Create a Custom Search Engine for your Students

Have you ever done a research project but only wanted your students to use reputable sites in their research?  You could use a Diigo list to provide them with this information, but there is still a better way.

You can actually create your own customized search engine in Google.  Check out my Bruins search engine. I limited the search to only browse through ESPN and Boston.com.  Try typing in 'Chara' or 'Lucic' or anything hockey related.

This took less than 3 minutes to create and I followed the excellent instructions provided by Teachthought.com.  You can make your search as broad (entire domains) or as narrow (limit to just a particular webpage) as you want.

How to use in Education

There are many possible uses for this customized search engine.

• When your students are doing research you may want to limit the number of sites they can get their data from
• You may want to only have them search on high quality sites that you have previously vetted out.  
• For younger students this would be a good way to ensure that they are only visiting sites that are age and content appropriate.  

What other ways can you think of to use a customized search engine?  Please share your thoughts in the comments area below.

Adding images to Google Forms

Well they finally did it.  You go Google!

For those of you that use Google Forms regularly you probably were frustrated by not being able to add an image to your forms.  Well our prayers were answered and Google has now added the option to insert images.  When adding an item, you simply need to select on 'image' and then you can uplaod an image from your computer or the web:

For further assistance, watch this video on how to add images to your forms.

How to use in Education:

Being able to insert images makes using forms for quizzes for math or geography or social studies classes much easier.  It will also allow you to create forms that are more esthetically pleasing.

QR Codes in AP Art

Do you notice a difference in these pictures?

Actual QR Code for Catherine's Project

Well, if you were walking the hallways of Medfield High School in early April, not only would you have been exposed to the amazing portfolios from the AP Studio art students, but you may have also noticed this (see image to left) next to some of their art work.  These symbols, called QR Codes, are just barcodes that can be read by most cameras/scanners*.  Once you scan these QR codes, you might be taken to a website, image, or video (you should be able to scan this QR Code to the left).

For our AP Studio Art Students, these codes provided an opportunity to share their insights about their work through video.  When scanned, you might hear from students about their concept, technique and what inspired them to make these amazing pieces of art.  More importantly, it allowed for other students and faculty in the school to learn more in depth about what they were seeing.  (You can access all student videos at AP Art –QR Codes)

Keep your eyes open next time you are walking the hallways of Medfield High School, as I imagine you will be seeing QR codes being used across multiple disciplines.  And you never know who you will find scanning QR codes.

Superintendent Maguire scanning QR Codes

* If you are using a tablet or smartphone, you can download a free scan app (go to the app store and type in ‘scan’ in your search).   Then simply open the app and hover your device over the QR code.