Tip #8--Using Google Groups to promote student writing

Google Groups is Google's take on an aspect of the web that's been around for as long as the Internet--discussion boards.  It is not fancy, but it can provide you with a great way to engage students in some informal writing and to engage them in discussion with each other about class concepts.

In the example above, AP English students have been asked to debate the issue of man's role in global warming.  You might ask, why don't I just have them do this in a Google document?  And the answer is that you could.  However, it does open up some possible problems, especially when dealing with young folks who don't always make the best decisions.  Since everyone who is sharing the document can edit it as they like, which could enable some ne'er-do-well to engage in electronic vandalism. Sure, you should be able to catch the culprit using revision history, but if someone were smart enough to lift another student's log in information, it might be hard to track down the true culprit.

Google Groups allows you as the instructor finer control over what is posted and even provides content filtering and the ability to flag for moderation posts that may be inappropriate .  It can be somewhat complicated to set up, however, but once it's done, it can be a very effective tool for student writing.

Mostly, though, the students become very motivated by the opportunity to engage with and comment on each other's ideas. It can often result in very animated, but moderated, discussions.

What is Google Drive?

Google Drive

You may have noticed that Google Docs is now called "Google Drive." For the most part, this change is just a re-branding of what Google Docs has already been able to do.  As stated in previous posts, it's been possible to upload all different types of files to Google Docs for quite awhile.  "Google Drive" is mainly just Google deciding to make it official.  They will be rolling out the change in three phases.  By the end of the third phase, everyone's "Documents" choice in Google Apps will change to the name "Drive."

The web interface will change slightly, but for the most part the experience will be the same.  

There is another aspect to "Drive" that would require a significant amount of changes if it were to be applied within the district.  "Drive" has a downloadable desktop app that functions as a local repository for documents and files stored on Google Apps.  Installing this app would require administrative privileges, which is why it would require a larger conversation about whether it should be implemented or not. There are also apps for iOS and Android smart phones.

The "Drive" desktop app allows users to setup offline access, so that they can edit Google Documents without an Internet connection.  Then, when the computer has access again, the "Drive" app syncs the files edited on the local computer with the files stored in the Google Apps cloud.  

Tip #9--Ideas for Student Use

How students can put Google Docs to use:

• Divide up work:  Students can work side-by-side on the same document, splitting up the work load
• Always have their files:  Instead of emailing files to themselves, students can upload their non-Google files to Docs and then download them at school.
• Record research:  Instead of using index cards to record research for papers or projects, students can create a Google document and share it with their teacher
• Share research:  Students can easily take notes and then share them with other students of their choosing (of course, this could also make plagiarism easier as well)
• Make presentations:  Google recently update their Presentation maker to include things like embedding video files and creating animations.
• Draw:  Use Google Drawings to collaborate on and create charts, diagrams, logos, etc.
• Meet up virtually:  Students can be assigned group work at home (provided they have computers and Internet) and they can "meet" on the web instead of having to physically get together.

One thing that is certain is that those students who are comfortable with technology will always come up with new and unique "tweaks" to use these emerging technologies.

Tip #7-Flipping the Classroom

The concept of flipping the classroom is a hot topic in education at the time this blog post is being written.  Largely pioneered by a website called "The Khan Academy," to "flip" the classroom means to record and store lessons online, to assign students to view them before the next class, and to spend class time helping the students apply what they've learned.  It's called "flipped" because it takes the traditional model of teaching a topic in class and sending the kids home to work on it, and reverses it.

The theory is that instead of sending kids home to grapple alone with what you've taught them, teach them "at home" and then work with them in school to develop their skills.  Below is my first stab at trying this technique.  It is a PowerPoint of background information about Macbeth with narration that I converted to a movie and uploaded to Google Docs, as well as posting it on the blog below.  To share it with the students, I will email them a link from the Google Docs share function:

Full disclosure:  The PowerPoint/video above was made using Microsoft Office 2010 because Office 2007 does not have the ability to save files to video (unless you purchase a third party add on).  Keynote, for Mac, does support saving presentations as video files and has for quite awhile.

Tip #6--Storing and viewing video files

Any video files uploaded to Google Docs can be viewed from within Docs itself, without downloading the files.  One assumes that this feature will be more likely to work on computers outside of school, but one never knows. Also, all copyright laws do apply, and you can be held responsible for any content posted in violation of those laws.

The picture above shows the file name for a video lecture on using the verb "To Be" that has been uploaded to Google Docs.  The "eye" icon above the file will appear when the file is selected.  Clicking on the eye will cause the video to open and play within the browser.  A screenshot is below:

Tip #5--How to upload and download files

To upload files to Google Docs, as we discussed in Tip #4, you need only open Docs and click on the red upload button:

Using Google Chrome, it is possible to upload entire folders to Docs, but we will focus on sending just files for now.  The process is the same for folders.  Clicking on "Files" opens up the box below:

Note that the two boxes marked "convert" are unchecked.  This means your file will upload in the original format.  If you check the first box, Google Docs will convert your document to their proprietary format.  If you check the second box, Google Docs will convert a PDF file into Google Docs format.   Click "Start upload" and a box will pop up in the bottom right corner displaying your upload status.  Once it's done, your files have been uploaded to Google Docs and can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection:

Downloading files is just a matter of checking the box next to the file and selecting "more" and then "Download."  Once there, a pop up will appear giving you choices about what type of file you wish to download.

 

** Side note:  If you uploaded a PDF file (perhaps one that you have scanned to file) to Docs and converted it, you can now download the file as a Word document that can be modified.

Tip #4--Storing files on Google Docs--The Why

Storing files on Google Docs without converting them to Google's proprietary format:

An under-publicized feature of Google Docs is the ability to upload files to Google's servers and to keep those files in their original file format.  There are other services that do this, such as Dropbox, but using Google Docs is a simple and effective method.

Why would you want to do this?  If you have files that have been created in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, the formatting does not always convert well into Google Docs.  So, for instance, if you have used multiple, very bright colors and fancy designs in your PowerPoint presentation, they may all be reduced to one, bland web-safe color or disappear entirely.

Below is a screenshot of a folder that contains files that have not been converted to Google Docs format.  The blue W indicates Microsoft Word files and the Adobe symbol indicates PDF files.  These files involve tables and text boxes that would not convert well.  Using this method, each user that has access to the folder can download the files in their original form and utilize them.

A key point:  When you choose to use Google Docs in this way, none of the collaboration or chatting or revision history features will be available.  You are simply making use of Google's server space to store your files.  Theoretically, as long as you were guaranteed a working Internet connection, you could store all of your files for work or school this way and never have to carry a USB drive or portable hard drive with you again.  This is a core idea of "cloud computing."