Going Google
Volume 11
Google Tip #1 - Direct to You Email Indicators
Ever want to know if an email is sent directly to you or if it was sent to a group? You can do this by turning on the “Personal Message Indicators” in your email general settings.
Now you will have a > next to the emails that your email is included in the To: section. You will have a >> by messages that are sent only to you. If it is sent to a group there will not be a symbol at all.
Now you will have a > next to the emails that your email is included in the To: section. You will have a >> by messages that are sent only to you. If it is sent to a group there will not be a symbol at all.
Google Tip #2 - Add Attachments to Your Calendar
Adding attachments to a google calendar event is a simple way to share a meeting agenda, homework, or other item when you are showing an event on your calendar.
First you need to go to your calendar settings and “labs”. Enable the “event attachments” lab. I also like to enable the “Event Flair” lab to so students know that there are documents with the event. The next time you create a new event in your calendar, you will have a new option to “add attachment”.
From here, you can select any file from your google drive to attach to the event. Many teachers use this to attach homework to calendar events.
First you need to go to your calendar settings and “labs”. Enable the “event attachments” lab. I also like to enable the “Event Flair” lab to so students know that there are documents with the event. The next time you create a new event in your calendar, you will have a new option to “add attachment”.
From here, you can select any file from your google drive to attach to the event. Many teachers use this to attach homework to calendar events.
When others go to view the calendar event, they must view the event details to see the file that was attached to the event.
Tip #3 - Google Custom Search
Create custom Google searches for students where you control what sites they search. Use it to narrow down their results from the millions of results a normal search would bring back. Allow younger students to experience the search process without exposing them to inappropriate sites, and pre-select the sites for age appropriateness.
- Go to: http://www.google.com/cse/
- Click on the “Create a Custom Search Search Engine” Button
- On the “Create a search engine for your site” page:
- In the text box, paste in the URL/links that you want them to search through
- Next to “Name” give your custom search an applicable name
Here is an example for search on sloths (I purposely put in a funny youtube video so we could have a class discussion about what sites are appropriate for research)
On the following page, you will be given HTML code that you can paste on a page on your Teacherweb website, Google Site, Blog, or Wiki. This will put a custom search box on your page. If you have any questions about copying and pasting HTML code onto a page, please ask your campus ITS.
The final product will look like this:
The final product will look like this:
Or, if you want to put a link to your custom search instead of embedding it:
- Click on your desired custom search
- Copy the URL address at the top of the page
- Paste the URL address into your links.