Thing # 12 Google Does It All

Google offers a lot more than a search engine.  My interest was sparked when I learned about Google Alerts.  This tool e-mails alerts pertaining to your chosen topic when it is referenced in the new or on the web.  For example, I have been interested in current (or should I say ongoing) discussion of NPR funding cuts.  I typed this "npr funding cut" into the search engine and was told that my query was registered and I would begin receiving e-mails.  Sure enough, minutes later a concise message was sent to my inbox outlining current news on the topic.  These messages will be sent daily or less often, depending on how much news pops up on the topic.  What a great way to keep up to date with individual issues!  I could see a busy teacher using this to keep up to date with personal or professional interests.

I had a lot of fun with iGoogle, which gives you a customizable home page.  In essence, this is like setting your home page to Google (remember my last post where I mentioned that I Google everything?) and then glorifying it with links, news feeds, and gadgets.  My home page now features a to do list, a calender, a link to my Google Reader, an NPR news feed, local weather updates, and many other fun gadgets that show an artwork of the day, and artist a day, a word of the day, recipe of the day, how to of the day, etc. etc.  There are so many gadgets offered with this tool that I am sure everybody will be able to find (probably too many) fun and useful things to include on their homepage.  You can also customize the look of your page to incorporate various colors and background images.  iGoogle is another great tool for the busy, tech savvy teacher who wishes to keep up with various modes of information.  It is a great starting point to your day: catch up on your choice of news, check your birthday updater to make sure you are not forgetting anyone's special day, and then check out the how to of the day wiki.  What a fun, convenient, and resourceful tool! 

I could see myself using iGoogle to create a homepage for our class computer(s).  On top of featuring the handy Google search engine, our home page would include useful links, relevant news feeds, and fun gadgets (such as the Artwork of the day, or even the cute little penguins that you can employ to waddle around your page).