Thing 41 Anything Goes Google

After attending a few conferences/workshops this year where the seating was particularly well thought out  I decided that I needed some type of device that was light-weight and easy to use. I began searching for an ideal device to use as my laptop is a 15 inch laptop (this is my main work computer for BOCES and Morristown). I was debating on a tablet of some kind but I too like to have a keyboard every once in a while. So my supervisor and I went on the hunt for a device that not only had a keyboard attached to it, but it could also go into tablet mode if the area was not well suited for a fully functioning device. We found the Acer Chromebook R11. This device is light-weight, can be a tent, or tablet along with a normal laptop. Best of all it is a Chromebook so it will sync all of my data and information between devices. I have been playing around with the device a little bit at work this week but I will be testing it out fully at SSL this weekend. 😀
So far I have been using Google Docs on it which I have used in the past but it is nice to see how they are synced so easily and readily available with the docs pinned to the shelf. I have been trying out Google Keep this week- I am very much a list oriented person and so far I find it useful.
I will be trying it out at the conference to see how I adapt to taking notes online as opposed to handwriting them all and then typing them up once I'm home.
I look forward to having a way to do things online and quickly that way I don't have to type everything once I'm home. I have set up a folder and documents for SSL already to make is that much quicker for me while I'm there.

I have also started using Google calendar heavily after attending a Google Summit in the fall and learning about the different ways to use Google calendar and allow for it to really help keep things in perspective. I use it for my library in Morristown so I can share with the staff members which days I'm district and what is going on in the library. It has been very useful when collaborating with teachers and I can put it right on the calendar and they are invited to the event. I still very much keep my hand planner to help keep track of the two locations I'm in along with my personal appointments and such but I find the Google calendar works wonders for school. I have found this calendar to be useful for so many events and activities at school. I am co-adviser on year book so I was able to plug in the meeting times and share out with the students as well as my co-adviser.

Now that I have a chromebook for workshops and conferences I look forward to learning new tools on Google and making them more a part of my career. I use Google drive on my "normal" laptop on a regular basis so I look forward to expanding the knowledge as I progress.

If you're at SSL look for the fluorescent orange case and that'll be me :-)