Google in My classroom: The impact and a look into the Future
Several years ago, our colleague, Jeffery Elkner, introduced us to the use of “Google-in the Classroom”. Little did we know that soon we would become addicted to not only it but the many educational tools offered by Google. Today, I use Google for word processing, spreadsheets, blogging and more importantly for class organization-Google site and Google form.
Our program serves a small population of immigrant English Language Learners, ELLs. For the most, our students, prior to our school, have had limited, if any, contact with technology and even more so, word processing or publishing software. Getting our students to immerse in technology has often added confusion than salvage the problems of the digital divide. Our students have had gaps in their education and they need a structured and well coordinated approach to harness their interest in unfamiliar ventures, including technology, the benefits of which may not be easily discernible to them. The fact that Google docs are stored in the cloud, provides portability and eliminates the confusion associated with searching for where files were stored or what names were they stored with. Our students can easily find and use their documents at anytime provided there is access to the Internet.
Yet another benefit is the free-web site hosting capability and the ease with which one can create customized websites for their classes. With such, students can easily find course materials, and stay in touch with the class even when they are absent. My class’ website is a “one-stop-shopping” point for my students. The website contains notes, class assignments, daily instructional guides, warm ups and even quizzes. Students, in my class do their quizzes and complete their Warm Ups on Google through “Google Form”. This allows for prompt feedback as well as opportunity for class discussions while viewing each others work. Students appreciate this a lot. They see this as an opportunity to correct their thinking were necessary and enhanced their comprehension.
It is my hope that in the future, my colleagues and I will jointly organize the website so that students can use one site as a source for information appertaining to all of their classes. We look to that day with hope.
Thank you for talking about this Isaac. I also am addicted to Google now. I use it for quizzes (forms), writing essays (docs), and do all my presentations that way, too. I really like the idea of creating a common website for our whole cohort of HILTAs. Since we are all already using Google, this would create even more symmetry between all our classes.
ReplyDeleteSean,
DeleteThat is correct. It is my hope that more and more educators will look towards Google.
As Dave and I spent the day yesterday working on my Exemplary Program Standards Review Process, I was delighted at how much easier this tedious process became because so much of what I needed was produced and readily available through the work you and Sean have done and put on-line. The web is indeed a great tool for collaboration if we use it well!
ReplyDeletebtw. I published the "Project: The HILT Institute in Our Own Eyes" document to the web so I could link to it from task stream.
That is great. That is what this is all about: collaborating to facilitate learning.
ReplyDelete