Google Search Tips for Teachers

Google search is perfection -- perfection that accounts for 25% of all internet traffic. Knowing these few simple tricks vastly improves your internet Jedi skills.

1. Make searches specific

• Site-Specific Search

• With Google Search you can look for a word or phrase on a specific website, even if the website doesn't have a search feature, type "site:", followed by your website. 
• Example (do not include quotes) - "site:teachertechYESlogy.com URL shorteners tips"

• Exact Phrase Search

• To find an specific phrase, enclose the search phrase in quotes. 
• Example - "URL Shortener Makes Sharing Long Ugly Links a Breeze"

• Page Title Search

• Use "intitle:" to look for a page or document with a specific word/phrase in the title. 
• Example - "intitle:technology"

• Exclude Words

• Keep searching for info about the American Civil War, but only find pages about a band named Civil War? Use a hyphen to exclude a word from your search. 
• Example - "Civil War -band"

2. Format

• Specific Document Type

• Looking through your results for a PDF file? Instead, use "filetype:" to demand that format when searching.
• Example - "computer usage student agreement filetype:pdf"

3. Broaden Search

• Relate Word Help

• Use an asterisk (*) after a word to fill in a related term. 
• Example - "technology*class", results that included "technology in class" and so on.

4. Tools

• Find Definitions

• Quickly look up words without even leaving Google. Type "define:". 
• Example - "define: technology"

• Calculator

• Punch any math equation into Google and it will solve it for you and it brings up a handy calculator app right on the search website. 
• Example - "6*1.09"

• Unit Conversion

• Simply enter a number with its unit type and the unit type you would like to convert it to and boom. Google does it. 
• Example - "652ml in cups"

• Search by Image

• Click the small camera in the Google Images search box on the far right. You can search using an images URL (link) or upload an image from your computer. This is really hand when you need a larger or small image. 

Here is a quick how to including all these tips. Happy Googling!

Teacher Technology - URL Shortener Makes Sharing Long Ugly Links a Breeze

Unhelpful Teacher Meme

You found an awesome website link that needs to be shared with everyone! And I mean everyone -- friends, family, strangers, students, colleagues and little Betty's soccer coach. But there's a problem. The link for this amazing website is 273 characters long and attempting to pass it on always ends in tears. Being dyslexic, I especially feel your pain. Well, we're in luck! Nobody ever ever ever needs to be the teacher up ^ there again! See, the world is just.

Shortening a URL 

Web address, link, shortening is quick and easy. URL shorteners came into vogue due to Twitter's concrete 140 character limit. However, short URLs are handy far beyond Twitter and provide features such as tracking clicks or QR codes for every link as well.

Below I listed my two absolute favorite URL shorteners. Also, I included a quick "how to" tour and tutorial of the sites at bottom of this post. These URL shrink rays are middle school history teacher tested and approved, impressive, I know. Give them a shot. Start living an easier life today!

tiny.cc (link)
As a teacher tiny.cc is my favorite for two big reasons.

Reason 1: Custom short URLs. Instead of having a computer randomly assign you a link such as tiny.cc/tzy3j5, you can create you own. For example, I used tiny.cc for a History Channel Civil War 150 anniversary website, I shortened the URL to be tiny.cc/cw150.

And here is what it spits out.

Reason 2: Tiny.cc lets you easily track clicks on a URL. Just make a free account, it is painless and fast. Then you have access to total clicks and other details shown below.

goo.gl (link)
Yes, goo.gl is owned by Google and is also fairly handy.

• The Good: This shortener is has an even more simple interface than tiny.cc and is backed by Google, very reliable. Also if you want great tracking data and a QR code with every link, goo.gl is the way to go. You do need a Google account to access the data and QR code.
• The Bad: There is one main "bad" but it is a big bad for teachers. You cannot create custom URLs. Some students will struggle to enter even short strings if they are entirely random characters. 

Copy link, click Shorten URL and you're ready to rock.

Other URL Shorteners acceptable for teachers

http://is.gd.com - pronounced "is good," bare bones but gets the job done
http://tinyURL.com - the original URL shortener. They make money through advertising
http://bit.ly - has a paid Pro level
http://ow.ly - Part of Hootsuite's free service but they also have a paid revenue model

The Best URL Shorteners for Educators

Until next time! Like the blog? Follow me on Twitter and Google+. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

The Magic of Sharing a Folder on Google Drive

Google Drive (formally Google Docs) is endlessly useful, especially for teachers and students. Need to share a lesson with someone? How about an entire unit? No problem. Earlier I blogged on how to share files. Now lets talk about turkey. Drive also allows sharing of entire folders! It rocks.

• Benefits to sharing folders:
• Everything contained in the folder is shared
• New files added to the folder are shared automatically with those who have access
• Particularly useful for routine people you routinely share files or documents with

My lesson plans constantly change. Every year I tweak and add to them. Keeping each lesson in a folder labeled with the unit's name makes it easy for me to share all my material with other teachers. Besides, stealing, "sharing," is one of the best parts of teaching. If I create a new warm up, I just save it to the unit folder in Drive. Boom! Everyone I previously shared that folder with now has access to mind-blowing warm up I created. Google does not alert them to new material, but once they open the folder the recent changes are listed in the righthand column titled "Activity."

Here is a quick tutorial/"how to" on unleashing the magic of folder sharing. Get ready to begin living an easier life. :)

ThingLink.com - Teacher Tech Tuesday

Pictures, maps and diagrams all come to life with the help of ThingLink.com. ThingLink lets you upload images from your computer or other sites and then add info, a linked article, a video, music or darn near anything else. Once done you can direct people to the link or embed the interactive image directly on your website, edmodo page or blog.

ThingLink is a simple tool, novice approved and ready to rock! Check out the embedded images I have below. And feel free to add me if you ThinkLink too. Maybe I'll tackle a how to tutorials for it next.

Quick Intro: Google Drive and Docs

Google Drive is the tech tool I use most often as a teacher. My Chrome has two tabs that open when started -- Gmail and Google Drive. Originally Drive was Google Docs, they renamed it Drive to convey its full feature set, such as online "cloud" storage. Almost every document I have is stored on Google Drive, it makes it easy to access from home or school. Also storing material on Drive makes it much easier to share with students on my website or in email. Google Drive makes my job easier.

I store material for every unit in Google Drive.

In Drive you can of course create documents, presentations (PowerPoint), spreadsheet (Excel), form (a surveying tool) and drawing (edit/create images). You can also store any file imaginable on your drive - few mp3s, photos or entire folders can all be uploaded to your Drive.

The true brilliance of Drive is not the universal access it enables, Drive also makes it incredibly easy to share a stored file with anyone using their email address. You can have them edit a word document, just give comments or limit them to only be able to view and read it. All can be done with just a few clicks. So that is where we will start.

Ready for the next step? You are on your way to becoming a Google ninja wizard. Next stop is a how to on folder sharing.

How to Zondle - A Quick Introduction Tutorial

Last post I "introduced" Zondle, just going through the sign up and making a basic question. This video shows you a bit more of what Zondle can do. I use Zondle with every unit in my classroom. Sometimes we get a computer lab before a test and the students will get to use it to study in class.

Zondle is an excellent tool, one that even a tech novice can master with minimal effort. You can even search for already created topics and steal premade reviews for you own use. Best part of teaching is stealing... I mean "sharing"... right? I'll post a video on how to use the search and share functions in the near future. Until then enjoy making ridiculously addicting games for your students or coworkers or pets - whatever floats your boat.

Don't see anything up  ^ there? Using Chrome? See the shield icon at the right edge of the address bar? Click on the shield icon, then click load anyways. Boom. Problem solved.

Zondle: An Introduction

Don't see anything up  ^ there? Using Chrome? See the shield icon at the right edge of the address bar? Click on the shield icon, then click load anyways. Boom. Problem solved.

We recently finished up our Texas Revolution unit. I will do anything I can to trick the students into studying and Zondle is perfect for just that. Zondle is a great tool to get motivate/trick students into reviewing. After you enter your questions you can choose from about 30 different games for you students to play and learn with. Zondle even has a search feature, so often times I will even find someone has already created review questions on the topic I need. So perfect.

Here is the basics on how to get started. I plan to make several more videos on Zondle displaying what a versatile tool it really is. Zondle - A Quick Intro