GoogleDocs

I have used this application in the past to collaborate on curriculum for a summer program. The application allowed everyone participating to add information to the document, while at different locations. This was extremely valuable and much easier than replying to numerous emails. One feature that is very helpful is that the revisionist history is saved. This allows for those in the group to see who changed what to the document, so that additional questions can be directly addressed to specific members. The program is also very valuable in that it fosters the use of tables, images, and graphic organizers (shapes). This makes it simple to create a very clear, visual, and elaborate document alongside other individuals. There are some frustrations that come along with the use of the application. If the internet connection is lost, the changes to the document cannot be saved. Additionally, there are advanced features of Microsoft Word that are not included in GoogleDocs, such as voice, pdf conversion, and other formatting options. Lastly, your changes can be lost and the program can become very complicated if two individuals are editing the same text at the same time. Nonetheless, the application is a great tool considering all of its pros.

This application would also be a wonderful tool to use in the classroom. In order to use this software, students would need to know how to use the basic features of a word processor, which the majority of students do. This would be a useful tool because one document can be edited by a group of students, thus demonstrating their individual and combined understanding of the material. A document can easily be shared by checking the box on a list of the documents, and inviting others via email.

This is something I would strongly considering using for a Social Studies lesson. I am a strong advocate of asking students to form stances on political issues. Using GoogleDocs, students could work in groups and add information to the document supporting a position. This would allow for the students to each contribute to the final consensus, and allow me as the educator to retrace who contributed what to the document. Projects and group papers would work great with GoogleDocs.

In order to help students collaborate with this document, a teacher should address certain things. A teacher should go through the process of setting up, sharing, saving, and editing a document. Although most students are computer savvy enough to figure out the software it would behoove a teacher to demonstrate for those that may otherwise become lost. Additionally, a teacher should consider that it is his/her responsibility to monitor what is written in the document. The revisionist history should be reviewed to make sure that there is no “cyber bullying” or inappropriate material being temporarily published along the way. If the teacher is able to organize the use of this application in a safe manner, then the students could collaborate in a unique manner.

Instructional Strategies and Web 2.0 Technologies

Blogs are a very valuable tool to use in the classroom that can work in conjunction with a number of different instructional strategies. Constructivism is one instructional strategy that can really flourish when using blogs. Reflecting through blog entries, analyzing articles through blogs, and responding to other class members’ blogs are all ways in which students can use blogs to construct understanding. At the heart of constructivism is the idea that students are making sense of things themselves. Blogs really pave the way for students to reflect and analyze others’ opinions while coming to their own understanding.

Another instructional strategy that works well with blogs is the inductive strategy. In the inductive strategy, students are given examples and required to come to a rule regarding the different examples. A blog would be a great tool for this approach. Students could post a blog entry on each different example and demonstrate how their understanding of the overarching rule/concept is evolving through the presentation of additional examples.

On the other side of the coin is the deductive strategy, which would not be the best fit with blogs. The deductive approach is hinged on the fact that the rule/concept is given to students and they are required to do examples based on the concept that was given to them. When the concept is given to the students, there is less need for students to reflect in an attempt to discover the concept.

One of the ways I could implement blogs in the classroom would be to place students in groups, and then give each student an example problem to copy on their blog. Next, students would examine the examples form an opinion on what the general rule is for solving the problems. They would be required to post their understanding on their blog and then respond to the blogs of their group members. This would be a collaborative effort using the inductive strategy.
Although I stated that web 2.0 technologies, especially blogs, do not easily support the deductive strategy, there are ways that web 2.0 technologies can utilize the deductive approach. Even if the concept/rule was given to the students, they could still collaborate through blogs about the answers and rationales. Often time’s students are given the concept, but fail to understand it. Thus, I could place several more advanced students with some that are struggling, and have them each complete a few problems on their blogs. The students could then respond to the correctness of their group members’ answers. This would allow for the more advanced students to provide the struggling students with individual assistance that I cannot always give due to time constraints.

My First Experience with Wikis

I felt a little out of the loop coming into this lesson since I had never edited a wiki. I successfully found the Wikipedia page for my school. I added our principal to the list of principals, corrected the grade level to "K-11" and added the phrasing "well renowned" to the description of the school. I was also savvy enough to create my own wiki, CEP811Wiki.