How to Personalize Your Google™ Homepage
Are you interested in personalizing the background image on your Google™ homepage? Stylish provides a whole bank of Google Themes/Skins but why not make your own?
UPDATE! Since this post was written, Custom New Tab has expired and Infinity New Tab is a great replacement. Click HERE to download the extension.
With the Custom New Tab & Google™ Background Chrome extension, you can add photographs, images and even logos that will appear as soon as you launch Chrome! You can even set it to appear on any tab you open. Check out my current Chrome browser with my Techie Teacher logo:
Once you install the Chrome extension FROM HERE, click the plus sign that appears in the lower left hand corner and you will be prompted with this screen:
You can add an image to your Google homepage several different ways:
💻 Search Unsplash Images
💻 Import an Image from Facebook
💻 Choose a color
💻 My Gallery (a collection of images you have used in the past)
💻 Add an image from your device
You can customize the webpage as well as tabs even further by choosing whether or not you want the Google logo to appear. Also, you can alter the color/transparency of the search box.
How can this benefit students?
If your students have access to Chrome extensions then they would LOVE creating a canvas to customize their Google homepage and tabs. They could use PowerPoint, Google Drawing or any designing program to make their own design! The dimensions for the canvas are 1680 x 947 pixels. Students might finally get excited about research when using their search homepage they customized themselves!
YOU could even create an image for them to add. For instance, HERE is an image of 5 Google Research Tricks you can share with students so they can add it to their homepage. Just make sure they select the "Fit to Screen" option:
This serves as a reference for when they need extra assistance during their research. I like to use kid friendly search engines for younger students (which I do not think can be customized) but do coach upper elementary and middle school students how to effectively "Google".
If you are just starting out discussing Internet Research with students, then you might be interested in my PowerPoint Pack that contains two PowerPoints: Internet Research for Grades 3-5 and Using Key Words for Internet Research.
Definitely change up your Google Homepage in your free time. I can't tell you the excitement it brings ME each morning when I launch Chrome or open a new tab😜
