Google Presenter

Google Presenter

Google Presenter allows for collaboration in the creation and editing process of creating a PowerPoint style presentation.

My Experience
Up until this point in my teaching career I have never used Google Docs in class or in my personal experience. As I started working with Google Presenter I was very excited as I started to observe the possible applications of this technology in my classroom. For anyone who has ever used PowerPoint, Presenter is a rather easy transition. In addition to creating new documents in Presenter you can also easily upload PowerPoint presentations and then combine, edit, or change the document online. Rather than having to e-mail the presentation back and forth up to ten people can simultaneously edit and design the presentation. In addition the help section provides excellent supporting information and there is a great Common Craft show about Google Documents on this site.

Student Background Knowledge
In order for students to use this application in the classroom they need to have a basic understanding of how to upload files and a basic knowledge of PowerPoint.

Sharing
Using Presenter up to 10 people can collaborate on a single presentation at any given time. The final product may be downloaded, shared via the internet, or printed out.

Teaching Social Studies with Google Presenter
There have been many times in my own classroom that I have had students collaborate when developing a presentation for my class. Before I learned about Google Presenter students had to e-mail their project back and forth with one student acting as editor and being responsible for putting their project together. Now I can have all members of a group work in a truly collaborative fashion with all students taking responsibility for their final product.

Student Collaboration
By teaching students how to collaborate using Google Presenter they could more evenly share the responsibility for their final product and truly take ownership of their project.

Teacher Considerations
In order for students to work with Google Presenter they must be able to setup their own Google account and then give their fellow group members access to their shared document. In addition, the teacher needs to make sure that they are also added to the user list so that they can edit/change/interact with the document. While the initial setup may take a moment, the payoff is student collaboration and cooperation makes it well worth our time.

Google Earth

Google Earth is an amazingly powerful tool that combines satellite images, maps, and photographed street views to knit together an interactive and customizable globe. Since the original Google Earth was released in 2005 each generation has added additional features, updated, higher-resolution images, and aesthetic changes. One of the amazing things about this application is the incredible degree of flexibility that it allows for. Whether you want to search for a satellite image of your home or create complex educational tours with an audio guide this application allows users of nearly every level to explore the world at greater detail than any map or globe. For this review I am using Google Earth 5. With this program it is easy to search for both places or landmarks and as you zoom in or out it displays not only the absolute locations of the places you are looking at, but also lets you know when the satellite image was originally taken. You can also turn various layers on or off with the click of the mouse. As such, it becomes a nearly limitlessly customizable tool for exploring the world. As a social studies teacher I was particularly intrigued by the Global Awareness layer, which allows you to view where various non-profits are working around the world, what global issues they are dealing with and brief articles explaining what they are doing within regions. One of the greatest features of this application however is just how user-friendly the whole thing is.

As a classroom application Earth can be used for an amazing variety of activities. In order to use Google Earth students need to have an internet-connected computer with permissions to download the necessary software. From there the skill needed to maneuver through the program differs a great deal depending on what they are expected to do. Using this program you can create virtual tours with audio narration to walk through various sites using street view or earth view. This could be particularly helpful for teaching about global issues, historical events and movements, geography, or about various nations on earth. In order to use this application in the classroom students would have to be shown how to use the program and given some initial guidance before freeing them up to explore. Using this program they could create virtual tours with audio commentary or even explore the ocean, sky, the moon, or mars. Given the speed with which this program has expanded it seems that the applications and flexibility of this program will continue to grow. Google Earth is an amazing free application for students to explore the world (and universe) around them.

Blogs in Education

Blogs can be a wonderful resource for collaborative, student-based learning. Whether used for working on an assignment, carrying on a discussion, or continuing a dialogue from class Blogs allow students to communicate with one another in a different way. One aspect that is particularly great about Blogs is the opportunity that they offer for students who may have a difficult time speaking up in class to share their voice with the group. If a students struggles with articulation on the fly Blogs allow them to stop, think, and respond to the situation they are face with in a less threatening setting. While Blogs may be helpful for collaborative lessons there are some downsides. First and foremost we cannot always assume that students have internet access at home. I know that while my school is in a predominantly middle class area I have several students who either do not have internet access or have lost it sporadically due to parental unemployment. In addition, while Blogs can be wonderfully for collaboration they may not be appropriate for larger projects that require hands-on creation of a final product. As a social studies teacher I could see myself using Blogs for homework reflection discussions and Q&A about current assignments or issues. While I do not personally feel comfortable using Blogs on a regular basis I my classroom I can see the potential uses of Blogs as teaching and learning resources.

Wiki Wiki Wild

This week we had to both edit our schools Wikipedia entry and create our own Wiki. On My schools Wikipedia entry I was surprised by how little info there was on it. While it had been updated previously to include our new assistant principal it did not have a picture or our schools new mission statement. I added a picture that I took for our school website that has our school mascot super-imposed on the image. I also updated our schools mission statement and edited out some of the unnecessary content.

For my own Wiki I have had very little experience creating/editing Wiki's so I made a pretty basic page that you can checkout here.