Picture Perfect: Google Custom Search Engine, Gmail Tip, & Google Meet

Did you know that you can create a custom search engines on Google for students to use? As someone who teaches a VERY visual art class with Digital Photography I always want students to look at other photographer's work, I feel it helps them see what is possible, and often it leads to students being inspired and working on putting their own twist on their artwork. With a custom search engine that you create, it is made up of only the websites that you want students to use to pull information, or in my case, inspiration from.

For my search engine, I wanted my students to have access to visual inspiration, but I also wanted them to be able to have access to photography communities and websites that would be able to explain technical information for them. I used websites such as National Geographic for the visual and information avenue, but I also used 500PX for students to create online portfolios to store their digital work, and also communicate with other photographers about their work and be able to share ideas.

Feel free to try the search engine and type in any type of Photography idea you may think of!

I highly suggest you create your own custom search engine if you have students do any type of research during your time together.

Below is a video that will help, I found it very easy to follow and full of useful tips to help personalize the search engine.

This is not the only tip I have for you this week! This next one applies to Gmail, and has saved me more than once! Ever accidentally emailed the wrong person, hit reply all, sent an unfinished email because you got interrupted, or even sent something to everyone when it was supposed to go to just one person? Gmail allows you to enable “UNDO SEND” for situations just like these!

1) While in Gmail - Click on Gear icon (Settings)

2) Click on See All Settings Tab

3) Barely scroll down and click on UNDO SEND option & choose how long you have! Don’t forget to scroll down and SAVE CHANGES!
No more unwanted sent emails! Use the screenshots for extra help!

Last, but definitely not least for this blog is Google Meet. If you are like me, you had experience this past spring with communicating with students via cameras somehow. For me it was all on Zoom, and that worked out fine for talking with students, but there was more I wanted to do with them but didn't know how. Google Meet is the answer for me, and it may be the same for you, especially if you use Google Classroom for students to get and turn in assignments and have access to information like tutorials.

With Google Meet, you can link it with Google Classroom as an Assignment or Announcement so students can have access to the link to join, and if they can't join while the meet is in progress they still have access to the meet if you record it, allowing students to still get the information but work at their own pace. For me personally, I would use Google Meet to critique (discuss) the student's latest project photos with them as a group. Group critiques help students learn from each other what is successful, and what is not, and helps the group grow vs individual critiques which helps the individual photographer grow.

If you need help setting it up, I suggest you watch these two videos, they helped me understand how to use it and gave me the idea of using it for critiques!