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Google Drive is Google's cloud storage  with15 GB free of charge. This is probably one of the best productivity suites that  has a huge potential for us in education.  Besides being able to store our files and access them anywhere with internet connection, Google Drive also enables us to view, share and collaborate in real time while creating a document, spreadsheet or making a drawing. For those of you who are still struggling to come to grips with Google Drive functionalities, Educational Technology and Mobile Learning has a special page packed full of interesting guides and tutorials on how teachers can use Google Drive. Check it out to learn more

Now that so many schools are using Google Apps for Education, teachers need to be familiar with many different aspects of Google that they might not otherwise use. The slideshow below has 4 illustrated steps to adding an Event to the Google Calendars that we have on our school intranet.

"The Google Docs collection provides a streamlined, collaborative solution to writing papers, organizing presentations and putting together spreadsheets and reports. But besides the basic features, there are lots of little tricks and hacks you can use to make your Google Docs experience even more productive. Here are 100 great tips for using the documents, presentations and spreadsheets in Google Docs."

Wow what a great chrome extension. This looks like a great tool for all writers. I especially like the 'collect highlights' tool. Make sure you watch the accompanying video to see how it works.  Read&Write for Google Docs is a cool extension I found on Web App Reviews that can benefit ELLs and struggling readers. The extension provides you with a special toolbar on the top of your Google documents.

This website is from one of the Google+ communities titled 'Google Apps in Education'. On this PD training space you will find a wealth of information to navigate yourself around Google Chrome. Hope it helps.

Productivity and simplicity, these are two things the modern knowledge worker craves. Google Reader is my "secret weapon" of productivity and I'd like to show you how I get the most out of this program.

YouTube has a firm place in the current classroom. From Khan Academy's videos to YouTube EDU and beyond, there's a reason all these videos are finding a home in schools. In an effort to help keep the ball rolling, Google just launched a set of 10 interactive lessons designed to support teachers in educating students on digital citizenship. A topic obviously quite close to Google's heart. Google (which owns YouTube) built the lessons to educate students about YouTube's policies, how to flag content, how to be a safer online citizen, and protect their identities. Below is a list of lessons, and the recommended flow for delivery. Lessons are designed to fit within 50 minute classes, but can be adapted to fit your schedule:

"Real World Math is a collection of free math activities for Google Earth designed for students and educators. Mathematics is much more than a set  of problems in a textbook.  In the virtual world of Google Earth, concepts and challenges can be presented in a meaningful way that portray the usefulness of the ideas."

Would a person with good handwriting, spelling and grammar and instant recall of multiplication tables be considered a better candidate for a job than, say, one who knows how to configure a peer-to-peer network of devices, set up an organisation-wide Google calendar and find out where the most reliable sources of venture capital are, I wonder? The former set of skills are taught in schools, the latter are not.

Great slideshow demonstrating how Google apps can be used to support teaching and learning with project based learning. 

A fantastic Google Presentation by John Pearce looking at Web 2.0 tools and other cloud based apps to support thinking

Here is a google search to thinkers keys

This looms like another great mind mapping tool. It's great that you can save it to your Google drive. I was able to create a map on my ipad with ease. Online mapping is a great way for students to make their thinking visible and because it can be saved to drive they have the capacity to share it with others and collaborate.

Electronic portfolios are gaining so much popularity among teachers and students. Their easy accessibility and availability anywhere anytime make them really worth trying. There are actually several web tools that you can use to create digital portfolios and I have already reviewed some of them in this post, however, today I am sharing with you an excellent video tutorial from EdTechTeacher on how to use Google Drive as a portfolio solution in iPad classroom. Check it out below

OMG! Everything you need to know about Pixlr a great online photo editing tool that links in with your Google drive account.

MindMup is an excellent web tool that allows you to create beautiful mind maps. Mindmup does not require registration and is very simple to use. It is also integrated with Google Drive so you can save your mind maps straight to your Drive account. MindMup also provide a set of good extensions to enhance your mind mapping. Some examples include:

A great example of using google sites as a platform for eportfolios

Some great images of the shaun tan arrival 

A fantastic list of apps for iPads in edu. On this page, we are showcasing Apple Apps which can help educators with teaching and learning activities, as recommended by various educators within the #UKEdchat forum. You can easily sort the columns by clicking the arrows by each heading. Are we missing an iPad app which you use a lot in school? Please let us know in the comments box at the foot of the page, or via @UKEdchat on twitter, facebook, or Google+.