Google Applications for Educators

Google Applications for Educators Tamara Dodge Charles Kolbusz Mary Anna Thornton CEP 811 August 3, 2008

Introduction

Google Docs (http://docs.google.com/) can be used in any situation where a group of people wanted to work on a single document or when a single person wanted to work on a document from multiple locations. To share a document you click the share tab and input the email addresses of those you wish to share with or you can create a publicly document. The teacher’s role in using Google Docs in general would be insuring students have the necessary access to the Internet and the support (scaffolding) to explore the site to realize its potential. There is a developing divide in America between the haves and have nots that is being expanded with the students' comfort level when using technology. Part of a requirement for a teacher using this tool is to be able to support those students that need more support. Google for Educators is a site created by Google to help teachers learn how to use free Google applications in the classroom. The site includes descriptions of these applications, basic instructions in locating and using these applications, examples of lesson plans, and professional development suggestions. These applications are particularly appropriate for the educational setting because they can be shared quickly and easily over the Internet, simplifying student collaboration as well as teacher/student communication. The site provides a wealth of useful information to the interested educator. Following are evaluations of three of these applications, Google Docs - Presentation, Google Docs - Spreadsheet, and Picasa.

Presentation Using Google Docs Presentation, you have the option of uploading the presentation you created in another product (PowerPoint / Impress) and then further modifying it or sharing it. If you chose to create your presentation in Google Docs Presentation then you may choose from 15 themes for the background or use my all time favorite — white. In your presentation you can insert video, shapes, text, images along with using the organization tools of creating, duplicating and deleting slides. On each slide the user can change the font (Bold, Italic, Underline, Color, Highlight, and change the font style). The user does not have the option of adding sound but there is a location to type in speaker notes.

Spreadsheet Google Docs – Spreadsheet is an application I selected primarily because I am an avid Microsoft Excel user and haven’t really considered using any other application. My evaluation comes from the perspective of an experienced Excel user and someone who has little motivation for a switch. To test the spreadsheet application in Google, I copied into it some data I had recently been working with in Excel. Using that data, I constructed the same analysis and parsing that I had previously done with Excel. Google spreadsheet was able to handle it without any issues. I then took a run at it for the charting/graphing side of the evaluation. If you have done some charting in Excel, you know that it can be powerful, but also frustrating trying to get it to lay out the rows and series of data in the manner you intended it in. The Google application, while not as powerful, did have a more user-friendly interface and seemed more intuitive in the manner that it helped you construct the chart/graph. If found this to be an item of interest and something that I may have to utilize in the future for charting multiple data points. Students who are looking to utilize spreadsheets, whether it be Excel or one of the online offerings, need to have some skill level in the formula construction and logical approaches that are necessary when working with spreadsheets. Those are basic skills that are found in all spreadsheets and required for even the simplest efforts. Sharing any of the work done in the different Google applications is a very easy process. Upon creation of the document, you add the emails of anyone that you want to share with. Done. Collaboration on group assignments could be easily done with the use of Google applications. Students, as part of a laboratory experiment, are often asked to compile data, not only from their groups work, but from the class as a whole. Through Google spreadsheet, students could collectively enter the data from their portions of the research to create a single document that accurately summarizes all of the classes contribution to the project as a whole. The instructor would have to monitor the contributions to insure accuracy in the portrayal of the information and timely completion of the entry. Teachers need to be cautious anytime a group task can have an impact on an individual’s grade as this can lead to discourse from particular students or parents if they feel the workload or effort hasn’t been evenly distributed. Google Spreadsheet is on par with Excel in usability and features. Its ability to be shared easily among users through simply entering an email address makes it a tool that can definitely be used in the classroom.

Picasa Google provides the free software Picasa for download. Picasa allows users to easily organize, edit, and share photos. Picasa offers the basic editing functions that Adobe Photoshop does, but Picasa is vastly easier to use. I played with my personal photographs in Picasa and found that I could organize, crop, and straighten them, and apply various improvements and effects, in a delightfully quick and easy fashion. Processes that take several steps in Photoshop can be done in one or two easy steps in Picasa. This software does not offer the complexity and sophistication of Photoshop, but for the less expert user who just wants to whip up and share some good photos quickly, it's great. Students would need to know only the basics of common software applications to feel comfortable using Picasa. The menus are set up in a very intuitive fashion. As soon as the software is downloaded onto your computer, it scans for photos and then presents all your photos to you in thumbnails on the left side of the screen. All you do is click on one of them and click on some of the options and it becomes very obvious how you can manipulate the photos. Photos can be uploaded to a Picasa Web Album and they can be sent to others via email or cell phone, embedded in blogs, viewed by any other Picasa Web Album users that you’ve invited, or made available to the general public if you choose to do so. Through Picasa, photos can also be shared the old-fashioned way, by ordering prints. The most obvious way that Picasa could be used in the classroom is in a digital photography course. If you simply think of images as one means of communicating, however, then the uses for Picasa could be much wider. Picasa could be used as a presentation tool in any class. Students can easily create slideshows or posters, for example, to communicate information in any discipline. The Google for Educators site has many examples of creative projects that teachers have developed using Picasa. Teachers who are interested in using Picasa would have to work out with their school technology staff members how to provide students access to Picasa, either by downloading it to students' computers or via a network. Although the software is very user-friendly, a teacher would have to demonstrate to students how to use the software. The teacher would also have to set ground rules for appropriate communication, as in any type of class work that involves collaboration. In addition, the teacher would need to take into account the various levels of technology skill among class members and the technology students have available at home. Students who are less skilled with technology would need extra support. Students with little technology available at home would need more opportunities to use technology at school or check school technology out. Students would also need to be provided with digital cameras in order to produce images in the first place. Students would need guidance in focusing on the educational goals of the project rather than the fun tools available in Picasa. Picasa is so creative and easy-to-use that students could easily be sucked into spending too much time on creative touches and too little time on the educational goals of the assignment.

Conclusion Google for Educators provides teachers with an excellent tool for incorporating Web 2.0 applications in their day-to-day classroom assignments and routines. All of these applications foster collaboration and communication due to their emphasis on sharing text, images, videos, spreadsheets, and so on. Google's free applications offer endless opportunities for fresh, creative, and user-friendly approaches to teaching and learning.