Google+Alerts

=[|Google Alerts]=

 Google Alerts are email updates automatically sent to you of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. You can also choose to have your alerts delivered via feed to the feedreader of your choice (e.g., [|Google Reader] or add the feed to your [|iGoogle] page). We currently offer alerts with results from News, Web, Blogs, Video and Groups.

Video Demonstrations of Google Alerts

 * [|Google Alerts as your Research Assistant]
 * [|Google Alerts keeps you Informed]
 * [|Using Google Alerts]
 * [|Using Google Alerts to Detect Plagiarism]

Resources

 * [|Alerts Help]
 * [|Google Alerts Blog]
 * [|Podcast]
 * Tutorials
 * [|Getting Started with Google Alerts]
 * [|Tutorial to Help You with Google Alerts]

Strengths:

 * It is free
 * It is easy to set up and use
 * Currently, 6 variations of alerts (News, web, blogs, comprehensive, video, and groups)
 * Can create up to 1000 different alerts
 * You can tell how often to report updates
 * Available in multiple languages
 * Can receive emails as HTML or plain text
 * Alerts are available as RSS feeds
 * No downloads necessary
 * Easily interfaces with iGoogle and Google Groups
 * Can be accessed on any computer with Internet access
 * Constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content so you won't miss any updates

Weaknesses:

 * Results can be random and incomplete
 * Can get a lot of unwanted emails if your search criteria is too broad
 * Alert results can end up in your email junk or spam folders if you don't specify contact list information
 * Requires an account and email address
 * May lead to media overload! You can become inundated with articles you may never have time to read

Opportunities:

 * help students find, track, and summarize news stories
 * watch for new videos that match a specific topic
 * track new medical advances
 * watch trends in the stock market
 * access current statistics for presentations, reports, and articles
 * great tool for social bookmarking
 * track software release dates
 * find movie reviews
 * find current papers, webcasts, podcasts on any topic of interest
 * lets you know if someone has responded to your blog or research site
 * discover new educational tools

Threats:

 * still in beta (or test) version meaning there still may be bugs or errors
 * students may obtain emails that are inappropriate or too complex for them to understand
 * some consider it an online spy program
 * some news items may be inappropriate

Ideas For the Classroom:

 * create alerts for classroom projects
 * a great tool for students to use while researching for a project or paper
 * great tool for timeline projects in history or government
 * teachers can add alerts to student blogs to receive notification when blogs are updated
 * students can work in groups on different current events and get instant updates on items of interest
 * keep track of the new [|budget cuts in education]