Tom Barrett

So iGoogle is a start page for Google account users which can aggregate all of the Google apps into simple little widgets, plus many, many more. I have been thinking carefully about how the children in my year group may be able to use this iGoogle page.

The page itself can be highly personalised through themes and the choice of a variety of different widgets, so it would be useful to have a mandatory set of widgets that the class need to add – for example widgets for:

• Google Docs/Spreadsheets
• Class Google Reader account
• Google Mail
• Class Google Calendar
• Google Notebook
• Class del.icio.us links

All of these would be a click away from the home page so easily navigable – there would possibly be a mixture of individual and class use of these tools. I like the way that every child’s page could look different giving them a sense of ownership for this bit of online space – yet maintaining a sense of consistency with the above list of class widgets they need to add. Perhaps this would be the first sort of task the children can undertake when exploring their page and learning about how to add different content.

There is a vast array of widgets available for the iGoogle page, naturally ranging in quality. But within this variety are some real gems. For example Brain Tuner (just search for this on the content page) for primary age children is just what they need – a simple dose of regular mental maths right there on their home page.

I have found two version, the first is a mixture of multiplication and addition; the second being just multiplication. Every time they take the quick challenge records how quickly they have completed it adding a nice little slice of competition to keep them motivated. This may seem a leap straight out of the Nintendo DS book but it is great for keeping primary age kids sharp with their mental maths. I imagine children completing a task may nip and get one of our laptops and just have a quick play on Brain Tuner on their homepage (or even search for maths tagged sites via the del.icio.us widget and get stuck in somewhere else – who knows!)

Then of course there may well be a widget that supports a particular topic of work that you are doing in your class during the year. For example when we are doing work on space we might add the NASA Image of the day widget. During our RE work this year the Photos of Sacred Places widget could develop some discussion.

As I use it more and more I think that it would be a great place for children to start their online session. It just depends now on how the accounts are managed. (Just signed up for Google Apps on a domain) It looks like Notebook is not available via a domain type use of Google Apps, including no iGoogle page – but one that is shared.

Just realised that the iGoogle page (via Google Apps for a domain) is a combination of shared content and personal choices. Good news!

End users of the page still have the ability to incorporate any content from the web, or any Google Gadget, enabling them a degree of customization over the content of the page.

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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