75 Ways Google Can Make You a Better Teacher

I am not a Googlephile (that is a word) but I appreciate a good thing when I see it. I was reading a bit of Gmail propaganda the other day, and the first line on this page read, "Email is supposed to be a productivity tool." That struck me as oddly profound. Not every web application is geared towards productivity but certainly Google's are.

So I decided that I would put this somewhat-axiomatic statement to the test. I sat down and I listed a few reasons and ways that Google could help my productivity. Since I work in Education, this later blossomed into ways Google could help classroom teachers be more effective and productive. I came up with no less than 75 ways Google can help you be a better teacher. Some of these ways are rooted in productivity, others are curriculum ideas and some of the ways are just good (fun) ideas.

#1 Get Gmail

I am sorry if this seems obvious or somewhat trite. But the truth is, without Gmail (and the subsequent Google account) ya ain't going nowheres. Virtually every service Google provides requires a Google account.* If it does not require an account (like Search), then it still can be enhanced by loggin' in. The first way Google can make you a better teacher is with a good email account.

Someone may argue that they already have an email account at Yahoo! or Hotmail or with their school. I won't take the effort to convince you why Gmail is better than Yahoo and Hotmail. (GizmosforGeeks already did...and this is only a review. )** But here are some reasons that I feel are worth mentioning:

1. Everyone can sign up now. You used to have to receive an "invitation" from an existing user to start an account. Its open season now. You've got no excuse. See image above.

2. Google storage is huge! Its coming on 3G (and counting) even as I peck this post. The school I work for has a pretty liberal policy on email storage and attachments. But 3G is pushing it. And while my school allows us to use our account for personal use (as long as you are not a closet spammer), not every school does. So how can Gmail's storage affect productivity? Now it is perfectly feasible to have an email account where you can store literally everything. There is no need for that "personal/work" dichotomy. You can master your own Inbox and keep your life together in one place. ***

3. It's all integrated. With Gmail, you have Google Docs, Google Calendar and Google Talk (chat) integrated right in the mailbox. In fact, you can put your Inbox right on Google.com so checking your email is as quick as the Home button. Can this make you a better teacher? I don't know! I like having to open 13 applications with 13 different passwords. :)

4. It's fast. I use Novell Groupwise to handle my work email. It takes a few seconds to start up the application, a few seconds to connect to the mail server, a few seconds to validate my password, a few seconds to load my Inbox and preferences...Add up all those seconds and I could have opened Gmail 3 times.

There are other reasons and other features but I will save them for another day. Get Gmail and follow along. See if you become a better communicator, organizer, facilitator and instructor.

*Google does provide an account to holders of email accounts other than Gmail. This account can be used to access many Google products.
** TechCrunch also did a nice comparison of Windows Live/Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail.
*** Compare Gmail's storage to the other free services...and do the math.