Google

  Drive: Drive is a great example of cloud storage. Someone can access Drive through their Google homepage, and create a word document, spreadsheet, presentation, or graphic. This can be used in the classroom in many different ways. Word documents are easily shared from one person to another, so students can use Drive to write essays and then share them with their teacher for grading or help. The teacher can use the commenting feature to mark up the essay during grading, too. Presentations are a lot like PowerPoint and can be used for instruction as well. We can use these tools in the library for the same purpose. We can help students save their work and turn it in. We can use presentations for staff development presentations as well.  YouTube: YouTube is an excellent tool. A person can directly upload a video from a phone or iPad to YouTube as a cloud storage site. Then, these videos can be shared by simply changing the security settings. YouTube also has some video editing features that are very easy to use. Two ways we can use YouTube in the library are by posting book talks or book trailers and by uploading video tutorials, much like screen casts.  Sites: Google Sites is a very simple web design program. Users use basic, straightforward options to design websites for themselves or a group. Sites would be a fantastic way to create a library website, because it is so easy to embed content and customize design. It is also very fast to make posts. Another way we could use Sites in the library is by using it for staff resources. There are commenting features that would enable collaboration within the school community, and that's always a good thing! 
 * Using Google Apps for Education **