Thing #21

Google Extras. I, like most people, have already used many of the extras that Google has to offer. Several people of my family and friends have Picasa accounts. We share pictures back and forth quite a bit.

I have used Google Earth in class with my students quite a few times. Anytime a city, landmark, or landform comes up in class discussion, we stop and look it up on Google earth. I like to start in Mesquite and then type in the address we're looking for and let the program fly us around the earth to the location we're searching for. The kids get the biggest kick out of looking at their own houses or houses of their family members.

My favorite discovery on Thing #21 is Google books. As proclaimed in an earlier blog, I am a bookophile of the most devoted sort. How great is it to be able to read or preview a book right off the computer. As much as I love books, I don't want to buy a book if I'm not going to end up liking it. On Google books, I can read a book for free or read enough of it to decide if I want to go out and buy the book. And how about the back issues of Life magazine available on Google books. What a great source for pictures and information on historical events! That is just fantastic!