Google Doodles

I often tell teachers don't zip past those Google Doodles because they can be a great stepping stone to a good discussion or lesson. For instance, today's doodle celebrates the birthday of Oskar Fischinger. And to my point, I have no idea who he was or what he did. So naturally I go explore, which is what educators encourage their students to do, or at least I hope you do. CNET describes him as a "filmmaker and abstract animator". There is a lot to learn about him and the work he did which was clearly ahead of his time.  Do not jump past those doodles. You might abandon your lesson for the day but anytime you encourage learning and discovering new things is never a bad thing. #lifelonglearner


Kreise (excerpt) by Oskar Fischinger from CVM on Vimeo.

Google Doodles

https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tab=ww

So I totally admit this is not a cool web tool for education but being a Star Trek fan I found the Google Doodle today pretty awesome.

Although- I do think Google Doodles can be a great spring board to discussions. I always keep Google as my default homepage so when I turn on my projector I don't have to worry about some less desirable story showing up in front of my class. (Thank you Google for that.) Many times there has been a Google Doodle that either myself or someone in the class will notice and comment wondering what it is about. So naturally we have to click and go investigate. We have had some great learning moments that might not have been what I planned to do in class that day, but we all walked away having gained knowledge we didn't have before.

You can even search Google Doodles and view past ones. Something to use perhaps as an introduction to a lesson.

So don't just zip past that Doodle! Teach out of the box once in a while.