Amazing Learning Activities With Google Drawings

Purpose & objective

Google Drawings is a powerful, but often overlooked, tool in the Google Drive suite. The purpose of this session is to give an overview of how to use Google Drawings, and then to dive deep into a wide range of practical applications for Google Drawings in teaching and learning.

Over the years I have created an extensive library of templates and trainings for Google Drawings covering many subject areas and grade levels. All of these resources can be accessed at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oomxj9h-ol6r67HCnrZIpwJomAUPsu2tueWEtwNiWh0/edit

In this session we will explore the uses listed below.

Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers - Students can use Drawings for graphic organizers in any subject for compare and contrast, analysis of ideas, pre-writing, classification, ordering a system, and more. I have developed over 40 free graphic organizer templates that teachers and students can use or adapt, or use for inspiration to create their own graphic organizers.

Google Drawings for Math - Drawings can also provide fun and creative ways to address Math Common Core Standards with digital manipulatives. Topics include symmetry, angles, polygons, pictographs, line plots, area, fractions, algebra and more. I have created a wide range of Drawing templates and activities that can be used by teachers and students in math.

Google Drawings for Desktop Publishing - Drawings also lends itself well to desktop publishing with the ability to control the placement of text, images, and shapes. This can be used for students to create educational memes, greeting cards, brochures, posters, and more.

Google Drawings for Interactive Images - Drawings can be used as a Google version of ThingLink to create interactive posters and infographics. Students can use Drawings to annotate an image with links that go out to additional resources, images, videos, and information about the topic being explored and explained.

Google Drawings for Background Removal Activities - With Drawings, students can literally put themselves into their learning with this fun activity. Students can take a photo of themselves, give it a transparent background with several tools, place themselves into other photos in Google Drawings, and use the drawing tools to add speech bubbles and more.

Google Drawings for Art - With Google Drawings students can create exciting art projects such as self portraits and mosaic art. Students can add an image to their Drawing, then use the shape tools and polyline tool to make their own stylized version on top of the original picture.

Outline

The session will cover the following information. Note: live links to the resources referenced below can be accessed at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oomxj9h-ol6r67HCnrZIpwJomAUPsu2tueWEtwNiWh0/edit

1) Overview of how to use the tools in Google Drawings (15 minutes)

2) Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers (12 minutes)

3) Google Drawings for Math (12 minutes)

4) Google Drawings for Desktop Publishing (15 minutes)

5) Google Drawings for Interactive Images (12 minutes)

6) Google Drawing for Background Removal Activities (12 minutes)

7) Google Drawings for Art (12 minutes)

Supporting research

Google Drawings can be used for many teaching and learning activities. At the core though, all of these activities tie back to visual learning. Much research has been done on the impact of visual learning for students. One of the best known names in visual learning, Inspiration Software, provides an overview of the benefits as well as a detailed whitepaper at: http://www.inspiration.com/Resources/Research

Some of the core benefits mentioned include improving student learning and performance in the following areas:
Reading comprehension
Student achievement across grade levels, diverse student populations and content areas
Thinking and learning skills such as organizing and communicating ideas, seeing patterns and relationships, and categorizing ideas
Retention