Google Apps are great for schools, or anyone, because everything is stored in the cloud and accessible from anywhere, no more emailing documents to yourself or carrying them around on a flash drive (Byrne, 2014). Documents can be shared with everyone, or just certain people, or anyone you send the link to. I was surprised to learn this week that Google is encrypted, a concern that my director of technology has about using websites to store student work. But the best thing about Google for schools is the ability to collaborate on a document to create a group project. I had to do that in my last technology class at SNHU. We worked with a partner via a Google Doc to plan and revise a lesson. It is possible to add to your peers' work or leave comments. We have also been doing this in a committee I am a member of at work that meets once a week, where we are revising our teacher evaluation process and forms. We are able to talk about ideas during our lunch meeting, and then update the documents via a shared Google doc when we have time.
I have taken a couple of workshop classes online using Google Groups as well. Google Groups is similar to Blackboard's discussion board, where you can create topics and have discussions on them.
Google Hangouts are another excellent tool for school collaborations or distance learning. Students could hang out with an expert in science or an author and learn from authentic sources. I was in a six-week workshop last summer (to learn Scratch) that used Google Groups, Google +, and Hangouts to communicate with other learners and with the trainers as well during virtual office hours via Hangouts. We also used Google Drive to create and share our notebooks (created on Google Presentation). I read a post recently by a former classmate about using iPads and Google Drawings as an interactive whiteboard.
Even though we are not a GAFE school, I have used Google Forms to do surveys with my students as well as to survey the teachers on what apps we should buy in volume for our classroom iPads. As part of an assignment for another technology class, I surveyed the teachers in the school to gauge their level of technology use in their classrooms. I teach my ICT students to use Google Presentation as an alternative to Powerpoint, and also teach them how to create their own websites using Google Sites. I think that using Google Drive is a good idea, because people can share documents without having to worry about whether they have the proper application or version to share documents, as it is accessible via PC's as well as Macs.
Students going off to college should learn to use Google Drive, then they don't need to buy expensive software to do their term papers. Google Docs even has add-ons now, one of which is Easy Bib for quick citations. At a webinar I attended this week, someone mentioned using Google Translate to help ESL students to understand textbook content by translating it into their native language!
As you can see, Google apps have so many uses and make sense to use in school.
Resources cited:
Byrne, R. 2014). Google documents for teachers. [Weblog]. http://www.scribd.com/doc/88518869/Google-Docs-for-Teachers-2012
Google.com. Google apps for education.
http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/education/benefits.html
Norkun, M. (2014). Use Google drawings as an interactive whiteboard. [Weblog]. http://tech-4-education.blogspot.com/2014/02/use-google-drawings-as-interactive.html
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you are using google forms to be able to get a pulse for what technologies teachers use in their classroom. It must be a helpful way to determine the needs of teachers when implement technology. I also agree with you that it is a great tool for professional development with it's ability to allow teachers to modify the same document online. I think that every school would benefit from GAFE.
I do love the idea of Google Docs and being able to edit it from home or side by side on computers with students. Do you think students still understand the editing process by doing that?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about students going to college and needing to learn about Google drive. I hope that my own children will get introduced to it before they go to college, but I plan on showing them myself if they don't.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I like how you mentioned that Google is encrypted and even linked the word to the Google page about privacy. Taking your blog viewer directly to your source of information is a great way to argue your point.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with the amount of experience you have with Google Groups. I have never used it before, but I can see how it would be beneficial for people to collaborate in a distance-learning environment. Hangouts are a great way to hold virtual office hours.
Lastly, I really like your idea about using Google Drawing as an interactive whiteboard. Last week I gave a test to my 3rd graders on polygons and was wishing for an interactive whiteboard where we could review polygons and vocabulary before the test. Google Drawings may have worked perfectly. I will have to explore it further.
Thanks for all the great ideas!
I agree, there is so much that can be done with Google. I think I use almost all parts of Google Apps. I have used the sites, all of our school web sties are created through Google. It is easy to navigate and simple to update! Our school is a GAFE school and I love the fact that it is so easy to use!
ReplyDelete