Today you'll be rotating with a small group to different stations around the room. At each station, you'll follow the directions to complete a collaborative project.
I think Google Wave would be a great tool to use to supplement classes. It would be cool to set up something like this for each of my classes where students would be able to chat with one another about homework problems or questions. This is sort of like a glorified wikispace.
The wikispace is beneficial and to the point without all the bells and whistles. It would be useful for simple class discussions, but I think the students would benefit more if they each had individual pages that allowed such interaction but with more bells and whistles.
Google Friend Connect reminds me of Facebook and MySpace. Some of my students aren't allowed to have Facebook or Myspace pages. Is there an age minimum for this site? If not and if they're parents allowed them, my students might enjoy this site.
Students responding to a book with open internet discussions seems sweet. Was this homework? Were the students in a computer lab? If this was done at home instead of reading questions, that would truly enrich student learning because it causes them to take a stand and defend their thoughts on the book. Lastly, the interactive interface on your webpage freaks me out a bit. It is similar to when facebook knows everything you do. Can't I just go to a site without anyone knowing? It is like shopping in a mall where no one knows you. Flying under the radar.
Google wave..I watched the video on live collaborative editing. I am inspired and amazed by how fast technology grows and changes. The power of working together, across geographical boundaries that just a decade ago caused work to be so much slower and less collaborative, has great potential for global advancement and health. It kind of blows my mind, and I definitely worry about those in previous generations that feel intimidated or lost in this realm, specifically in the field of education.
For education application, the opportunity for students to collaborate internationally, with instructor participation, fascinates me. I imagine my Nepalese students working with high school students I taught in the states, or students of Magis teachers in Nebraska working with students of LANCE teacher in Memphis...pretty neat.
I would love to feel more excited about new and innovative applications like googlewave and googlefriendconnection, but at this point it's making me feel a little overwhelmed. Since Monday I've doubled my number of online accounts. (I just bought a little book to keep track of all my login names and passwords). At the same time, I'm thinking about how cool it would be to let my students loose on a web app. like this. I know my students would feel more excited about responding to an interactive, online response to a posed question than they would having a classroom discussion. They interact with each other through textmessaging, blogs, and "myface-esque" programs, not heart-to-hearts around a table. As intimidating as it would be for me to set up an online, interactive, collaborative environment (and keep it school appropriate) I really think my students would flourish in such an environment.
Some things I wonder...what about the student with limited computer access? How do you make sure they have the tools they need (knowledge and equipment) to adequately participate in a project like this? For instance, most of my students have ample computer access, but what about the kid who doesn't have a computer at home and is on a financial aid scholarship that requires work study hours before and after school (when the computer labs are available)? By the time he's free to work on homework, all school computer labs are closed. How do we make a preferred option for these kids.
I also wonder how their writing skills are effected by this...students tend to put less effort into using correct grammar on a blog than he or she would typing something up on a word app. for class.
1. Google wave sounds like an amazing tool to use real time collaboration. It takes in person interaction and places it online. It still does not include body language which communication experts say account for a large part of interpreting communication. I am curious what this technology does for student brain development. Is there anywhere that patience is still learned, or will our future be a future of right now?
2. I like that the debate format online each person can type and talk without having other concerns such as how I look in front of peers, or getting nervous by saying what they think. Also, it makes the grading easier for the teacher who has a catalouge of those who talked and those who did not, so they do not have to rely only on their memory of who spoke in the debate. It is a fun way for students to interact.
3. I think I am still confused on how this friends network works. Is it like a google gadget? Do you have the power to hide yourself if desired?
The book wiki is great. Wonderful informal conversation a teacher can supervise. Seems to rely on kids having computer access, which can be problematic. I wonder if Kari's students all have computers and internet at home.
Anne raises a good concern with google friend connect, but I am not sure I understand whether others can really track you through google. Facebook only knows what you tell it to know as far as I know...if you can read another's wall, and not post, and they know it, I am unaware of that. Mike?
Without actually being able to experience Google Wave, I'm not sure if I have a clear picture of how this works. It seems very complicated but probably isn't. Like everything else, it would be something that you would need to be able to try, experience, experiment to see how it applies to your needs. In thoery, it seems to be a fancy way to talk and collaborate with others through the web.
I love this. This is very concrete, very content specific. It gives the kids a great forum to have a discussion that could be potentially controversial. It's not just teacher driver, but very student oriented also. Kids can post a book that they really liked and give a great description of it. It seems very clean to me - not a whole lot of extra stuff going on, very user friendly. If you did just have one computer in the classroom and not a lot of kids with computers at home, it would be difficult for each child to have time with this.
I really like the Google Wave. I think it will be a great tool to use to communicate with parents. Due to all of this new technology, I think Google Wave could also be used as the new "Pen Pal" for students to communicate with other students. They could compare science experiments or even teach each other about topics.
I also really like the Book Response. This will be a great tool to use in the classroom to help students respond to and review books. This would be a great tool for a unit project. The class could create a project as a group or by responding to other comments.
I feel the friends connect is more of a social site. However, I may not completely understand it yet. I feel the first two sites will benefit students in the classroom. I agree with Katherine when she stated that writing skills may be affected. I notice that students will abbreviate sentences and use the sites as a social setting, and not a school related assignment.
Google Wave seems like a great site for student interaction on the web. It is also practical, since students can post documents and add comments and begin discussions with the documents right on the page. I don't think that this should take the place of having discussions in class, but perhaps it could be used as a supplement to class discussions. I like that the site is live and that many people can be involved in a conversation at once.
The book discussion site is also neat, but again, it should not be used instead of class discussions. Students should learn how to interact and have discussions face-to-face and in a group.
Google Friend Connect reminds me of facebook, and I'm not sure what educational benefit this could have. I suppose some of these apps would be good to have on a class blog or discussion board. Again, I'm not sure how much online discussion will take place. During class time, it makes more sense to have class discussions, and then when students are at home, it is not a guarantee that they have access to a computer. I would be interested in seeing how each of these three websites has been used in the classroom.
I'm not sure how this differs from a blog, but it is very impressive looking. I question the simplicity of taking little snippets of code and wa-la!! It probably wouldn't be that easy for me.
Friend Connect seemed oddly similar to many social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace. I do see the difference in the fact that it is connected your website or blog or what have you, but it's essentially a Facebook profile.
Google Wave seems neat, though unlike Grass, I believe it's a little better than just a "glorified chat room". You can work on documents together while at the same time chatting about what is going on. It seems like this once more eliminates the need to send an email to explain what/why you just changed something in a shared document.
The book discussion site is neat if you want to have kids discuss outside of class, but I feel you could have this same conversation in class.
Google Wave- seems pretty cool, although it could be overwhelming and cause stimulus overload for some people. It is really cool that kids could colloborate together, but I'd be interested to see how it specifically enhances their learning.
Students respond to a book- out of the three this is acutally probably my favorite. I think this could be a good way for students to voice how they feel about a book. I can see this being used as a starting point for an in-class discussion. Having everything written down so the kids can see what their peers think about something is also neat.
Friend connect- seems like facebook! And this worries me. With all of these sites I worry about the students being responsible enough to use them appropriately.
Google wave seems neat. The natural language tool is helpful, but I still think students should be able to know how to spell basic words without having a technology tool check their spelling. Look the word up in the dictionary if you need to.
Students responding to the book was interesting. It is helpful for students to read what their peers think and be able to follow the thread and past comments to see the progression. At the same time there is something to be said for responding to the comments of another person face to face in class. I prefer traditional classrooms over online classrooms.
Google Friend Connect- having so many social gadgets at our disposal seems like information overload to me. Nice that no programming skills are needed, but I wonder how much of those social gadgets are really necessary?
Google Wave reminds me of IMing people in high school and college. Is there a whole lot more to it than that? I wasn't blown away. If I would have been able to hear the audio on the videos, that may have helped.
I really liked the book reviews and the discussion that it opened up. Great way for kids to interact.
Google Friend...facebook?? would need more time to explore this.
I agree that the book review site seemed like an effective tool to use in the classroom.
I am skeptical about the use of Google Friend Connect and Google Wave in the classroom, as they seem like IM and Facebook to me as well. I would not want students to use them inappropriately to get off task/ bully one another in the classroom.
Whoops, the above comment by Cindy Warming was actually mine...
I agree that the book review site seemed like an effective tool to use in the classroom.
I am skeptical about the use of Google Friend Connect and Google Wave in the classroom, as they seem like IM and Facebook to me as well. I would not want students to use them inappropriately to get off task/ bully one another in the classroom.
Google Wave is going to be awesome. I'm already imagining entire units that take place on one wave: discussions, collaborative assignments, integrated videos and presentations...the playback feature is killer, too -- the kid who was absent can just see how the class went down, in the order that it happened in class.
The book discussion was tight, though I prefer disqus and similar setups, w/ nested comments. It gets a bit tedious reading comments that are replies to comments halfway up the page, etc.
Google friend connect -- I'm not huge into social networking apps myself, but I can dig how universalizing it is. Various programs (AIM, yahoo, google, etc.) are all allowed to work with each other. A far cry from the days of debate between AIM vs. ICQ vs. Yahoo vs. MSN. World War II has given birth to the UN....
Google wave seems to be a graet site. It is user friendly. I like the information on google wave about the Federation Day. It provides opportunities for people to create their own wave services. I think this is exciting!
I think there are a lot of exciting things that could come out of this. The potential for student interaction and discussion outside the classroom is great. However, there is also the potential for a lot of useless chat. This would be great as a supplemental tool, but it should not be used in place of written assignments or more formal homework. I am concerned about sites such as google friend connect, for it reminds me of facebook. While I personally do not have a problem with facebook or other social networking sites, I feel uncomfortable about using them in the classroom.
I think that Google Wave looks like a great site that could connect students from various schools or other countries. I can imagine using this program for students to create presentations with students from another state or country.
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Comments (23)
Anne Grass said
at 9:23 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google Wave seems to be a glorified chat room. It did not mention in what specific ways this would enhance collaboration---I would like to know more.
Paul High Horse said
at 9:31 am on Jul 9, 2009
I think Google Wave would be a great tool to use to supplement classes. It would be cool to set up something like this for each of my classes where students would be able to chat with one another about homework problems or questions. This is sort of like a glorified wikispace.
The wikispace is beneficial and to the point without all the bells and whistles. It would be useful for simple class discussions, but I think the students would benefit more if they each had individual pages that allowed such interaction but with more bells and whistles.
Google Friend Connect reminds me of Facebook and MySpace. Some of my students aren't allowed to have Facebook or Myspace pages. Is there an age minimum for this site? If not and if they're parents allowed them, my students might enjoy this site.
Anne Grass said
at 9:32 am on Jul 9, 2009
Students responding to a book with open internet discussions seems sweet. Was this homework? Were the students in a computer lab? If this was done at home instead of reading questions, that would truly enrich student learning because it causes them to take a stand and defend their thoughts on the book. Lastly, the interactive interface on your webpage freaks me out a bit. It is similar to when facebook knows everything you do. Can't I just go to a site without anyone knowing? It is like shopping in a mall where no one knows you. Flying under the radar.
Molly Davies said
at 9:32 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google wave..I watched the video on live collaborative editing. I am inspired and amazed by how fast technology grows and changes. The power of working together, across geographical boundaries that just a decade ago caused work to be so much slower and less collaborative, has great potential for global advancement and health. It kind of blows my mind, and I definitely worry about those in previous generations that feel intimidated or lost in this realm, specifically in the field of education.
For education application, the opportunity for students to collaborate internationally, with instructor participation, fascinates me. I imagine my Nepalese students working with high school students I taught in the states, or students of Magis teachers in Nebraska working with students of LANCE teacher in Memphis...pretty neat.
Katherine Leach said
at 9:40 am on Jul 9, 2009
I would love to feel more excited about new and innovative applications like googlewave and googlefriendconnection, but at this point it's making me feel a little overwhelmed. Since Monday I've doubled my number of online accounts. (I just bought a little book to keep track of all my login names and passwords). At the same time, I'm thinking about how cool it would be to let my students loose on a web app. like this. I know my students would feel more excited about responding to an interactive, online response to a posed question than they would having a classroom discussion. They interact with each other through textmessaging, blogs, and "myface-esque" programs, not heart-to-hearts around a table. As intimidating as it would be for me to set up an online, interactive, collaborative environment (and keep it school appropriate) I really think my students would flourish in such an environment.
Some things I wonder...what about the student with limited computer access? How do you make sure they have the tools they need (knowledge and equipment) to adequately participate in a project like this? For instance, most of my students have ample computer access, but what about the kid who doesn't have a computer at home and is on a financial aid scholarship that requires work study hours before and after school (when the computer labs are available)? By the time he's free to work on homework, all school computer labs are closed. How do we make a preferred option for these kids.
I also wonder how their writing skills are effected by this...students tend to put less effort into using correct grammar on a blog than he or she would typing something up on a word app. for class.
Ms. Sander said
at 9:40 am on Jul 9, 2009
1. Google wave sounds like an amazing tool to use real time collaboration. It takes in person interaction and places it online. It still does not include body language which communication experts say account for a large part of interpreting communication. I am curious what this technology does for student brain development. Is there anywhere that patience is still learned, or will our future be a future of right now?
2. I like that the debate format online each person can type and talk without having other concerns such as how I look in front of peers, or getting nervous by saying what they think. Also, it makes the grading easier for the teacher who has a catalouge of those who talked and those who did not, so they do not have to rely only on their memory of who spoke in the debate. It is a fun way for students to interact.
3. I think I am still confused on how this friends network works. Is it like a google gadget? Do you have the power to hide yourself if desired?
Molly Davies said
at 9:42 am on Jul 9, 2009
The book wiki is great. Wonderful informal conversation a teacher can supervise. Seems to rely on kids having computer access, which can be problematic. I wonder if Kari's students all have computers and internet at home.
Anne raises a good concern with google friend connect, but I am not sure I understand whether others can really track you through google. Facebook only knows what you tell it to know as far as I know...if you can read another's wall, and not post, and they know it, I am unaware of that. Mike?
Cindy Warming said
at 9:51 am on Jul 9, 2009
Without actually being able to experience Google Wave, I'm not sure if I have a clear picture of how this works. It seems very complicated but probably isn't. Like everything else, it would be something that you would need to be able to try, experience, experiment to see how it applies to your needs. In thoery, it seems to be a fancy way to talk and collaborate with others through the web.
Cindy Warming said
at 9:57 am on Jul 9, 2009
I love this. This is very concrete, very content specific. It gives the kids a great forum to have a discussion that could be potentially controversial. It's not just teacher driver, but very student oriented also. Kids can post a book that they really liked and give a great description of it. It seems very clean to me - not a whole lot of extra stuff going on, very user friendly. If you did just have one computer in the classroom and not a lot of kids with computers at home, it would be difficult for each child to have time with this.
Krissa Hollinger said
at 9:58 am on Jul 9, 2009
I really like the Google Wave. I think it will be a great tool to use to communicate with parents. Due to all of this new technology, I think Google Wave could also be used as the new "Pen Pal" for students to communicate with other students. They could compare science experiments or even teach each other about topics.
I also really like the Book Response. This will be a great tool to use in the classroom to help students respond to and review books. This would be a great tool for a unit project. The class could create a project as a group or by responding to other comments.
I feel the friends connect is more of a social site. However, I may not completely understand it yet. I feel the first two sites will benefit students in the classroom. I agree with Katherine when she stated that writing skills may be affected. I notice that students will abbreviate sentences and use the sites as a social setting, and not a school related assignment.
Nicole Schemmel said
at 10:01 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google Wave seems like a great site for student interaction on the web. It is also practical, since students can post documents and add comments and begin discussions with the documents right on the page. I don't think that this should take the place of having discussions in class, but perhaps it could be used as a supplement to class discussions. I like that the site is live and that many people can be involved in a conversation at once.
The book discussion site is also neat, but again, it should not be used instead of class discussions. Students should learn how to interact and have discussions face-to-face and in a group.
Google Friend Connect reminds me of facebook, and I'm not sure what educational benefit this could have. I suppose some of these apps would be good to have on a class blog or discussion board. Again, I'm not sure how much online discussion will take place. During class time, it makes more sense to have class discussions, and then when students are at home, it is not a guarantee that they have access to a computer. I would be interested in seeing how each of these three websites has been used in the classroom.
Cindy Warming said
at 10:02 am on Jul 9, 2009
I'm not sure how this differs from a blog, but it is very impressive looking. I question the simplicity of taking little snippets of code and wa-la!! It probably wouldn't be that easy for me.
Erin McGuan said
at 10:13 am on Jul 9, 2009
Friend Connect seemed oddly similar to many social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace. I do see the difference in the fact that it is connected your website or blog or what have you, but it's essentially a Facebook profile.
Google Wave seems neat, though unlike Grass, I believe it's a little better than just a "glorified chat room". You can work on documents together while at the same time chatting about what is going on. It seems like this once more eliminates the need to send an email to explain what/why you just changed something in a shared document.
The book discussion site is neat if you want to have kids discuss outside of class, but I feel you could have this same conversation in class.
Cindy Warming said
at 10:15 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google Wave- seems pretty cool, although it could be overwhelming and cause stimulus overload for some people. It is really cool that kids could colloborate together, but I'd be interested to see how it specifically enhances their learning.
Students respond to a book- out of the three this is acutally probably my favorite. I think this could be a good way for students to voice how they feel about a book. I can see this being used as a starting point for an in-class discussion. Having everything written down so the kids can see what their peers think about something is also neat.
Friend connect- seems like facebook! And this worries me. With all of these sites I worry about the students being responsible enough to use them appropriately.
Cindy Warming said
at 10:16 am on Jul 9, 2009
"Cindy Warming" at 10:15 was actually Katie Falkowski!
Tom Sander said
at 10:21 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google wave seems neat. The natural language tool is helpful, but I still think students should be able to know how to spell basic words without having a technology tool check their spelling. Look the word up in the dictionary if you need to.
Students responding to the book was interesting. It is helpful for students to read what their peers think and be able to follow the thread and past comments to see the progression. At the same time there is something to be said for responding to the comments of another person face to face in class. I prefer traditional classrooms over online classrooms.
Google Friend Connect- having so many social gadgets at our disposal seems like information overload to me. Nice that no programming skills are needed, but I wonder how much of those social gadgets are really necessary?
Krissy Poston said
at 10:22 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google Wave reminds me of IMing people in high school and college. Is there a whole lot more to it than that? I wasn't blown away. If I would have been able to hear the audio on the videos, that may have helped.
I really liked the book reviews and the discussion that it opened up. Great way for kids to interact.
Google Friend...facebook?? would need more time to explore this.
Cindy Warming said
at 10:36 am on Jul 9, 2009
I agree that the book review site seemed like an effective tool to use in the classroom.
I am skeptical about the use of Google Friend Connect and Google Wave in the classroom, as they seem like IM and Facebook to me as well. I would not want students to use them inappropriately to get off task/ bully one another in the classroom.
Maria Scarpello said
at 10:37 am on Jul 9, 2009
Whoops, the above comment by Cindy Warming was actually mine...
I agree that the book review site seemed like an effective tool to use in the classroom.
I am skeptical about the use of Google Friend Connect and Google Wave in the classroom, as they seem like IM and Facebook to me as well. I would not want students to use them inappropriately to get off task/ bully one another in the classroom.
TJ Mullaney said
at 10:44 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google Wave is going to be awesome. I'm already imagining entire units that take place on one wave: discussions, collaborative assignments, integrated videos and presentations...the playback feature is killer, too -- the kid who was absent can just see how the class went down, in the order that it happened in class.
The book discussion was tight, though I prefer disqus and similar setups, w/ nested comments. It gets a bit tedious reading comments that are replies to comments halfway up the page, etc.
Google friend connect -- I'm not huge into social networking apps myself, but I can dig how universalizing it is. Various programs (AIM, yahoo, google, etc.) are all allowed to work with each other. A far cry from the days of debate between AIM vs. ICQ vs. Yahoo vs. MSN. World War II has given birth to the UN....
christieudebor@... said
at 10:46 am on Jul 9, 2009
Google wave seems to be a graet site. It is user friendly. I like the information on google wave about the Federation Day. It provides opportunities for people to create their own wave services. I think this is exciting!
Rachel Frei said
at 11:03 am on Jul 9, 2009
I think there are a lot of exciting things that could come out of this. The potential for student interaction and discussion outside the classroom is great. However, there is also the potential for a lot of useless chat. This would be great as a supplemental tool, but it should not be used in place of written assignments or more formal homework. I am concerned about sites such as google friend connect, for it reminds me of facebook. While I personally do not have a problem with facebook or other social networking sites, I feel uncomfortable about using them in the classroom.
Andrea Keller said
at 11:05 am on Jul 9, 2009
I think that Google Wave looks like a great site that could connect students from various schools or other countries. I can imagine using this program for students to create presentations with students from another state or country.
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