Pinterest, Symbaloo & Google Drive Research Tool (Topic: Social Media in Education)

Pinterest
What is Pinterest?  Pinterest is a great social media and resource tool for educators; if you need ideas, I can almost guarantee you will find them there.  Like Twitter, you can follow particular people if you wish, which allows you to see all of their pins, or you can simply pin the specific posts that you want to save to your boards.  Not only that, it is extremely simple to keep all of your pins organized by assigning them to a specific board (i.e. lesson plans, classroom management, educational technology tools, etc.).  You may also search pins by clicking on one of the "listed topics" in the search bar, or you can type in the specific topic, person or group that you might be looking for.  If you would like to learn more about Pinterest, check out the tutorial video below:

If you don't like this tutorial, click HERE to view a different one.

Here are some additional articles, guides, and resource links regarding the wonderful uses of Pinterest in education:

The Teacher's Guide to Pinterest

Using Pinterest in Education

Pinterest and Education

30 Inspiring Pinterest Pins for Teachers

Educators Guide to the Use of Pinterest in Education

Visit my Pinterest page @ https://www.pinterest.com/coach_allen/

Symbaloo

SymbalooEDU is another amazing tool for organizing all of your websites by creating a page called a "webmix."  A webmix can be created for multiple purposes or one specific purpose, topic and/or group (i.e. 1st hour algebra, 2nd grade, Physical Education, Teacher Resources, etc.).  In addition, you may categorize websites within a webmix by color-coding the square that each site represents (i.e. addition, subtraction, reading, writing, technology, etc.).  Each webmix is not only easy to customize, it is also very viewer and user friendly.  There is also a gallery that you may visit to view public webmixes that others have created, or you can search for specific tiles, webmixes or profiles.  If you would like to learn more about Symbaloo, check out the tutorial video below:

If you don't like this tutorial, click HERE to view a different one.  Click HERE for the Symbaloo Users Guide.

Here are some additional articles and resource links to further explore the benefits of Symbaloo in education:

11 Ways to use Symbaloo in the Classroom

Using Symbaloo in Your Classroom

My Top 52 Webtools for Students:  Symbaloo EDU Webmix

Symbaloo Educational Webmixes of Teaching Resources

Visit my Symbaloo Webmix that I created for my SJSD (St. Joseph School District) Teachers & Colleagues.

Google Drive Research Tool (Research Topic: Pros & Cons of Social Media in Education)
This week I got to discover another great resource in Google Drive, the research tool.  It allows you to perform a search for articles, images, etc. while you are working on a document.  Additionally, it also allows you to perform a search in Google Scholar if you are looking for sites or abstracts that are peer reviewed and more reputable sources of information when it comes to doing research papers.  When searching a topic, you can preview the site, insert the link, as well as cite the information right inside your document.  When citing information, you may choose the format (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.) that it is displayed depending on your institutions or instructors particular writing format, which is extremely useful.  It will then number and cite your source at the bottom of the page to match the material above.  To learn more about the Google Drive Research tool, please watch the videos below:

Click HERE if you want to see one more tutorial video.

Here are some additional articles and resource links to further explore the benefits of Google Drive's Research Tool:

Google Research Tool

Using Google Docs Research Tool in the Classroom

Research Tool Added to Google Presentation

How Google Docs' Research Tool Removes Drudgery from Reports and Presentations 

4 Important Google Docs' Features for Student Researchers

How to Organize your Research with the Power of Google Drive

Feel free to check out my Social Media Research assignment that I created investigating the pros and cons of using social media in education using the Google Drive research tool.