Online Nursing School Students Stay Connected With Google
It was born as a research project between several students at Stanford University, and developed as a means to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web. By 1998, the company was officially incorporated – Google Inc. – and the world was never the same.
Google has been making numerous advances in offering products that can help you work together by sharing information and work assignments. Some of these are very well known, and some are not. If you are a busy nursing student, some of these features may appeal to you.
Gmail
Originally, the Gmail software was available only as the internal email option for Google employees. After a five-year beta test phase, Gmail was officially offered to the public in 2009. Setting up a free Gmail account is easy. But if assistance is required, the site has an “Introduction” page, where features are explained in detail. The official “Help Center” guides users in keeping their accounts secure, navigating/organizing mail, and provides ways to report a security problem.
Google Docs
According to its official website, Google Docs is “a suite of products that lets you create different kinds of documents, work on them in real time with other people, and store your documents and your other files – all online, and all for free.” Using an Internet connection, files can be accessed from any computer, anywhere there is an Internet connection. The extensive “Get Started” page helps users manage, upload, share and publish documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings. Find more at https://docs.google.com/support/.
Google Voice
Let’s say you were trying to reach someone with a work, home and mobile phone, calling each number and leaving three different messages. However, if someone calls your Google voice number, you can have all phones ring, or none of your phones ring – depending on the time of day and the caller. You can listen to the voicemail before answering and all messages are automatically transcribed to text.
International calls are available at low rates, and it is possible to block unwanted callers. Google voice also allows you to create personalized greetings for multiple callers. According to the website, the list of features is growing. Get further information at http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html.
Google Zygote Body™
According to the website, “Zygote is the company behind the 3D human anatomy displayed in Google Body™.” Google is currently closing out Zygote, and moving toward a searchable/interactive 3D model of human anatomy. Enter an email on the website at http://www.zygotebody.com/ to receive updates and an official launch date.
Google+
This is Google’s social networking platform, marketed to make connecting “more like the real world.” It is similar to Facebook, but with some novel features. Staying in touch with nursing school classmates can be a breeze with these features, based on information from Google’s website. For more details on how to get started, look to http://www.google.com/support/plus/?hl=en. Here are a few of the features of Google+.
- Circles: “Circles make it easy to put your friends…in one circle, your parents in another, and your boss in a circle by himself, just like real life.” This feature seems to be getting the most attention.
- Hangouts: “Whether you’re home in your pajamas or hitting the streets with your mobile phone, video hangouts let you bring up to nine people into your world. It’s the next best thing to everyone being there.” This feature is perfect for studying or meeting with campus groups.
- Messenger: “Coordinating friends can be hard, especially if you’re trying to text a bunch of people at once. Messenger brings all those separate conversations into one simple group chat, so everyone is on the same page with no hassle.” This might be great place for coordinating a group project.
- Search: If you have a research paper to complete, understanding how a search engine works can certainly be helpful. From the basic concepts to tips for more challenging searches, Google has a series of three modules. Maximize chances for academic success; go to http://www.google.com/educators/p_websearch.html
We all know that nursing school can be tough. Enhance your ability to work on team projects with other students, communicate in real time, and organize all your assignments. All of which can be done free, with Google tools.
