Google Elements

Google Elements is a lesser-known Google feature. Elements lets you embed Google Calendar, Chat, GoogleDocs Presentations, custom search, spreadsheets, GoogleMaps and other Google content into your Web site by just copying and pasting some code. You can easily enhance your teacher/LMS site with student presentations, your class calendar, maps, or other Google content.

The latest Element is News. There are eight general news feeds (Top stories, entertainment, technology, World, US news, and others) or you can create your own using keywords. Like this News Element for Libraries:

Google & Privacy

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has asked the Federal Trade Commission to: 

... pull the plug on Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and the company's other Web apps until government-approved "safeguards are verifiably established."

More details on Cnet News here. Tempest in a teapot or something to worry about?

New Tools

Life Magazine Photo Archive
2 million photos from Life Photo library from 1750s on. The goal is to add 10 million of Life's photos. Search from the start page or you can include source:life with any Google Image search query. Great for History Day, among other things.

EtherPad
"The perfect way to collaborate on a text document and keep everyone literally on the same page." Doesn't Google Docs already do this? Their answer:

No. Google Docs is a suite of products that do many things, from word processing to spreadsheets to document management. One thing that Google Docs does not do is real-time collaborative text editing. We think this is an important use case, so we built EtherPad with real-time collaboration as the focus.

Gmail Themes
Not exactly a productivity enhancer, but Gmail has added the ability to customize the look of your Gmail account.

Google SearchWiki
Tailor your Google search results. Learn more.



And a tool no more--Lively
Google announced that it will discontinue Lively, a Second Life-type 3-D virtual world creator in December.

Google Docs Blog

I recommend that everyone subscribe to the Official Google Docs Blog. This useful source gives updates to Google Docs features, points out ways to use the product in classrooms, and is just a good way to keep up with what's happening. A recent "contest" asked K-12 teachers to send in their ideas on using Google Docs in their classrooms. The first 50 respondents received a Moleskine journal.

Recent posts highlighted the Table of Contents feature and bibliography templates.

GoogleDocs & Copyright

I am clearly behind on my blogging--like so many of you:-) I hope you are thinking and learning and will share what is happening.

Being behind, I am late in posting this information that responds to some questions about who owns the copyright for material produced using GoogleDocs. There were some rumors/doomsday posts in the blogosphere awhile back asserting that Google owns your copyright.

The answer is that the creator holds the copyright, just as the creator holds the copyright on any written or artistic creation whether or not a copyright is registered for the work. Take a look at Google's Terms of Service.

Google’s terms provide strong protection for intellectual property. Abusing other people's intellectual property rights is forbidden:

8.2 … You may not modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on this Content (either in whole or in part) unless you have been specifically told that you may do so by Google or by the owners of that Content, in a separate agreement.

It acknowledges your rights:

9.4 Other than the limited license set forth in Section 11, Google acknowledges and agrees that it obtains no right, title or interest from you (or your licensors) under these Terms in or to any Content that you submit, post, transmit or display on, or through, the Services, including any intellectual property rights which subsist in that Content (whether those rights happen to be registered or not, and wherever in the world those rights may exist). …

And,

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. …