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Showing posts with label Google apps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google apps. Show all posts

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Google Apps and Collaboration Presentations at Iowa Central Community College

I have the wonderful opportunity to provide a few workshops at the Iowa Central Community College faculty conference called Tools for Teaching (T4T).

I have two sets of workshops that I will be presenting.


Dr. Z's Creative Cookbook for Collaborative Learning workshop - This is a workshop where we will be reviewing what it means to learn collaboratively and then explore tools and strategies for making it happen in the classroom.


Here is the Slideshow that I used in this workshop:



Google Apps in the Classroom workshop - This workshop will cover a variety of apps that we can use to improve the Learning and Teaching experience for Students and Teachers.  It is difficult to identify the proper tools to introduce, because there is a wide and varying range of skill levels in this faculty.  I hope that it will be a mind-blowing revelation for those who don't have much experience with Google Tools and an interesting mind-expanding experience for those who already use these tools with their students.  Most importantly, I hope that I learn something from my attendees that I will be able to use in my future teaching.


Here is the list of Resources used with the workshop.  This is an open, interactive Google Doc so it will include information beyond what Dr. Z originally posted.


Here is the Slideshow that I used in this workshop:



I would love to receive your feedback in the comments below or share it using the icons below.

Z

5 Unique Google Apps that You Haven't Seen . . . yet.

It is amazing what Google is continually innovating. As if it is not enough for them to create revolutionary ways to organize, access and create data, they are constantly pushing the envelope with new inventions.  You should review this WHOLE page before enjoying the videos to learn about what can happen in the World of Google.

Gmail Tap


Gmail Motion


Gmail Blue


Gmail Nose


Gmail Fiber

These are AMAZING applications.  They are creative, thoughtful and probably FAKE.  (I told you to Review This WHOLE page before enjoying the videos.  =-)

Z

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Getting to Know Your Online Students Through Truths and Lies



It’s your first night for your online course.  You meet with your online students through video conferencing (We use Zoom.us) so that your distant students will have a feeling of belonging to a group instead of just talking with each other through discussion forums. This is when you have to take attendance, review the syllabus and preview the class so that your students will know what to expect, right?

Wrong.  Involved learning is a social process and if you want your students to feel “part of the class”, it is more important for you to help them connect with you and the class members in the first class session.  This is especially important in an online class where faltering technology and unfamiliarity can get in the way of students feeling part of group.

There are plenty of ice breakers that teachers do in face-to-face classrooms, but they don’t usually translate to  online interaction well.  I teach an online course entitled Using Digital and Social Media in Education for undergrads and graduate students at the University of Northern Iowa. I was looking around for a way to create an easy-to-use interactive ice breaker and I happened upon an idea for the age old game, 2 Truths and a Lie.

Two Truths and a Lie is a great party game where you make three statements about yourself.  Two of the statements are true and one is a lie. This activity allows people to share about themselves at a comfortable level of disclosure. The only problem is that if we just make the statements orally, the interaction with the class can get lost. The trick is to  create an interactive tool.  I did this using an Open Google Spreadsheet.  This was a document where students could type their statements simultaneously and then post judgments about their opinions about each of their colleagues’ disclosures.

Preparation Steps
  1. Begin by creating a Google Spreadsheet like the one in Figure 1.  (You can actually make a copy of my spreadsheet, tinyurl.com/2truthz1lie
  2. Set the “Share” settings so that “Anyone with the Link” “Can edit” the file. This will allow your students to add their Truths and Lies and add their voted in the appropriate columns.  Your students won’t need to sign-in to do this.
  3. Add your name in the “0” row and then add your students’ names in the appropriate rows.
  4. Add your 2 Truths and a Lie in your section.  This is a great way to share something about yourself while demonstrating the process.
Running Truths and Lies
  1. Share the link to your spreadsheet with your students.
  2. Show them their names and the number next to each of their names. 
  3. Point out that there are numbered columns in the table and that each of their columns align with the numbers next to their names.
  4. Have them read each of your statements and cast their votes about whether they are Truths or Lies.
  5. Once they have casted their votes, you can tell the story about each of your statements.
  6. As you tell each story, add a T or L in the Answer column. The column has been set so that letters into this column will be red.
  7. Now it is time for your students to share about themselves. Each of the students will add their statements (2 truths and a lie).
  8. Once they have added their statements, they just need to cast their votes.
  9. The best part comes now when your students explain their statements like you did with your proclamations.   You might want to break it up so that half of your students share now and the others do it towards the end of your session.
Caution: I found that students who were connecting through their ipads had problems completing the table.  This seemed to be fixed by downloading the Sheets App from the Apple Store.

Give this a try.  I would love to get your feedback and hear about how it worked in your class.

Z

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

6 Important Resources for Learning Google Apps

google.com
I was looking for some instructional resources for using Google Apps and one of my students, Randon Ruggles from Minneapolis, sent me a plethora of them. While I feel that writing this blog is important because I can share information with you. the real reason is so that I can put it someplace where I won't lose it.

This video is great for those who have never heard or understand the concept of an online, collaborative document.
This is an index page of a bucketload of videos. You can access them by the specific app if you look for Learn by App towards the bottom of the navigation column.

This page includes documentation AND the training videos.

Interested in getting REALLY GOOD at Google Apps so you can be certified? Here ia a beautiful set of lengthy modules designed for people who consider themselves  certifiable. It might be helpful for those who have no background in Google Apps to run through a few of these.  They are lengthy, but beneficial if you are targeting an app or only one specific part of an app.  The chapters nicely break them down.

This is a multi-layered collection of documentation for using Google Apps. You can begin by selecting the apps in the left column and then narrow it down the specific activities in the application you want to use.

This includes everything (Blogger, Wallet, etc.) from Google.  It's all there, just click on "Show All Products" and you will see icons for every product. The support is supplied through a Help Center,  Forum Community of other users, or options for contacting support personnel at Google. 

Do these fill your needs?  Do you have other suggestions for resources?
If so, include them in the comments below.

It is ALWAYS good to hear from my readers.


Z
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Monday, July 12, 2010

Free Google App Inventor: Now You Can Create Your Own Droid Apps

It's HERE!!!! . . . . well almost here.

Mashable just posted that Google has launched a new tool called the Google App Inventor.  This new tool is supposed to enable non-coders to develop their own apps. Using a modular programming process, the neo-developer can drag and drop "blocks" to create the look, feel and functionality of the desired app.

Imagine using this capability in K-12 schools. I am not talking about programming class.  I am talking about History, Geography, Math, English and Spanish. Students will be able to augment their learning by creating apps that can assist them in solving problems and posing new ones.

The New York Times said that Google has been testing this for a while in the schools already to test out how it works.  A nursing student at Indiana University created an app that would call an emergency number if someone fell. The program used the phone's accelerometer to sense a fall and if the person didn't get up in a short while or press the onscreen button, it would automatically make the call.

I said that the App Developer was "almost here."  That is because I clicked on the link to take me to the Google App Inventor, and it took me to an application for being considered by the Google App Inventor team for receiving access to the beta version.

Not a problem. I told them that I am a Google Certified Teacher and then explained some of my visions for this wonderful way to empower the "regular guy/gal."  I hope that I am accepted.

Here is a video that shows how a neo-programmer creates, loads and executes a simple Android app in just over a minute.



Will these be polished and sophisticated applications?  I don't know enough about the interface, but at least this tool will provide the canvas upon which our creative artists can develop prototypes that can later be refined commercially if need be.

What do you think?  How would access to this type of programming assistant affect how students learn in your class?

photo: fonehome.co.uk

Monday, June 07, 2010

Improving School Communication through Google Apps

Google Apps is a set of applications that have become the technological backbone for many schools. Google Apps is a set of communication and collaboration tools that have been combined to provide a cohesive learning/collaborating environment. This environment has been created for both the K-12 and postsecondary levels.

Great thing about Google Apps for Education is that it is free.  Schools can put a great deal of their IT communication and collaboration tools in The Cloud. This means that Google has to worry about how to keep your system running 24/7.

Presently the tools include:
Communication Tools:
  • Gmail
  • Google Clendar
  • Google Talk
  • Google Wave
Collaboration Tools
  • Google Docs
  • Google Sites
  • Google Video for Education
  • Google Groups
This is just a quick posting to get the discussion going. Here are some resources you might want to use to learn more about it.

What about you?
Are you using Google Apps?  How long have you used it?  How has it changed your method of operations? What have been the advantages?  What about the disadvantages?  What other resources can you recommend?