Google Apps in my classroom: Google Notebook

So this new academic year we have access to 8 laptops in each of the four top junior classrooms, and I am looking forward to making the most of the free Google applications. One of the great things about holidays or breaks from school is the fact that you get some decent thinking time. I am sure it is the same with you, that during term time and when you are snowed under there is very little time to think clearly and creatively. I like to explore ideas gradually and this summer has been good for that.

So here I will explore some of the ways we can use Google Apps and others – starting with Google Notebook.

This is a great tool for your kids to get stuck into this year. It offers a simple way to clip and save information whilst online, its primary purpose I suppose is as a research tool. But I can see beyond that, this is also a great writing tool. Notetaking skills can be refined and explored, notes can be collected, organised, tagged, rearranged and adapted.

Initially there is a little setup you have to go through to get it going – download an extension to FF or IE and then whilst you are browsing there is a Notebook link in your status bar. Clicking on this opens a small popup window giving you access to your notebooks.

Making a note is as simple as a highlight and drag to this little window – or you can, just as easily, right click on your highlighted text etc and click on the “Note this” option for Google notebook. All of the formatting remains the same which is useful and you can add images too. Each note that you add is kept separate and is collapsable and expandable – but if you drag new text to an existing note it will drop in. I also like the way you can type text into the note or as a new one. Altogether simple and flexible enough to be very useful

I won’t go too far into the details of the tool, but concentrate on the ways it can be used.

1. Collect info and images related to various curriculum topics that the class is working on. Organise these with different notebooks, so an Egyptians notebook for work in history etc.
2. Using the ability to share any notebook with invited collaborators is a great way to build community based research within a class. So imagine asking pairs of children or individuals to research different topics within a subject. Online work can be then saved to a shared notebook which everyone can be involved with and benefit from as a class.
3. All of the notes taken from the web are immediately fully referenced, that is the site reference is included. A simple thing but avoids the, “Wow that’s great where did you get it from?” type question.
4. Notebook would be a great way to use web based text for comprehension tasks. I have thought that if a Diigo account was used alongside the work in Google Notebook it could be very powerful. Signpost and ask questions using the Diigo interface (perhaps a single class login) and then children respond using notebook. So for example in a poem you might ask some questions for each stanza. (If you have a Diigo account take a look at Charles Causley’s “My Mother Saw a Dancing Bear” where I have added some examples.) The children then respond in a Poetry notebook or something equivalent.
5. Independent reading tasks or guided reading of online texts can be supported using Diigo sticky notes and the children’s responses formed in notebook.
6. Teachers can respond to notebooks by adding to the “Comment” box beneath each note. This I suppose is assuming that you have access to those individual accounts, or notebooks either by logging in or being added as a collaborator. Mmm need to think that one through…perhaps adding collaborators is a must learn skill.
7. Notebooks can easily be exported to Google Docs so kids can have this as the bear bones of a piece of text they can really get stuck into, again further collaboration is possible there too.
8. I like the fact that the children are not working in too many places at once, just a little pop up window in the browser, never leave your browser mentality – their notes are very quickly formed and this necessitates a need for higher order note taking skills.

Notebooks can be viewed and managed in a full screen site via a Google account and I have added a iGoogle gadget to my home page so I can access them directly from there. I think that this will a useful tool in the suite of Google apps as it is simple and not overcomplicated but still powerful when deployed in the correct instance.

I look forward to getting started with this in my class and perhaps hearing more about it being used elsewhere, please share your experiences of Google Notebook in your classroom. Talking of the possibilities is one thing but actual successful practice is something different, I will no doubt have a better perspective on managing and utilising this when my class get stuck in.

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