Digital Resources: Google Calendar

Quick: what are you doing next Tuesday at 130 PM? If you're like me, you probably have no idea unless you've written it down somewhere. Google Calendar makes for an excellent "somewhere" that can serve as a repository for all of your appointments and so much more. Because it's web-based, you can have the same calendar on any of your devices, and updating in one location will result in the information being present in any other location you log in to.

Before I moved into the library, I taught on a middle school team. One of the ways that we would communicate with parents and students about assignments was through Google Calendar. Each of us had our own calendar that was associated with a larger team calendar which was published on our team website. Google made all of the set up and management of this fairly easy - once we had ownership of our calendars, we could update them in one location (say, from our school laptop) and the addition would be updated automatically. If students had subscribed to our calendar (which is very easy to do), the change would appear automatically in their calendar. Since most students have some sort of calendar app on their mobile device, this means that when you update your assignment the information will be delivered to your students' mobile device automatically  (depending on the syncing preferences each student has set up). In addition to providing the general information about the assignment (what it is, when it is due, etc.) you can also attach digital copies of the documents that the assignment requires so students have access to all of those materials on their device as well. 

Whereas you can share your calendar passively through inviting subscribers, you can also actively share individual events or meetings through invitations. By inviting someone to an event or meeting that you schedule, they have the option of accepting or declining the invitation and then the event appears in their calendar depending on their response. 

The library calendar - each color represents another space or resource
someone has reserved in the library

Additionally, having a Google calendar allows you to keep yourself organized and make your time available to those who need it. Here in the library I use it to organize room schedules for the various library spaces, and then publish that calendar so that people can check availability of those spaces for their own and their students needs. By using a digital platform, I am able to easily schedule rooms or events for specific times over whatever days the event will occur. So if someone reserves the writing lab for a week during Periods A, D and F, I can create one event and duplicate it over the days I need it. You can also use it in conjunction with web apps (such as YouCanBook.Me) to organize meetings among a large groups of people. 

Where: calendar.google.com

Cost: Free 

What: Web-based calendar

Students! Try Google Calendar if you want to...

keep track of your assignments/due dates and other important events

plan events or meetings with various attendees

Teachers! Try Google Calendar if you want to...

deliver assignments to students' mobile devices (pending their subscription to your calendar)

schedule meetings with colleagues, administration, parents, etc. easily