Submitted by A. Gordon (not verified) on January 17, 2008 - 15:24.
Google certainly offers many tools of interest to educators. Google Earth is one of the most fabulous teacher tools out there, while Google Docs may end up freeing us from our reliance on expensive licensed software. However, the article doesn't mention the problems with these tools.
The first is simply a matter of access. Many school districts block any and all blogs simply as a matter of course. Most visual search engines, like Google images, are blocked by our district's filter.
The second concerns Google Images. While an enormously useful tool, students who are taught to search here for images may think that ANY image returned by a search is okay to use in whatever way they wish. Kids should be taught to use images that are public domain, or that are posted under a Creative commons or other "copyleft" license. (Some of the best sites for image searches are Wikimedia Commons, MorgueFile, YotoPhoto, and the NBII Digital Image Library.) Most image use may be considered "fair use" for students who are writing reports or making posters, but use is much more problematical when kids are creating online content or multimedia.
Finally, I must protest the comment about "Google Books" being "the electronic equivalent of browsing through a library." You won't find "new books for your class" because most of the content on Google Books is older, and little of the recent material features the complete text. If you want to see the new Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, you'll have to go to the library and check it out.
These days the "electronic equivalent of browsing through a library" is...electronically browsing through a library! Many school and public libraries allow users to access content online. Students and staff at my school can find books using the online portal, look at the covers, read the reviews, rate the ones they've read, and then come right down to the library and check out the books. They can access full-text periodical databases and encyclopedias from school or from home, too.
Google Educator feature
Submitted by A. Gordon (not verified) on January 17, 2008 - 15:24.
Google certainly offers many tools of interest to educators. Google Earth is one of the most fabulous teacher tools out there, while Google Docs may end up freeing us from our reliance on expensive licensed software. However, the article doesn't mention the problems with these tools.
The first is simply a matter of access. Many school districts block any and all blogs simply as a matter of course. Most visual search engines, like Google images, are blocked by our district's filter.
The second concerns Google Images. While an enormously useful tool, students who are taught to search here for images may think that ANY image returned by a search is okay to use in whatever way they wish. Kids should be taught to use images that are public domain, or that are posted under a Creative commons or other "copyleft" license. (Some of the best sites for image searches are Wikimedia Commons, MorgueFile, YotoPhoto, and the NBII Digital Image Library.) Most image use may be considered "fair use" for students who are writing reports or making posters, but use is much more problematical when kids are creating online content or multimedia.
Finally, I must protest the comment about "Google Books" being "the electronic equivalent of browsing through a library." You won't find "new books for your class" because most of the content on Google Books is older, and little of the recent material features the complete text. If you want to see the new Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, you'll have to go to the library and check it out.
These days the "electronic equivalent of browsing through a library" is...electronically browsing through a library! Many school and public libraries allow users to access content online. Students and staff at my school can find books using the online portal, look at the covers, read the reviews, rate the ones they've read, and then come right down to the library and check out the books. They can access full-text periodical databases and encyclopedias from school or from home, too.