Google tools for teaching and learning... what’s that?

Google tools for teaching and learning... what’s that?

This was exactly the expression of one of my ESL adult students when I "revealed the secret" in class about Google tools for teaching and learning just before we went to the computer lab. Everything started like usual, I am always looking for ways to maintain my students engaged and motivated to learn even in tough times. This is the reality, many immigrants that come through the refugee programs, lotteries, by crossing the borders, and more are in many ways in need of adjusting their experiences to a new way of living. One big piece of those adjustments is learning the language.


I found that for many individuals learning should be happening in a traditional way; a classroom, a teacher or two, (who they can kill with questions if they need to because they know all the answers) many books, notebooks, and pencils. But we now know that this is old fashion. Teaching has actually changed a lot with all the technology revolution. Classrooms are now full of technological equipment that make teaching so fun, interesting, and alive. Technology brought to our classrooms a wide range of possibilities to make lessons unforgettable making it accessible for all with all needs. So adapting to all this new concept of learning using technology has been hard for many my ESL adult learners, but doable at the end.

Google, in this case, provides many tools that have been very, but very helpful for my teaching in the past few years. It is my intention with this blog to talk about those tools (that many of you know already,) but I would like to focus in ways you can use them to teach and learn. I am not saying that it is totally new or perfect, but it may give you some new ideas that you can adapt to your own style and see what happens. I would also like to use this opportunity to learn from you. Furthermore, all comments, ideas, ways to do the same thing but different are very much welcome.

In my next input, I will be talking about how Google Blogger can change the dynamic in an adult classroom, maintain students motivated, and different activities that could address different identified needs. Again, these ideas are coming from my very own experience and you can always adopt them if you'd like.

Thank you for reading!

Kennia