by someone with authority?

One step in helping our students identify quality information online is to introduce them to the exact opposite… websites that pretend to be truthful but actually are full of intentionally incorrect information.

Such “fake” websites can be a great way to show students that just because something is online, does not mean it is true. You can ask students to do research on one of these sites as part of an assignment and then see how many were able to realize the site was not authentic. This can be a fun and engaging way to begin a lesson on website evaluation.

Now you might think this would be easy to do since there are so many sites online that are biased or misleading. However, if we are going to use these sites with students we need to look for certain characteristics:

• Believable - The fake website needs to look not fake. That is, it should look reasonably modern and not like a practical joke from the late 90’s.

• Child Safe - The site needs to avoid inappropriate content. There are loads of hoax / humor / satirical websites, but many of them have adult content not suitable for students (for example, I think The Onion can be hilarious, but it is absolutely not appropriate for education).

• Operational - Sadly many of the great fake websites of the past are no longer maintained, or have shut down entirely.

So what are some great websites that meet these criteria, and that you can use with your students to help them learn how to evaluate online information? Below are four of my favorite “fake” sites…

Learn about Presidents with Google Instant Search

This Presidents Day it is easier than ever to learn a little more about our Commanders in Chief. Google Search is always an excellent way to find information on any subject, producing a list of valuable related web links. However for certain topics, you don’t even have to click a link to get more information because Google Search provides that instantly with rich search results.

Simply run a Google search for “presidents” and you will get a thumbnail list of all the Presidents of the United States. You can click the left and right arrows to move back or forth through time.

If you want to learn more about any particular POTUS, just click on the thumbnail image. This will pop up an information card on that president with more information. Depending on the president you may find details including:

• Images (with a link to more)
• Brief bio (with a link to Wikipedia)
• When and where they were born and died
• When they served as president
• Their vice president
• Their spouse and children
• Their political party
• Their famous quotes
• Other related people

More and more, Google is adding rich search results to give information with one less click. Examples of instant search results include word definitions, translations, unit conversions, calculations, nutrition information, movie times, and more.

For more details on such search options see Google help page at:

https://www.google.com/search/about/learn-more/answers