Google Books announced seven improvements today. Two of these improvements immediately jumped out as useful for educators and students. First, it is now as easy to embed a Google Book as it is to embed a YouTube video. Simply copy and paste the code and the book appears in your blog. I’ve embedded Moby Dick below.

The second improvement of interest to teachers and students is an improved text search. Now when you search for phrases within a book, the search results will display a larger chunk of context.

Applications for Education
Being able to embed a book into a class blog or website could make reading assignments more accessible to students. If your students are already in the habit of checking your blog for assignments, they will be able to complete their reading assignments in the same place.