We all remeber the 'Buzz' about Google Wave and how it was going to revolutionize and replace e-mail and has the potential to be a brilliant collaboration tool in learning.  Well I do and I am no closer today seeing anyone run with it now than back then.  But I am still confident it's time in the sun is still to come.

It looks as though maybe even Google have tried to shift our focus off wave with the introduction of Google Buzz.  Yet another media sharing and collaboration tool that has great potential in the educational field.  I won't go into too much detail with it just yet or oversell it and recommend you check out the introductory video first then maybe you can enlighten me a little more on it.

No setup needed

Automatically follow the people you email and chat with the most in Gmail.

Share publicly or privately

Publish your ideas to the world or just to your closest friends.

Inbox integration

Comments get sent right to your inbox so it's easy to keep the conversation going.

Photo friendly

See thumbnails with each post, and browse full-screen photos from popular sites.

Connect sites you already use

Import your stuff from Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, and Google Reader.

See updates in real time

New posts and comments pop in as they happen. No refresh required.

Just the good stuff

Buzz recommends interesting posts and weeds out ones you're likely to skip.

 

Love to hear your thoughts and ideas

Another good link from James Atkinson.  Many of us have had the opportnity to have a play with Google wave but this list brings together some great ideas of how to use this unknown quantity in education.  Check it out here and I would love to hear any great success you have had with Google Wave.

When Google Earth launched in 2004 it was one of the web’s original ‘Wow!’ tools that people really stood up and took notice of.  Today it is in an industry standard in local government for zoning, transport and a multitude of other uses and industries.  As Google’s new high definition satellite gradually covers more of the planet we will also see it in greater detail which will again open up new opportunities for the creative and entrepreneurial minded individual. 

Street View, Space, Measuring Tools, Ocean Floors, 3D scapes, Photos and even historical overlays are just some of the additions to Google Earth that continue to grow this great classroom  resource.  Today I have compiled my top Google Earth Resources and Sites for Teachers for you get the most out of it for you and your students.  I hope you enjoy it.

 Stop by at Google First: 

If you are an absolute beginner with G.E in the classroom then this is your first stop.  You will find a great getting started section with video tutorials, lesson ideas and give you 10 simple tasks to do with your students that will get the ball rolling.  Click here to access the Google Earth for Educators home page.

Google Earth Pro for Free.

Did you know Google Earth Pro is Free for Educators?  Google Earth Pro allows you to access higher resolution images, it is ad free, allows you add overlays for others, create movies as well as much more.  I would start here if you really want to become serious about using Google Earth as it does allow for far greater opportunities.  Click here to find out how to access it for free.  It will only last for a year at this stage but will save you $400 straight up. 

Google Earth 101

This is an excellent Wiki that will require registration but once you are in it offers in depth tutorials on areas such as:  Shortcuts, How to examine environments, creating screen casts and understanding layers, curriculum ideas and further G.E Links  Nearly all of these are video tutorials which means both you and your students can learn together.  Click here to access Google Earth 101 a great Resource by Quentin Desouza.

Google Earth Lessons

Much like its name suggests Google Earth Lessons is a hub of “How To’s” Student controlled Lessons, Teacher controlled and mini lessons on a range of searchable curriculum areas such as maths, literacy, science and so on.  A great site by a dedicated teacher that you must visit.  Check it out here.

Google Earth Resources and Tools for Educators

Here you will find multitudes of applications to use alongside G.E, dedicated, G.E Blogs, Lesson Ideas and basically all things Google Earth and education.  A must see for those looking further.  Click here to access it.

Google Earth for Geography Teachers

Last but not least G.E is probably the greatest geography tool since the atlas was created hundreds of years ago.  So if you are a geography teacher who really wants to dig their teeth into physical and political boundaries of the world then this is the site for you.

Got this from Abhijeet Mukherjee at google tutor.  There is some great stuff here you can use to enhance your youtube experience in the classroom.

Since its inception, YouTube has steadily surged in popularity due to its great features. The site is now the most popular video viewing and sharing site on the web and among the top ten most visited sites in the world.

While YouTube boasts of some great features, there are various third-party tools which further enhance its functionality and make your experience of using the site a better one. Following are 4 such tools which YouTube fans would love to use.

1. YouTube Auto Buffer & Auto HD

I think one of the most common annoyances of YouTube is the auto play and buffer feature which makes the video play immediately when the page loads, and then buffers at frequent intervals causing the video to stop frequently. The YouTube Auto Buffer & Auto HD & Remove Ads Greasemonkey script is a great tool which buffers the video after disabling auto-play, removes in-video ads, and also puts it in HD if the option is present.

2. TubeChop

TubeChop is a cool tool which lets you extract your favorite part from a YouTube video and share it with others. Just search for the video, specify the start and the end time and get the url of the chopped clip.

3. Dirpy

Dirpy lets you convert Youtube videos to high quality audio files and then download them to your computer. You can specify the start and the end point of the conversion. It also provides a bookmarklet for the purpose.

4. Plistube

Plistube is an awesome web app for music lovers. It lets you create video playlists comprising of Youtube videos of your favorite artists or bands. Hence you don’t need to individually search for them anymore.

What other YouTube tools are your favorites ? Lets hear them in the comments.

What is it:  Google Sidewiki allows you and others to highlight any section of a web page to either comment on highlight or make a reference point to.  It is free and installs in a flash.

How can I use it in my classroom?  If you want your students to read a passage from a website you can now highlight the section, pose a question in the sidebar and start a discussion from within the page through Google Sidewiki.  All users must be registered so anonymous comments cannot be made.