While reading information on google tools I really realized how much google does and how much I use google with out even knowing it. I currently use gmail for my email. With that my phone is a google phone. All my emails, contacts and calendar go right through my email account. I can access all my contacts, their phone numbers and addresses (home and email) through my phone or my computer. I also have the ability to have my work calendar linked to my phone. I am able to look at my calendar on my phone and see which staff members are out for the day and who their subs are going to be. This makes it easy for me as a head teacher to plan for the week, month or my time off. Many of the sites, like blogger.com for example, automatically link up to my gmail account. I never realized until now that gmail or google is really a center for so many different tools and websites. Not only is it the center but it is also very secure. I trust google and gmail a lot more then most sites.
When looking at the educational google tools I was rather impressed at the fact that we can link with teachers around the world. The blogging sites help teachers talk to other teachers that are not in their school. I am a firm believer that reaching out to peers is beneficial in the teaching field. If we have an opportunity to reach out to teachers in other schools, districts, states and countries then we have even more knowledge to tap into so that we can make our classrooms better. So many of the classes I have taken have touched base on the fact that teachers need to partner together, google educational tools help to do that.
Once more, new technology and software are strange for me, especially virtual games, because I have never played them before. I believe that all of American children know about technology better than I do. They can play many kinds of games and know how to use new technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that virtual games are helpful for students because they can help students become more motivated and imaginative in their learning. However, they should be monitored by teachers and adults. If not they will spent a lot of time to play games, so that that may be addicted to them.