Sunday, April 15, 2012

Using Google Tools to Create and Manage Online Courses

Using Google Tools to Create and Manage Online Courses


On May 2nd at 2:00 Eastern I will be hosting a Google + Hangout discussing the steps we use to create, collect and manage digital portfolios. You can add this event to your calendar and find more details with specific information.


This session will focus on the work I'm doing with the Maine Virtual Learning Consortium. This session will cover some of the technical aspects of managing online courses as well as the pedagogical implications that online education brings.

If you'd like to join, visit the Google Education On Air site and connect with my Google+ account. I will  include as many people who would like to join the conversation as I can.

Managing Digital Portfolios with Google Tools

Managing Digital Portfolios with Google Tools

On May 2nd at 12:00 Eastern I will be hosting a Google + Hangout discussing the steps we use to create, collect and manage digital portfolios. You can add this event to your calendar and find more details with specific information.


I've covered many of the steps of this process that I use in my district from digitizing student work, managing the collected work and publishing the final product throughout by blog. This session will walk through the steps from beginning to end answering questions along the way.

If you'd like to join, visit the Google Education On Air site and connect with my Google+ account. I will  include as many people who would like to join the conversation as I can.


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Google's Think Education Panel


I had great time today on Google's Think Education panel with Sal Khan, Esther Wojicki and Mike Hathorn talking about empowering the students of today.

All of us emphasized how important is for students being asked to teach as a method for learning.  This can occur formally in the typical class structure or informally with students collaborating on a problem.

Personally I would add that technology instruction provides one of the best ways to start those conversations with students and  teachers. This is something we've worked on extensively in my district, when a student can teach the teacher, everyone wins.  

Monday, April 09, 2012

Collecting Video Assessments

This week I had the opportunity to work with one of our Pre-Kindergarten teachers who records students and shares those videos with their parents. I've always felt that seeing a student explain their learning trumps any score that we as educators may place upon the work. This setup has the additional bonus of creating an academic history automatically for them. How powerful will it be to give parents a stream of videos of their children learning as a 1st graders, 5th graders, 7th graders and so on.

The biggest limitation to this idea is teachers not having the time to make it happen. Once again we go to the kids to take ownership of their work and manage the process. There are very different  technological expectations depending on the age level, so I cover three possible scenarios: 



Pre-Kindergarten to 3rd Grade 
(or students who are not able to operate a camera)

   STEP 1) Teacher sets up the camera 
              (or when appropriate has an older student help out.)
   STEP 2) Uploads the video into the child's Google Docs.
   STEP 3) Puts the video into a Collection shared with the teacher.

    A couple notes here, we are using a Kodak Zi8 camera similar to the popular Flip camera. Alternatively, you can get an Eye-Fi SD-Card which automatically uploads the video or picture to your own account. The teacher then has to share the video with the student for their parents to see.






4th Grade to 6th Grade 
(or students that are capable of uploading videos, but do not have a one to one device with a camera)

   STEP 1) Student records video with a camera or iPod Touch.
   STEP 2) Student sends the video or picture to their own Picasa Web Album.
The album is shared with their teacher, this only has to be done once.




7th Grade to 12th Grade
(or students who can record and upload on their own.)

   STEP 1) Student records them self with their webcam.
   STEP 2) Student uploads the video to their Google Docs.
   STEP 3) Student slides video into Collection shared with their teacher.
 


This is a terrific way to capture quick reflections by the students. The video adds an element to the conversation by essentially formalizing an informal assessment. It's something you might just ask generally in the class, but with the video you get to see each students reaction singularly without the distractions of the classroom.




Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Managing Google Docs in the Classroom

Saturday was a terrific day at EdCampMe. It was a great chance to hang with some friends and chat about meaningful ways to educate children.  One of the questions that came up in a session I was in is something that I get asked a lot.
 "How do I manage my Google Docs with so many  documents coming in from so many students?" 
Teachers love how easy it is to collaborate with their students, not having to worry about losing the file  and all the other bonuses that using Docs brings, but tracking down assignments can be a nightmare.  I've covered this before from the teachers perspective and the students perspective here, but I'll run through  how I do it step by step.



Step 1) Students create a new Collection for the class and title it: Subject - Name
For example: Science - Johnny

Step 2) Students then share the Collection with the teacher.

Step 3) You make a new Collection called Period 2 or Science or whatever makes sense. Finds the student Collections (in the lower left under Collections shared with me.) Drag them to your newly created Collection.

Step 4) Click here to copy the Assessment Collector Google Spreadsheet. (You must be logged into your Google Account.)

Step 5)  Embed the form into your website. Don't have a website? Think about using a student as a webmaster.

Step 6)  Once you edit the names of the assignments and students have entered the links to their assignments, you can filter by period and assignment.


Then use the built-in Viewer tab.



This allows you to view, comment or edit the Google Doc, Spreadsheet or Presentation 'handed in' without ever having to leave the window. You can then click NEXT through all the collected  assignments.

An important aspect of this process is that the students are sharing work in a way that teachers can edit while simultaneously building their own collection of assessments.



Optional
Step 7) One limitation of the viewer is that it only reads URLs that begin with http not https. So, you use the Find and Replace feature built into spreadsheets, or if you're a little adventurous set it up to do it automatically.  The script to do this is already included, you just have to turn on the Form Submit trigger.

Step 7a) Select Tools > Script editor
Step 7b) Select Resources > Current script's triggers...

Step 7b) Click  No triggers set up. Click here to add one now.
                      Change On open to On form submit and click Save


Step 7c) Click Authorize > Click Close and Exit that tab.



This means whenever a student copy and pastes a URL that starts with https it will replace it with http.

Why can't it just be turned on when you take the copy you ask? 
Because of the possibility of nefarious users sharing malicious code with you.
This way you have to authorize the use of the script.