The One Where We All "Google It!"

Google. Is it a verb? a noun? Its both! Google, a tech company based in California, over time became a common everyday word we use as a verb. Many people just tend to say "Let me google it," when referring to themselves looking up information on the Web. Lucky for us, Google allows us to discover everything the Web has to offer.  No more are the days of just reading information from the Web, but now, thanks to Web 2.0, we can interact and be apart of what is on the Web. Google is a multi-billion dollar technology company that has a plethora of applications that allows us to be apart of what is on the Web. Some people are familiar with some of those applications, and others just think of Google as that verb they use daily, referring the Google as just a search engine. Little do they know, Google provides so many resources to interact and connect with others over the Internet.

As Google has SO many awesome applications, I am going to discuss a few that I find to be so critical in education and learning. With today's crazy times, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, schools around the country, and world, have gone to virtual learning. Due to that, Google has been able to play a key role in how we teach and learn while social distancing. Two applications that have aided in student success and teacher sanity during these times are Google Meets and Google Classroom.

Google Meets. Google Meets is a video-conferencing application. It allows users to communicate with almost anyone- coworkers, students, friends and family. While in a Google Meet conference, one can share your desktop and presentations, live chat with numerous people at once and participate in real-time chats. Students all over the country today are using Google Meets to chat with teachers and classmates. It allows teachers to share their screen to go over a presentation as they would in a lecture setting in a classroom and for students to be activate participants by using the chat function to ask questions or simply turning on their microphone to ask questions or participate in live discussions. Another great feature for teachers is they can record each Meet session so students who were unable to attend the presentation can access it at a later date. So where would one put these recorded Meets so a student can access them? Most commonly, Google Classroom. 

Google Classroom. Google Classroom is exactly what it sounds like- a one-stop shop that helps teachers organize and manage their classrooms, online! In Google Classroom teachers to set up individual "virtual classrooms" that students can join as well as place where they can post assignments, quizzes, resources and readings. Students can participate in class discussions, leave comments for their teachers and classmates as well as see their grades on each assignment. Classroom has turned classrooms into paperless classrooms. 

Both applications allow teachers and students to share information and communicate easily with one another which has helped with the transition from in class learning to virtual learning. When thinking of the word "Google" no longer should people think of it as just a verb and a place to find information, but a proper noun, a company that builds applications to help us contribute to the information we find on the Internet. As you can tell from just these two applications, Google's applications allow us to create the content we see and learn from. It's not always just about whats behind that coveted "Google Search."