As a teacher it is my responsibility to help my students become 21st Century Learners. In order to do this I must first become a 21st Century Teacher! Education is ever changing and technology is becoming increasingly intertwined in all aspects of learning. One of the newest changes is the move towards using Google Chrome as a web browser. Recently at a staff meeting my fearless leader, aka the principal, expressed the desire for the staff to incorporate Google Chrome and Google Tools more into our classroom instruction. At that very moment I was so glad I had decided to take the course "Google Tool for Educators" instead of "Today's Learner." So this is where my adventure begins.
My first assignment was to download Google Chrome and create an account. At this point I was thinking, "It's a web browser, how different can it be?" I watched the video tutorials and began to see many advantages to Google Chrome. On such advantage is the quickness of the browser. It is faster. I also like the fact that you can personalize it with a large variety of free themes. Who wants a plain ordinary screen anyway? This browser also keeps track of your most visited sites and places them in a small window on the screen when you open a new tab or start up the browser. Another great feature on Google Chrome is the built in security. It quickly gives a warning message if you are about to visit a site that uses malware or other malicious software. Also, if an app or tab crashes it does not cause the rest of the browser to crash. In other words it gives you crash control so you can handle the offending app or tab independently.
My two favorite features are the omnibox and incognito mode. The omnibox acts as a search engine and an address bar. It is smart and can tell the difference between a term and an address. This is so cool and is really time saving! The ease of browsing then leads to my other favorite feature, incognito mode. I like to do a lot of online shopping especially around Christmas. I do not like the crowds. O also have two teenage sons who are good with computers and have found that they can look up my browsing history on the family computer! It is the new way of peeking at your Christmas presents early! In incognito mode the browser opens a new window and does not record the browsing history on the web browser. Sorry Patrick and Brice you will not be able to figure out you presents early this year!
If you feel Google Chrome is the web browser for you then you can click here to download it. The following video will help walk you through the downloading of Google Chrome and setting up an account.
Thanks for riding along on the first part of my adventure!
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