Did you know that you can organise your Google research using Google Docs?
**UPDATED VERSION OF THIS POST available here. In the new version of this post, learn how to use the Google Docs Explore tool to help students develop their research skills**
Everyone knows that Google is an amazing search engine that allows you to, amongst other things, find information that is targeted to the reading ability of your students (to learn how to do this you can see this series of posts on how to search Google.)
But Google is much more than that. Google have a range of free programs that are just like the Microsoft suite. These programs allow your students to collaborate in real time which is amazing, but just recently Google added another feature which is fantastic for keeping your notes organised and will save you loads of time.
I figured the best way to demonstrate this was with this two minute video:
What I love most about the research tool in Google Docs is that you can easily cite your sources and keep everything organised. When you organise your Google research using Google docs it will save you and your student’s time as now your students can easily save a greater number of ideas and sources as they are searching.
This will change their work flow from reading each source and trying to determine if it is a viable source to quickly gathering information to go back to. When they do this their productivity will go up because they are not interrupting their thought flow.
To access this tool you will need to have a Google account. You can use that link to see a step by step guide to the best way to set up your free Google account.
To see a range of other tools and tricks you can just click ‘Google‘ in the categories list on the right.
To get some more information on how to use Google in your school you can go to GoogleInEducation.com and access a range of videos as well as teaching ideas sent to you via email.
Do you or your school using Google docs?
