Google and the Power of Stories

Occasionally when I'm watching television I'll see Google commercials for Chrome and Google+. I know that all companies have a lot of marketing hype, and it's easy to get pulled into their advertising.

All the marketing glitz aside, I've found my own personal story to tell about how Google has helped my cousin, her husband, and the rest of my family cope with the loss of my dear great aunt. Barnie Hall passed away in January at the age of 97. As I was growing up, she was one of the people in my life who held things together for our family. I remember the wonderful Christmas eves spent at her house and the raucous fun that she would have with my grandmother making fruit cakes (with just a little bit of wine!). After their family moved away in search of paradise - first to Hawaii, then to Naples (FL), and finally to the Florida Keys, I had the great fun of visiting them in those tropical locations. We took our daughter to meet Aunt Barnie when she was 3 months old. I have a great photo of Aunt Barnie holding Meg (in a tiny blue swimsuit) at their first meeting. Every year since then, we have visited them in the Keys and I have a photos of Meg growing up with Aunt Barnie.

So how does Google fit into this story? In December I introduced my cousin to GMail because she was having so much trouble with her e-mail client program. We enjoyed sending photos to each other and it made communicating much easier for her. We received the terrible phone call about Aunt Barnie's death on January 15.

I was able to get down to visit my cousin during the first week after Aunt Barnie's death. I feel so fortunate that I was able to be with them as they began coping with the loss. I installed Chrome on their laptop, and we had a few wonderful Google+ hangouts with my husband and Meg. It was so good that they could join us as we cried together and told stories. I hated to leave, but since then I have enjoyed seeing the green chat light when my cousin is online, and we've had a few nice chats that way. I've also posted photos and videos of Barnie to Picasa and YouTube to share. I used the people feature in Picasa to find all of our photos of Barnie and was able to create a beautiful slideshow of wonderful times spent in the keys with her - walking on No Name bridge, playing putt putt, and having picnics at Bahia Honda or Fort Zachary Taylor parks. Good times and often very funny times!

My cousin has also found her voice with Google Docs. She is going back through all of the stories that they wrote over the years and putting them in Google Docs. Every day I get one or two stories written in her voice or Aunt Barnie's voice. All of the memories come flooding back, and I can hear Aunt Barnie speaking the words. The writing is therapeutic, and the stories are now recorded for our entire family to read and enjoy. The stories are wonderful, and I've already volunteered a title for my cousin's future book!

Grief continues, but staying connected has made a difference for all of us. If you haven't been writing down your stories, I encourage you to start sharing stories with those you love. It can make a huge difference in their lives.

Chromebooks: The Final Piece to the 1:1 Computing Puzzle

After a year of planning, I'm happy to report that our 1:1 computing initiative is on the move! In the last two weeks, all of our elementary schools have received Samsung Chromebooks for 5th grade classrooms.  The carts are still being assembled, but the Chromebooks came out of the boxes ready to go. Over the next month, high schools and some middle schools will also be receiving Chromebooks.

The device selection process was very comprehensive, and I believe that the Chromebooks will make a real difference in how our teachers teach and in how our students learn. My district has Google Apps for Education and the Chromebook is the perfect fit. The Chrome OS integrates completely with Google Apps with a single sign-on and a full web browser experience. Here is my top ten list (in no particular order) of why the Chromebook is great for education:

1. Boots up in 8 seconds - This is a big time saver in the classroom. Students open the Chromebook, sign in, and they're ready to work. Students can also close the lid without worrying that they will have a long boot up process when it's time to work again.


2. No management issues for the classroom teacher or the IT department - Automatic updates and no viruses. Teachers can teach instead of managing equipment. The total cost of ownership for a Chromebook is much lower than the total cost of ownership for a laptop.


3. Battery - The Chromebook battery easily lasts for 8 hours.


4. Management Console - The IT Department can deliver apps and set restrictions using the Management Console which is built into the Google Apps for Education administrator dashboard.


5. The Cloud - The Chromebook allows students full access to Google Apps for Education. Students can create ePortfolios using Google Sites, chat with their teacher, collaborate with other students on a Google Doc, access Picasa web albums, blog, and a host of other things. With Ericom, our students can also access our district cloud.


6. Apps - The Chrome Web Store is growing every day with great free apps for education. Many of the apps can be used offline if needed. Students don't need an additional account to download and install apps.


7. Physical Keyboard - The keyboard has been modified to include a search key and a reload key. The physical keyboard makes it easy for a student to be productive.


8. USB ports, memory card slot - It's easy for a student to insert a flash drive or SD card and upload files or photos to Google Apps using the Chromebook File Manager.


9. Webcam - The webcam works well for Google chat.


10. Flash - Until more vendors create HTML5 sites, we can still access educational content through Flash sites.

My list could go on, but the most important thing about the Chromebooks is that they will provide our students with meaningful experiences and 21st century skills that will prepare them for a great future! Students in our pilot group were collaborating, creating, and publishing on the first day that they started using the Chromebooks. Stay tuned for updates on how Chromebooks are being used in classrooms.