Google+Apps+in+the+Classroom+Day+3

Google Calendar
[|Google Calendar] //is an easy way for teachers, administrators and students to share time-related info like team schedules, assignment deadlines and school holidays. Anyone who needs to view a calendar can use it from any Internet-connected computer and access it on existing school web pages or within their own Google Calendar account. Changes made by a calendar organizer are automatically seen by anyone who checks, which makes outdated versions a thing of the past//. (via [|Google for Educators] )

What We'll Be Covering

 * How to create a Google Calendar.
 * How to add events to your Google Calendar.
 * How to share your Google Calendar.
 * How to set up reminders in Google Calendar.
 * How to subscribe to a Calendar.
 * How to add your Google Calendar to your **//iGoogle//** page.

Google Sites
Google Sites allows you to create a simple, yet flexible, web site quickly, and easily. Just like Google Docs, you can share your site easily and allow others to collaborate with you on the site. On the surface, Google Sites is a lot like a number of other web publication tools on the Internet. That being said, the true power of Google Sites lies in its tight integration with the rest of the Google Apps. You can insert documents, presentations, maps, photo galleries and more with relative ease.

**What We'll Be Covering**

 * How to get your Google Site up and running.
 * The different page templates (Web page, announcements, file vault, and lists).
 * How to tweak the privacy settings on your Google Site.
 * How insert content from other Google applications.

**Additional Resources and Examples**

 * How to Display a Calendar in Google Sites (SchoolTube Video)
 * Google Sites Tour (SchoolTube Video)
 * Google Sites: Simple, Secure Group Websites (SchoolTube Video)
 * [|Technologies for Online Teaching and Learning Conference Site]


 * Practical Applications in the classroom**: Once you have your Google Site up and running, there are about as many practical uses in the classroom as there are teachers using Google Sites. As you get comfortable with the tool, you're going to get a feel for how it might be able to enhance what you do in the classroom. Remember: //There is no wrong answer.//

Here are some ideas:
 * A class webpage that serves as a repository for all of your lessons (that you've saved using Google Presentations), homework assignments (written in Google Documents), and photographs (which you may have uploaded into Picasa).
 * An electronic portfolio of all of your best work as a teacher that add to over the course of your career.
 * A departmental collaboration space that stores meeting agendas and allows for colleagues to communicate even when they can't be in the same room together.
 * A school webpage that is easily accessible to staff members of varying degrees of comfort with technology.
 * A class portfolio that your students take control of that allows them to share their best work with the school community.

Final Project
Your final project is a collection of all the tools we've shown you over the last three sessions.

Create a Google Site with the following features:
 * A home page with a site map.
 * An announcement page with at least three posts that talk about a tool you've discovered or found particularly useful over the last three sessions.
 * A link to your Google Reader shared items.
 * Your road map with the location of your school and the other points of interest you added.
 * A Google document
 * A Google presentation.
 * A Google form.
 * A Google Custom Search engine.

=Appendix=

Further Google Tools to Explore

 * [|Google Classroom Activities]
 * [|Google Book Search]
 * [|Google Scholar]
 * [|Google Groups]
 * [|Google Earth]
 * [|Google SketchUp]
 * [|Google News]
 * Picasa Web Albums

In the Classroom:
Google Docs iGoogle Search Maps Reader Calendar Blogger