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Google Reads

Page history last edited by Melissa Scott 10 years, 11 months ago

Shayna Galasso and Melissa Scott 

 

Hello! Google Reads is actually called Google Reader, sorry for the confusion! I was not able to change the title. :) 

 

 

           www.google.com/reader

 

 

What is Google Reader?

 

Google Reader is a technological tool that allows people to basically create a personalized magazine using websites. It saves the reader time by not having to navigate to individual sites; the specified sites will automatically be linked to your Google Reader account after you "like" a site and link it to your account. It works in a way similar to Pintrest where you can "pin" websites rather than pictures. Google Reader is a social network where you can share your favorite websites and blogs with your colleagues and students to create an educational community online. Google Reader is user friendly because it keeps track of posts you have already read and posts yet to read, making it easier to monitor the information. Google Reader organizes complicated websites in a way that makes them more manageable and useful for teaching purposes. Instead of bookmarking a website, you can just add it to your Google Reader account. 

 

Looking at these sites in one comprehensive place could give you helpful tricks and tips in your teaching carer.  It's like a Pinterest for websites that allows you to navigate through the websites without having to jump through loops! 

 

Here's a screenshot of what my account looks like:

 

 

 

 

How to use Google Reader:

 

1. Get a gmail account.

 

2. Find a website or blog that you like.

 

3. Copy the url.

 

4. Log in to Google Reader at www.google.com/reader.

 

5. Click the red "subscribe" button and paste your blog's url into the box.

 

6. Enjoy the blogs or websites without having to search for them! :) 

 

7. Get the Google Reader app for your smartphone ... your information on the go! 

 

 

On the sides of websites, there are often links for various social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that allow you to connect the website to your social media community. To add a blog to your Google Reader account, simply click the orange G+ RSS button and it will link to your information. 

 

If you're confused, here's a YouTube video that can help you with Google Reader. It helped us! :) 

 

 

Benefits of using Google Reader in our classrooms:

 

One great way teachers can incorporate this neat technology into their classroom is to encourage students to use Google Reader for research projects. After initiating the proper training for this tool, students can subscribe to the websites they are using in their research. Keeping track of five to seven websites for research papers can be tricky; however, with Google Reader, one can have all the websites in one place. This will not only make it timely to research, but easier to write the Bibliography page for a paper.

 

Teachers can additionally create a class feed for all the groups of students. This will allow the teacher and students to consolidate all the individual feeds. Educators can also design a class feed for student blogs. As a project, a class could develop detailed blogs on a specific subject. Then the class feed can subscribe to the blogs to have them all in one place.

 

Another interesting way to use Google Reader is to have students learn about community, national, or international current events. Students could subscribe to different news websites on Google Reads for an easy and modern way to stay up to date on current events. Or instead of students subscribing to websites, the teacher could have subscribed to previously picked sites to quicken the process of researching news. Students could use Google Reader to research current events and write and share about what they have learned.

 

Teachers could use this tool as resource for ideas and new information, and as a way to keep our ideas organized! New articles are always popping up, and Google Reader is a comprehensive place for our ideas to exist.

 

 

Additional resources for support: 

 

1. http://support.google.com/reader/?hl=en

 

This site will help you navigate Google Reader and can answer specific questions about problems you may be encountering. This site also has links to a Google Reader forum, video tutorials, known tutorials, and a getting started guide. 

 

2. http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2009/01/google-reader-for-beginners.html

 

This is a link to the "Official Google Reader Blog." You could use this blog as a resource for troubleshooting, or engage in community discussions to find out what is new in Google Reader. There are a lot of useful posts about how to effectively use Google Reader as an instructional tool! 

 

3. http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/reader

 

This is a link to the Google Reader product forum. Similar to the blog, this is a great resource to troubleshoot or to get ideas from fellow Google Reader users. I especially liked the link to "share your stuff;" it makes collaboration easy! 

 

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Reader

 

This URL will gives you the necessary history and information needed to gain a better understanding of what Google Reader is, when Google Reader was created, and plausible mission statement. Wikipedia also includes bonus features you can use to add to your Google Reader experience.

 

5. http://teachweb2.wikispaces.com/Google+Reader

 

Educate yourself on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for Google Reader by visiting Teach Web 2. Teach Web 2 gives a detailed SWOT analysis on this tool. This website additionally incorporates a step by step on how to use Google Reader. Teach Web 2 best use for educators is the write-up on Ideas for Use in the Classroom. The ideas are good starters for teachers to create their own unique uses for Google Reader.

 

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