Customize Chrome for Your Classroom

Do you have multiple accounts with Google? Why not create one for your classroom and use it to personalize your class's browsing experience? You could have everything the students need literally right at their fingertips. You can easily sign in and have all of your bookmarks, apps, docs, mail, and extensions on any computer!

Here's what you do:
1. Set up a Google account for your classroom. (I already had this created because I was teaching my students to use Google Docs a few weeks ago).

**Note** If you don't have the icon in the upper left-hand corner, go to your customize button (wrench) and click Sign in to Google Chrome.

2. Add things to your bookmarks bar that you know your students will need. 

For more on the bookmark bar click here.

3. Add Apps that you want students to have access to. You can do this by opening a new tab and going to the Chrome Web Store. Here's what I fixed for my students:

4. Customize your iGoogle page by adding or deleting gadgets. (If iGoogle is not your homepage simply click the customize button, go to options, and beside Homepage in the Open This Page box, paste this URL: http://www.google.com/ig). Use this icon to search for and add gadgets: 

Here's what our iGoogle page looks like:

I love the fact that I can now customize my students' web experience. They can easily find commonly used websites by simply clicking on the bookmarks bar, access classroom emails and documents, and even play safe games that I've approved.