Google Keep has quickly become one of my favorite tools in the Google toolbox. Keep is a note taking app that works a lot like sticky notes do, except that I don’t misplace these like I do sticky notes. The app has expanded its capabilities and now has a lot of great things that it can do. Here are some of the best features about Google Keep that will help you stay organized with information.
Colors and Labels
First of all, like many apps, Keep allows you to customize aspects of your notes to make them visually easier to find. First, you can color code notes. Just click on the color palette and select the color you want. This makes it easy to scroll through and find notes that are connected to the same ideas. You can color code different subject matters that you’re taking notes on. Students can use this to color code classes.
Labeling notes is another easy organization method. Just click on the three dots menu and select labels. Choose which labels you want to use, or create new labels. On the sidebar, your labels will appear. You can click on them to filter out all notes that don’t have that label. Great for organizing.
Adding Images and Grabbing Text
Keep allows to you add images to your notes. Take a picture with your phone or add images from your Google Drive. The images goes right in along with your notes. Tap or click on the picture, and you can even draw on top of it.
My favorite feature with images, however, is the ability to grab text from an image. If you’re on a computer, click the 3 dots menu. If you’re on mobile, tap the picture first, then tap the 3 dots menu. Select the option to grab image text. Keep will take any text in the picture and add it to your note. You may have to do a little bit or editing, but it’s pretty accurate. This has been incredibly helpful when I’m wanting to have students do some annotations with reading excerpts. I can snap a picture on my phone and grab the text in Keep.
Other Things You Can Add
Keep allows you to add other elements and features. Add a reminder if you need to remember to get something done on a certain day. Just click the bell icon and select a date and time OR you can even set a place reminder to get a reminder on your phone when you are at a certain location.
Working on something with someone else? You can add collaborators as well so that others can add information to your note. In the 3 dots menu, just select the add collaborator icon (the little person icon with a +) and add emails addresses.
If you want to add a visual but don’t have an image, use the drawing tool. Click on the menu and select add drawing. You can freehand any drawing to add to your note.
You can make a to-do list with check boxes as well. Click the add menu again and select checkboxes. Now you can create a checklist and check off items as you complete them.
Finally, you can add voice recordings to notes. Again, in the add menu, you can select recording. Then, just record your voice recording.
Adding to Other Google Apps
If you’ve done much with Google apps, you probably know that many of them are integrated into each other. Keep is no different. You can click in the menu and create a Google Doc with all of the information in the note. You can also use the sidebar to add Keep notes to other Google apps. If you’re in Slides, the sidebar will add a new slide with the title and body text. Try it out in other apps as well.
Keep has been a wonderful app for me. It works across all devices, so I can seamlessly move from the Chrome browser to my phone to my iPad without missing anything in it. There’s also a Chrome extension that allows you to save a web page to Keep. It’s not only a great app for teachers but also for students. Keep notes for classes and color code them by class. Organize research information for papers. Collaborate for projects. There are so many things that Keep is useful for.
The Educator's Quest 