I really enjoy my iGoogle page. I have it set as my homepage on my computer at work. I added several gadgets. I really like how the Google Reader just feeds onto the page. I can just glance at it and see if anything new has fed into it. I also like how it gives me a preview of what is in my gmail account. I have some other fun things on there, such as the moon phases, fun facts, a Spanish-English translator, joke of the day, and TV Guide. I have the NY Times and CNN newsfeeds on there as well. I guess since I'm already using this at work, it must have some educational uses. In teaching Science, it's always good to know the moon phases. I've used the translator several times to decipher the questions from the released Spanish TAKS test. Of course I've used the reader to get some great articles with great ideas for teaching.
I've tried using the Google calendar. I have to say, I think I like the Outlook calendar better. We use the calendar feature at work to notify each other of meetings, as well as to let each other know where we are since we all travel around the district so much. I also set up a Google alert to feed my reader with education news once a week. I explored the Google sites, and toyed with the idea of setting up a travel blog, but decided it was going to take too much time to set it up; I'm leaving for my trip this weekend.
Google has some great, free stuff, but if you already have Microsoft Office or some other program on your computer that is working for you, I would just stick to that. I've noticed the Google tools can sometimes be rather sluggish when you are trying to create on them.
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