The Moss-Free Stone

Thanks to my Twitter friends, I recently found Weblin, a social networking site that has a different approach. Weblin users download a small piece of software that enables them to create a personal avatar that bears a resemblance to a Second Life character. Once activated, the avatar is present at the bottom of the browser screen as users surf the web. As sites are visited, if other users are on the same page, their avatars will be seen. They can then talk via speech balloons publicly, or engage in private chat. Additionally, the site has features that allow users to use their accounts to post to sites such as Digg, Del.icio.us, Furl, etc. It will likely be awhile before enough users are signed up to make encounters commonplace, but it is an interesting take on networking, as it puts users together based upon common browsing habits. If anyone registers, my avatar is Randy2.0. Say hello, if you see me!

The K12 Online Conference 2008 has released its call for participation. This is a great event, particularly in that it opens the door to learning about Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom to a global audience, and it allows access to some incredible educators from the comfort of a participant’s office chair. Details are below.

We are pleased to announce the call for proposals for the third annual “K12 Online Conference” for educators around the world interested in the use of web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled for October 20-24 and October 27-31 of 2008, and will include a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13. The conference theme for 2008 is “Amplifying Possibilities.”Participation in the conference (as in the past) is entirely free. Conference materials are published in English and available for worldwide distribution and use under a Creative Commons license. Some changes in the requirements for presentations are being made this year and are detailed below. The deadline for proposal submission is June 23, 2008.Selected presentations will be announced at NECC 2008 in San Antonio, Texas, USA on July 2.

OVERVIEW:

As in past years, K12 Online 2008 will feature four “conference strands,” two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday through Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two weeks. Including the pre-conference keynote, a total of 41 presentations will be published. Each twenty minute (or less) presentation will be shared online in a downloadable format and released simultaneously via the conference blog (www.k12onlineconference.org,) the conference Twitter account, and the conference audio and video podcast channels. All presentations will be archived online for posterity. A total of 82 past presentations are currently available from K12 Online 2006 and K12 Online 2007. If you are planning to submit a proposal, please review archived presentations from past years to determine what you might offer that is new and builds on previous work. A variety of live events will also be planned during and following the weeks of the conference.

FOUR STRANDS:

Week 1

Strand A: Getting Started

Everything you wanted to know about getting started with web 2.0 technologies for learning but were afraid to ask. The presentations in this strand will focus on specific, free tools for newcomers. Whether you have one classroom computer or a laptop for every student, digital technologies can provide new opportunities to connect with other learners, create new and exciting knowledge products, and engage students in an expanded learning process beyond the traditional “boundaries of the bell.” Teachers first introduced to Web 2.0 tools are often unaware of the new possibilities for teaching and learning afforded by the Read/Write Web. Presentations in this strand will amplify and model what is possible in terms of pedagogy, student creation of content, and collaboration. Practical classroom implementation ideas will be emphasized. Presentations will focus more on the ways new tools can be used to engage students in learning, rather than focusing exclusively on how specific tools are used. If you’ve ever felt like everyone else knows more than you about teaching with technology and you need help getting started, this is the strand for you.

Strand B: Kicking It Up a Notch

You’ve been using blogs, wikis and other technologies for awhile but perhaps haven’t seen them transform your classroom and the learning environment for your students in the ways you think they can. This strand amplifies ways new technologies can be used to transform classroom and personal learning. Rather than merely replicating traditional, analog-based learning tasks, how can digital technologies permit teacher-leaders to “infomate” learning to add greater interactivity, personal differentiation, and multi-modal exploration of curriculum topics? Fresh new approaches to using Web 2.0 tools for learning and authentic assessment will be highlighted. Presentations will explore innovative ways Web 2.0 tools can be blended together to help students create, collaborate, and share the knowledge safely on the global stage of the Internet. Maybe it’s time to share your insights and experiences with your teaching community. Join these sessions to gain insights on amplifying the possibilities of learning in your classroom and/or your professional practice.

Week 2

Strand A: Prove it

Although some teachers are excited to “amplify possibilities” using computer technologies, Web 2.0 tools, and 21st Century learning strategies in their classrooms, how do we know if these innovative instructional strategies are really working? Since information technologies and emerging brain research continue to rapidly evolve and change, it is challenging as well as vital to find current, meaningful research to undergird the learning initiatives we are using in our classrooms. What are “best practices” for teaching and learning with the new participatory media? This strand will share research results from the field that support students in using knowledge to communicate, collaborate, analyze, create, innovate, build community and solve problems. In addition, successful methods for developing and/or delivery of action research projects or research-based instruction in today’s digital world will be explored. In some cases, participants may be invited to participate in ongoing or beginning research on Web 2.0 tool use, constructivist pedagogy, or other 21st Century research issues. Educational research about emerging professional development strategies, contemporary learning theory, systemic school reform, and other current themes of educational change are also appropriate for inclusion in this strand.

Help us to examine such research questions as:

• What does research in learning science, instructional design, informal learning, and other fields tell us about today’s learner and their success?
• What design features must teachers incorporate into their instructional activities to support meaningful learning?
• What is the role of assessment in today’s changing classroom? How should assessment be structured to meaningfully assess student achievement in the context of the modern classroom?

Strand B: Leading the Change

Innovative approaches to teaching and learning using web 2.0 tools are often utilized by a limited number of “early adopter” teachers in our schools. This strand seeks to amplify ways educators in a variety of contexts are serving as constructive catalysts for broad-based pedagogic change using Web 2.0 technologies as well as student-centered, project-based approaches to learning. Presentations in this strand will both showcase successful strategies as well as amplify critical issues which must be addressed for innovative learning methods to be adopted by teachers, librarians, and administrators on a more widespread basis. These issues may include (but are not limited to) issues of copyright, fair use and intellectual property, Internet content filtering, student privacy and safety issues, administrator expectations for teacher utilization of Web 2.0 tools, pilot initiatives utilizing key Web 2.0 technologies in different content areas, and innovative ways students and teachers are providing just-in-time support as well as formal learning opportunities for each other focusing on Web 2.0 tools. Successful approaches for both large and small schools, in rural as well as urban settings, will be included. This strand will explore and amplify a menu of practical ideas for educators in diverse contexts who want to continue amplifying possibilities in our schools.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS:

This call encourages all educators, both experienced and novice with respect to Web 2.0 learning tools, to submit proposals to present at this conferencevia this link. Take this opportunity to share your successes, strategies, and tips in “amplifying the possibilities” of web 2.0 powered learning in one of the four conference strands.

The deadline for proposal submissions isJune 23, 2008 at midnight GMT. You will be contacted no later than July 2, 2008 regarding your proposal’s status. The conveners reserve to right to reposition a presentation in another strand if they believe it is best placed elsewhere. As in past years, conveners will utilize blind review committees to evaluate all submissions.

Presentations for K12Online08 must conform to the following requirements:

1. Presentations must be a single media file of twenty minutes or less in length.
2. Presentations must be submitted in a downloadable and convertable file format (mp3, mov, WMV, FLV, m4a, or m4v.) Presenters wanting to use an alternative format should contact their respective strand convener in advance.
3. Presentations are due two weeks prior to the week the relevant strand begins. (Week 1 presentations are due Monday, October 6, Week 2 presentations are due Monday, October 13.)
4. Presentations must be submitted only one time and on time. Early submissions are welcomed! Repeat submissions (with changes and additional edits) will not be accepted. Presenters should proof carefully before submitting!
5. All presentations will be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

The following are optional but encouraged presentation elements:

1. Prior to September 13th, presenters are invited to submit a “teaser” (maximum video or audio file length: 3 minutes) about their presentation. This can be any type of online artifact and does not have to be downloadable. Examples may include videos, animations, posters, audio interviews, etc.
2. In addition to marketing the presentation, teasers can be designed to encourage and solicit community input related to the presentation topic in advance of the presentation submission deadline.
3. View teaser examples from 2007 at http://k12online07.wikispaces.com/Teasers
4. Supplementary materials supporting presentations are welcomed. These can be wikis with supporting material links, linked examples of student projects, school district exemplary initiatives, social bookmarking collections, and/or other related content.
5. Follow-up projects and/or live interaction opportunities for conference presentations which further amplify the possiblities of the presentation topic may be included. (This can include sharing and building of content prior to, during and after the conference.)

As you draft your proposal, you may wish to consider the presentation topics listed below which were suggested in the comments on the K-12 Online Conference Blog:

Special needs education

Creative Commons, Intellectual Property, Copyright and Fair Use

Student voices

Community involvement

Games in education

Specific ideas, tips, mini lessons centered on pedagogical use of web 2.0 tools

Overcoming institutional inertia and resistance

Aligning Web 2.0 and other projects to national standards

Getting your message across

How web 2.0 can assist those with disabilities

ePortfolios

Classroom 2.0 activities at the elementary level

Teacher/peer collaboration

Authentic assessment

Overcoming content filtering issues

Navigating “open web” versus “closed web” publishing of student work

Prospective presenters are reminded that the audience of the K12 Online Conference is global in nature and diverse in their educational context. For this reason presentations and presentation materials which address issues from a variety of perspectives are welcomed.

EVALUATION

Acceptance decisions will be made based on RELEVANCE, SIGNIFICANCE, ORIGINALITY, QUALITY, and CLARITY. Borrowing from the COSL 2008 call for proposals:

A submission is RELEVANT when

• it directly addresses the conference and strand themes

A submission is SIGNIFICANT when

• it raises and discusses issues important to improving the effectiveness and/or sustainability of 21st Century teaching and learning efforts, and
• its contents can be broadly (globally) disseminated and understood

A submission is ORIGINAL when

• it addresses a new problem or one that hasn’t been studied in depth,
• it has a novel combination of existing research results which promise new insights, and / or
• it provides a perspective on problems different from those explored before

A submission is of HIGH QUALITY when

• existing literature is drawn upon, and / or
• claims are supported by sufficient data, and / or
• an appropriate methodology is selected and properly implemented, and / or
• limitations are described honestly

A submission is CLEARLY WRITTEN when

• it is organized effectively, and / or
• the English is clear and unambiguous, and / or
• it follows standard conventions of punctuation, mechanics, and citation, and / or
• the readability is good

KEYNOTES:

The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who is distinguished and knowledgeable in the context of their strand. Keynoters will be announced shortly.

CONVENERS:

• Darren Kuropatwa is currently Department Head of Mathematics at Daniel Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his pedagogical practice. Darren’s professional blog is called A Difference (http://adifference.blogspot.com). He will convene Getting Started.
• Dean Shareski is a Digital Learning Consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dean is an advocate for the use of social media in the classroom. To that end he works with teachers and students in exploring ways to make learning relevant, authentic and engaging. He also is a part time sessional lecturer for the University of Regina. He is celebrating his 20th year as an educator. Dean blogs at (http://ideasandthoughts.org). Dean will convene Kicking It Up A Notch.
• Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach, a 20-year educator, has been a classroom teacher, charter school principal, district administrator, and digital learning consultant. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching preservice teachers at The College of William and Mary (Virginia, USA), where she is in the dissertation phase of completing her doctorate in educational planning, policy and leadership. As the cofounder of the Powerful Learning Practice Network she helps schools and teachers from around the world use community as a powerful tool for systemic change. You can find out more on her website at www.21stcenturycollaborative.com. She will convene Prove It.
• Wesley Fryer is an educator, author, digital storyteller and change agent. He summarizes his ongoing work with educators and students in social media environments with the statement, “I’m here for the learning revolution.” His blog, “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” was selected as the 2006 “Best Learning Theory Blog” by eSchoolnews and Discovery Education. Social media sites to which Wes contributes are listed on http://claimid.com/wfryer. Wes will convene Leading the Change.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions about any part of this call for proposals, please contact one of us:

Darren Kuropatwa: dkuropatwa {at} gmail {dot} com

Dean Shareski: shareski{at} gmail{dot} com

Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach: snbeach {at} cox {dot} net

Wesley Fryer: wesfryer {at} pobox {dot} com

Please duplicate this post and distribute it far and wide across the blogosphere. Feel free to republish it on your own blog (actually, we’d really like people to do that ) or link back to this post (published simultaneously on all our blogs).

Conference Tag: k12online08

Reagan just finished her second podcast, a review of Emma’s Strange Pet, by Jean Little. She really liked this book, because it stars a green anole, one of her favorite backyard visitors. She and I are both amazed at the traffic her little podcast is getting. She has had over 40 subscribers in the past 4 weeks! (See chart above.) What a powerful way to motivate a child to read and to share what they are reading!

Podomatic is a very easy site to use, incidentally. You get 500 mb of free storage with the basic account. By converting your videos to mpeg4 using a converter such as the free one made by Jodix, a 2-3 minute podcast uses just a few mb of memory, so you’ll be able to post many podcasts before having to invest in a free account.

I used the Google Documents survey tool to create a brief survey over the use of Internet tools by educators in our district. Seventy teachers responded. The survey turned out as expected, generally, with a few surprises. Some of the results:

Time spent online away from work:

• 31% <2 hours
• 37% 2-5 hours
• 16% 5-10 hours
• 16% >10 hours

(This was encouraging to me, as it is clear that they are spending quite a bit of time online, more than I would have guessed. The key is to be able to take advantage of this, by getting them interested in visiting and using sites that will enrich their instruction and help them grow as teachers.)

Types of sites being visited (percent of respondents who regularly visit each type of site):

• News (84%)
• Educational/Informational (76%)
• Entertainment (41%)
• Video (26%)
• Medical (26%)
• Blogs (26%)
• Photo editing/sharing (23%)
• Games (20%)
• Wikis (17%)
• Social networks (13%)
• Other (40%)

(Teachers appear to primarily use the Internet for information gathering, rather than content creation or socializing, although it was a pleasant surprise that fully 1/4 of respondents spend regular time on Web 2.0 sites, such as blogs and social networks.)

Specific sites visited (percent of respondents who have visited each site at any time–top 10 listed only):

• Google (91%)
• Yahoo! (90%)
• YouTube (76%)
• Wikipedia (64%)
• MySpace (50%)
• Blogger (37%)
• Facebook (33%)
• Wikispaces (30%)
• Edublogs (29%)
• TeacherTube (24%)

(Again, there appears to be a heavy emphasis on locating/consuming information. Some sites that garnered almost no responses include Twitter (3%), Digg (3%), Bloglines (3%), and StumbleUpon (2%).)

Active participation (percent of users with active, contributing accounts at each site):

• Yahoo! (49%)
• Google (41%)
• MySpace (20%)
• Facebook (14%)
• Blogger (11%)
• Edublogs (10%)
• YouTube (10%)
• Wikipedia (6%)
• Wikispaces (6%)
• Wet Paint (6%)

(Assuming that the affirmative responses for the Google and Yahoo! accounts are primarily email or IM, the evidence again seems to show clearly that very few educators here are creating any content. It is encouraging to see as many social network users as the survey indicates. StumbleUpon, Wordpress, and Twitter each were blanked in this category.)

The final question changed directions a bit, as I wanted to get a little feel for the resources being used in actual instruction. The percent of each tool that educators have at some point used in their instruction:

• Photo/video sites (50%)
• Online bookmarks (27%–I’m very dubious about this one, given the fact that 1% responded that they had a del.icio.us account. I believe the question was misunderstood.)
• Blogs (24%)
• Podcasts (24%)
• Wikis (23%)
• RSS/XML readers (9%)

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I’d be interested in any feedback I could receive regarding the results of the survey and what they mean. My first reaction is that I need to be doing more to facilitate creative use of Internet tools. Far too little creative content is being created and shared by the students in our district. Any other thoughts?

For any educators out there who like the idea of Web 2.0 and recognize its importance, but are too intimidated or otherwise reluctant to dive right in, I offer the following list of 5 things to try first. I think these tools will give you an idea of how simple it is to create online content and to build an online community.

Blog

Just write. Write about your family, a hobby, your job (carefully, of course), politics, religion, entertainment, or anything that interests you. Start out by committing to blog once per week. Send emails to your friends and family, inviting them to read and join in the conversation. You may be surprised how easy it is to build a loyal following, as they respond to your ideas, expand on them, and argue with them. A very easy site to begin blogging with is Blogger. It’s account setup and user interface are very user-friendly. Others to look at are Wordpress, Windows Live Spaces, Blog.com, or Blogster. There are also numerous blogging sites intended for particular audiences, such as Edublogs, of course. Try more than one–they are all free for basic memberships–and see which suits your preferences and needs best. The important thing is to just do it–write, invite, communicate. (You’ll also get more blog traffic if you frequent other blogs, leaving thoughtful or eye-catching comments and including your blog’s address.)

Create a Podcast

This is a very easy way to get content on the web and to get an audience, and it is especially appealing to those who aren’t as big on writing. To create an audio podcast, you need either a computer with a microphone and audio editing software or a cell phone. You can create a free online podcast account at numerous sites, including Podbean, Podomatic, MyPodcast, etc. You can go through the steps of getting your podcast listed in iTunes, if you wish, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. Next, create your first podcast. Use an audio editing program, such as GarageBand (Mac) or Audacity (PC). Record yourself talking about a topic which you are particularly knowledgeable or opinionated about. You might also record homework information or study tips for your students. Edit, if needed/desired, to eliminate unwanted noises, pauses, coughs, etc.. You can go so far as to add musical introductions/endings, but this isn’t a requirement. I found a nice selection at Incompetech.com that is all licensed under Creative Commons as requiring attribution only. If needed, convert your file to mp3 (This is an Export function in Audacity.). Upload your file to your podcast page, give it a description, and invite some friends to listen. They can leave comments and subscribe to your future podcasts. Again, you’re starting a conversation, only this time with your voice. If you want it to be an even easier process, sign up for a Gcast account, and start podcasting via cell phone. Either way, you will find it is a very easy, enjoyable, and efficient way to create content.

Broadcast a PowerPoint

One of the easiest ways there is to share information on the web is to simply upload content that already has been created. PowerPoints are a favorite in many classrooms. One thing that I believe leaves them lacking in terms of usefulness, however, is that they are designed as a one-way communication tool, and generally for a small audience (the teacher). A site that takes PowerPoint to the next level is Slideshare.net. With an account in Slideshare, PowerPoint presentations can be uploaded and converted to a Flash video format. Most formatting is preserved, including slides, illustrations, text, and links. Viewers can check out the show, leave comments on the entire thing or individual slides, embed the show into their blogs, or download it to their own computers. Imagine having a class upload all of their PowerPoint shows, then view classmates’ shows and leave questions/comments–takes PowerPoint from 1-way communication to multi-directional instantly.

Share a Document

The next time you have to create a word processing document, spreadsheet, or PowerPoint presentation with a group of people, try doing it online. Google Documents is a great place to begin (You can also use sites such as ThinkFree or Zoho, if you prefer.). You’ll need an account (free). Create your document, then click on the Share tab on the right of the screen. You will be able to send an invitation to other users to contribute their own ideas and content to the product you started. It is really amazingly exciting and powerful to watch as the screen automatically refreshes, and changes made by other users automatically appear as you work. You’ll gain a better understanding of the usefulness of this tool for student collaboration.

Stumble

This is the easiest way to discover and bookmark new pages on the web that I have found. You can also recommend sites to others. To sign up, go to StumbleUpon and register, including your interests. You’ll get a browser add-on with the company logo and the word Stumble! on it. When you have a spare second, click this button and a random site appears that is related to the profile you created when you registered. If you like it, click the I like it! button, and it is added to your online bookmarks. You can also recommend new sites using the same button, and they will be shared with other members. It is surprisingly addictive, especially during commercials in the evening, and you will discover parts of the Web you likely never knew existed.

These are just a few tools, but they are all easy to get started with, and they’ll give a good feel for the general idea, that the Internet is now about creating content and creating communities.

I spent a great Sunday afternoon with my 7-year old daughter yesterday, and we finally got around to doing something she’s been wanting to do for awhile–setting up her own podcast. It’s called Reagan Reviews, and she plans on doing reviews of the many, many books she reads.  Book reviews, either audio or video, are a great way to introduce students to podcasting, and the subject matter is endless. The tools we used were an RCA Small Wonder video camera and Adobe Premiere Elements for the editing. We converted the .avi video file to .mpeg using the free Jodix video converter software, which I like for its ease of use–browse to the file and click convert. The host site she’ll be using for now is Podomatic, which offers 500 mb of storage, enough to get her going. Setting up a user account and uploading the podcast with this site were fast and easy, although certainly not easy enough for her to do without my help. I’m working on uploading the video to YouTube, and I’ll be sure to post it here when it’s ready.

(Note–I tried uploading to TeacherTube, but the site hung up in the final stages of the upload. This isn’t the first time this has happened for me. I love the site, and really hope they can invest in some server upgrades. In the meantime, it’s difficult for me to recommend to teachers that they use it for hosting their own videos. If this changes, I’ll be the first to spread the word.)

Sitting in a meeting at a north Texas school district today, and this is a list of some of the sites with blocked access that I encountered in a quick check:

• Bloglines
• Gmail
• Twitter
• Ning
• Blogger
• Wikispaces
• PBWiki
• WetPaint
• YouTube
• Flickr
• Photobucket
• Picnik
• Scrapblog
• Jott
• Fleck
• Trailfire
• Skype
• Flock
• Slideshare
• Polldaddy
• Zamzar
• Google Documents

Some categories that the offending sites fall into include messaging, personal pages, entertainment/recreation/hobbies, instant messaging, web phone, dating/social (for Flock?), shareware/freeware, and, my personal favorite, computing/internet.

While district filters are a fact of life, this one is providing me with a needed reminder of what a lot of teachers (One or two of which may actually read this!) face when they try to implement Web 2.0 into their curriculum. They sit on their home computers, find exciting new resources, and create fantastic, engaging, and relevant lesson plans that utilize the tools, only to find the site blocked by their districts. I’m not trying to be critical of the district (The discussion about the disservice done to students and teachers who have such tools blocked will be saved for another day, another forum.) , because such policies certainly help eliminate many risks to students and networks, but when those of us who are fortunate enough to work in much more open environments share outside of our home turfs, we need to keep in mind that the audience may still be dealing with districts that apply a more tightly-protective philosophy. Offering several alternative sites during sessions is definitely a good idea.

By the way, they blocked Jack Handy’s Deep Thought of the Day on my iGoogle page–that is simply going too far!

Technorati Tags: Internet, filter, web 2.0, tools

Google Documents has added a great new feature to their spreadsheet tool. Now you can easily create online surveys, forms, even quizzes. The video below shows how to use the tool. I used it to create a short Internet use survey for the teachers in my district in just a few minutes. Participants are invited to participate via email addresses. Once a quiz has been completed and submitted, results are posted in a spreadsheet whose categories are automatically created. Looks like another nice option for anyone needing to gather data from small or large groups of teachers, students, or community members.

One of my personal favorite online photo editing tools, Picnik, is now giving away its premium features, such as advanced editing tools and special image effects (which it teased users with in a free preview period last year). They have added some advertising, but it is very unobtrusive. This site, which is incorporated into Flickr, offers a very user-friendly interface, perfect for allowing students to do professional looking creative editing of their photos. The image to the right is an example of one such tool, called Focal B&W.

(Note: When I attempted to access Picnik through Flickr, the premium features were still listed as just that–premium. However, when I went through Picnik to access my Flickr images, the newly free features were accessible. I’m sure this will be updated soon. It should also be noted that a Flickr account is not required to use Picnik.)

Thanks, again, to Techcrunch for the heads-up!

Techcrunch reported today that Google, which purchased wiki site Jotspot a year and a half ago, has finally released their version of the tool, called Google Sites. The site is part of the Google Apps collection. Google Sites requires a school or work email address to join, and new members are screened using the email domain of the creator, allowing for the easy creation of a “walled garden” type of wiki.

I created a site easily and found the general controls familiar, reminding me quite a bit of Wikispaces.

The site offers 20 different design templates (compared with 4 for Wikispaces). There are 5 page templates, as well, including one which specifically is designed to easily insert other Google Apps, such as Google Video, Youtube, Picasa albums, or a calendar, and another for file uploads. The free version of the site allows for quite a bit of uploading, too–10 gigs, to be exact. Privacy settings range from private to public view-only to completely open.

Google Sites looks like a good tool, and will provide another option for the growing wiki crowd. While it doesn’t stand out in any extraordinary way, its association with Google and the easy interaction with the dozens of other great Google applications certainly make it something worth checking out.