Google Apps

I just spent $699 (of my school's money), to purchase 2 copies of Microsoft Office 2011 Home and Office Edition with a total of 4 licenses.  This just seemed ridiculous to me when we can pretty much do everything we need to for free on Google Apps.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to convince my administration or staff that this is the way to go.  I think there is real fear in the idea that our "stuff" is stored as part of "the cloud" and that it might somehow disappear or security may be compromised.  In "Supporting 21st Century Learning Through Google Apps," Nevin (2009) points out that many schools are using Google Apps Education and some schools are even "dumping" their email programs in favour of gMail. (Nevin, 2009)  I can understand some hesitation about this when thinking about the nature of some of the emails we send - confidentiality is definitely a concern.  The optimist in me, however, says it must be safe if so many secondary and post secondary institutions are making this choice.

The cost saving measures for schools, as pointed out by Nevin (2009), can be significant. I think of the $699 I just spent and the time our tech support people spend on email issues, setting up accounts, and updating software.  Just today, I spent an hour configuring a laptop for a new staff member and I know that time could have been cut in half if I didn't have to do all the email account information and add Microsoft Office.

There are a lot of advantages to cloud computing and I am trying to introduce some of the basics to my students.  As I said in my inquiry update, my school uses Mac computers and many of our students have PCs.  Knowing how to use Google Docs is saving me as the librarian, and my students, a lot of time.  Before Google Docs, many students (and some still do) would come to me because they could not open their file at school.  Now, every time I help them, I also show them Google Docs.  Most of the students, like I was, are unaware that they already signed up for Google at some point in their internet explorations and thus Google Docs is only a "click" away.  I also tell them that they can just cut and paste a document from their word processing program into Google Docs to access it at school - this has a much higher success rate than emailing the document and sometimes even better than bringing it on a USB drive.

Google provides a multitude of ways for us to connect to each other and our work.  I am finding cloud computing more and more helpful as I use a laptop and desktop at school and then have another desktop at home.  Because my versions of OS on my desktops and laptop are not compatible with iCloud, Google Docs is functioning in the same way for me.  I like to work on the larger screen of my home desktop, so by saving my work in Google Docs I don't have to worry about my small USB drive or emailing the work to myself for school the next day.

In looking at my list, I realize that I forgot to mention, in my discussion of my inquiry into surveys and polls, that I also used Google Forms to create a survey for my library web site.  I just set up the initial form but did not finish creating my survey.  After thinking about my learning with Google Apps I think I will revisit this survey tool and reread some of the suggestions from the "Google Form Uses" shared document that I have saved.

As part of my introducing Google tools to my students, I always take the time to introduce the navigation tabs at the top of their Google search page.  Often they are only familiar with Images, and do not notice the other options available.

I haven't had an opportunity to explore Google Play yet, but it is interesting, and probably a good move that they took it from the "More" tab, to its own position on the navigation bar.  My quick browsing of this app seems to indicate that it is Google's answer to iTunes.    

Under the "Even More" tab, my favourite Google App is Google Scholar.

When I was teaching my English 12 students how to properly cite sources, we used Google Scholar as a source for documents on which to practice our citation skills.  It was also a great way for students to see the difference between a "regular" Google search, and the results they get in Google Scholar.  Of course this does not replace the access to post-secondary libraries but it offers results that are more credible than Wikipedia.

Another Google App that I am endeavoring to make part of my Web 2.0 world is Google Calendar.  I like the features of Google Calendar and that it is very similar to iCal, the program I am more frequently using.  I think the problem for me in adopting Google Calendar is that my Entourage email has a calendar feature and I also have iCal on my computers.  The need for a mobile device like an iPhone (ok, last shameless plug directed at my husband, LOL) is again an issue when thinking about a calendar program.  I think the reason I return to my handwritten notes in my hard copy daybook is because I have too many calendar options.

As mentioned by Nevin (2009),  Google Apps like the calendar tool, give users the opportunity to access their calendars wherever they have internet access or a mobile device with this ability.  Google calendar has the potential to be a great service for students who often do not write down due dates or deadlines, but always have their phones or iPods.  (Berger & Trexler, 2010)

One of the features I like about Google calendar is the colour coding and notification features.

I tend to favour the "pop-up" reminder over the email, but it depends where I think I will be when I schedule the reminder - the great thing is, I can also choose both.

The funny thing about all of the calendar options I use and have explored is that I still rely on a "traditional" book style, one-month view calendar at home.  Perhaps if I had a computer screen built into the cupboard in my kitchen that tends to be the "hub" of our home, I would move to a digital calendar for our home, but right now that is not an option and the home computer in our office is not accessible enough for this purpose.

I feel that I still have a lot more exploring to do with Google Apps.  Like most of the other tools in my inquiry, one exploration leads to another, and another, and another.  I found that Google was changing as I was learning, and that I sometimes had to be willing to abandon a previous tool if I wanted to truly adopt the new Google tool.  One of the most important things I am taking away from my exploration of Google Apps is the possibility of it replacing some or all of our software programs at school.  I see this as a cost and time saving measure and a way to alleviate some of the pressure on me to be a technology goddess.  (Although I do love it when I can solve a technology related issue for a staff member just by entering a room, which has happened on a few occasions - my magic teacher-librarian wand I tell them.)

References:

Barack, L. (2010). Schools Opt for Google Apps. School Library Journal, 56(6), 12.

Berger, P. & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing Web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world.
     Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Nevin, R. (2009). Supporting 21st Century Learning Through Google Apps. Teacher Librarian,  
     37(2), 35-38.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.
     Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Inquiry Update

It seems that I have been doing a lot of inquiry and playing, and not a lot of updating.  I think this is mostly due to the fact that many of the tools have become part of my daily routine, and less a "thing" that I am learning about and exploring.  I think this is a good thing :), but I thought I better spend some time commenting on my "findings."

Twitter - This has been a huge surprise for me.  I, like some of my classmates exploring this tool, have been surprised by the educational advantages of Twitter.  I expected Twitter to be a lot like Facebook, with people updating what they are eating, or where they are, but have discovered a wealth of information and a great feeling of connectedness with peers from all over Canada and the US.  I like that I have control over whom I "follow" and that I can choose to not follow people who tweet simple "I am at Starbucks."  During this stressful time in education in BC, I have also appreciated the feelings of support and a way to communicate our "issues" with others through Twitter.

Personally, I tend to "tweet" things that I am trying in my inquiry, like class blogging, or I "retweet" ideas and information that I think is worth sharing.  I have been using my inquiry blog as a place to store some great tutorials for Twitter and other tools in my inquiry, and I have also "favourited" ideas that I want to revisit.  I definitely have a "why reinvent the wheel" philosophy about Twitter.  So many people have already asked a question and many have written how-to articles or created videos to answer those questions.  I have found that some things are already becoming dated as Twitter has evolved but, especially among education Tweeters, the information provided is very useful.

There are a couple of things I am still working on with Twitter.  Firstly, I watched a video about "retweeting" but am still a bit unsure that I am doing it "correctly."  The video talked about copying the original tweet and then adding "RT" and pasting the tweet after this.  My question is then, why is there a "Retweet" icon?  This does the same thing but without the "RT."  Is the "RT" necessary?  By following others' retweets, it seems that many use the suggested format, and others just use the "Retweet" button.  I have done both and don't really see that it makes much difference for me as a follower other than knowing it is a retweet right at the beginning.

My other question is about the smaller URLs some Tweeters use for links.  I have not done any inquiry into this but it looks to me that this is another Web 2.0 tool available.  It definitely helps in limiting the number of characters in a tweet so I need to look into this.  I did have one thing I retweeted result in a "mention" that led me to the following link:

I have not been able to trace the tweet that resulted in this "violation," but I will be checking out TinyUrl to learn more.

UPDATE: - I realized, thanks to the comments of my classmates, that I have a bit.ly link on my AddThis toolbar. Cool!

Kidblog.org - I have stuck with this blog site for my class blog and have been very pleased with the results.  I have not encountered anything that would cause me to change sites at this time.  My students have found it easy to navigate and we were even able to upload some of their visual found poem assignments to share with other class members.  The students seem to like the format and responded well to doing their writing on a blog.

As the teacher, I too find it easy to navigate.  I have been able to evaluate their posts and responses quite easily and I like that I can see who posted and when so that I can remind them to keep up-to-date with their assignments.

My husband, who teaches grade 6, is also using this site with his class. There were some initial "emergency" phone calls to me the first time they used it - my husband is a bit on the technologically challenged side - but once they got going he said they wanted to do all their discussions on the blog.

The security of the site is nice, especially for elementary students and I suspect this is why the site says it is ideal for these aged students.  Visitors can see that there is a blog but they cannot read any of the posts unless they are logged in.  I also like that I did not have to provide any personal information about my students, and even though I used their real names, it would be easy to set it up with nicknames or something similar, to create complete anonymity for the students.  I can make my class sites public if I want and I may explore this option next year.  It would be nice to find a similar class in another school to blog with so that the students could get feedback and comments from outside their class.

RSS/iGoogle/Google Reader - When beginning my inquiry into RSS feeds I, as I said in an earlier post, was surprised that I was already "signed up."  I then made iGoogle my internet home page and I haven't looked back.  What a time saving tool this is!  I can see who has updated blogs or sites that I visit regularly without actually having to go to the site - I love this!  It has also allowed me to comment on my classmates blog posts and I have really appreciated the feedback I have received from them.

I have added Delicious, Facebook, Twitter, Google Calendar, and even my local weather to my home page.  I want to add Pinterest, as I prefer this to Delicious, and if I am following others' posts correctly, this could soon be an option.

I try to clear my Google Reader feed a couple times a day but I have also used the "mark all as read" feature a few times.  I realize I don't need to read every new post and that I will need to adjust some of the subscriptions I have added.  One site, YALSA, seems to have upwards of ten updates a day.  Do I really need this as a subscription?  This will be part of the adapting process as I continue to develop my PLN.

Google Apps - I am using iGoogle, Google Reader, and Google Calendar.  I am also in the processing of introducing Google Docs to my students.  As the librarian and technology support person in my school I am trying to get students to use this tool to prevent the issues that arise when they have a PC at home, and we have all MACs at our school.  I have used Google Docs personally in other classes to work collaboratively, and have really liked the ease of use.  The teachers I worked with and I also really liked the "chat" feature as we worked on an assignment.  We could discuss and edit at the same time.  After spring break my English 12 students will begin their Lit Circles and I think this will be a good time for them to blog and use Google Docs to share their discussions about their novels.  The online nature of the program is great as they do not have to be at school to work together.

There have been a couple of great links for using Google Apps in education that I still want to investigate further.  I would like to try using Google Calendar for our computer lab bookings so that teachers can do this without having to physically come to the library to reserve lab space.  I would also like to get more staff members using these tools so that we can share ideas and lessons.

Survey Tools - This is one area of my inquiry that I have not explored much yet.  I did set up an account with Survey Monkey and attempted to create a survey about our school and library web sites.  I began by using one of their templates but became frustrated because it wouldn't let me do the changes I wanted to make to the questions - which it claimed I should be able to do.  Admittedly, I did not give myself enough time for this exploration so my rushing probably had something to do with the frustration.

I maintain both the school and library web sites and would like to at least have a poll to see who is using the sites and why.  I use Weebly for the web sites and I do have access to a poll option so I am going to explore that.  I am not sure how much use I really have for a survey in my teaching and library.  Right now I am more focused on directing people to the sites and the physical library and I am not sure we are ready for a survey yet.

iPad and Web 2.0 applications - I am loving the iPad - or more accurately, my three year-old is loving the iPad, LOL.  We have added lots of great apps for her to play with and I am amazed at how quickly she has learned how to operate this device.  We created a "folder" with "Apps for Lily" and she knows how to use all of them.  She can also get to her favourite shows on Netflix, save her art to the photo gallery, and listen to music.

I have been using the iPad to read my first ebook and am really liking this, despite my initial resistance.  I do feel a bit disloyal to books, but I think they will get over it, ha, ha.

I am curious to see what the new iPad 4 will offer.  I ran into my first "you need Flash to view this" problem yesterday when I was trying to view some video of my union demonstration when Premier Clark was in our town.  I could view the photos on Facebook but I could not go to the photographer's site to see the images and video in a slide show.

I have added the iGoogle app so I get my RSS feed on the iPad and I am using iCloud to connect my laptop, iPad and even my daughter's iPod.  I also am reading the Vancouver Sun through an app and am exploring iBooks, Kindle, and Kobo to compare different eReader options.  So far I do not really see much difference visually.  I think access to ebooks is the main difference.

I also signed up for some iTunes U "courses" to explore this app on the iPad.  I chose a technology course that I intend to view during my spring break.

Web 2.0 mentoring - My principal is being stubborn, LOL.  I sent her a friendly "prodding from the demonstration line" today hoping that she might be able to find 10 minutes over these next couple of days to do a blog update.  I know she is busy but I know that once she makes a habit of posting she will see the benefits of this great communication tool.

My inquiry has led to other staff members using the tools I have been exploring.  There are now 5 or 6 of use on Twitter and two other staff members are using iGoogle.  One of my colleagues is exploring Tweetdeck so I am curious to see how he likes this tool.  We also created Facebook pages for our school and library that I and one other staff member keep updated.  It is exciting that other staff members are now emailing us with things they would like us to post.  Facebook can be such a great tool, especially for connecting with students.

Inquiry leads to inquiry - If anything, this inquiry has gone well beyond the six tools it was originally suggested we explore.  I am using my AddThis tool bar regularly, especially to post ideas from Twitter to my blog or other links to Twitter.  This is one of my favourite "accidental" finds.

Another benefit of this inquiry has been the continued development of our school and library web sites.  I had created the library web site in the fall and planned to redesign the school web site after Christmas.  Through my inquiry into Web 2.0 tools I have been able to make the web site even better than I had originally hoped.  We have links to our Facebook page, slide shows, and "share this site" buttons so others can help us communicate with our learning community.  The speed of this tool was especially evident as our teacher job action began to unfold.  We were able to post information for parents and keep student updated on what to expect this week.  I tried to remember what we did back in 2005 when we were on strike for 2 weeks - signs on school doors and lots of phone calls I suspect.

I am also exploring Evernote as a way to connect my devices and perhaps get rid of my paper "to do" lists.  I have not made this tool a priority, yet, but I would really like to become as paperless as possible so I am hoping this may be an answer.

Thus far, I am very pleased with how my inquiry is progressing.  I like that I am actually using the tools I am exploring.  I continue to be amazed by the wealth of information and tools available to me.  At times it is a bit overwhelming and I am envious of people who seem to know all the latest tools.  I realize too, that I could spend entire days exploring these tools but that I have to set boundaries so that my "regular" work still gets done.  I do appreciate however, that these tools are making my "regular" work better and more efficient.

I have accumulated a stack of reading, both online and in print that I would also like to consider and add to this inquiry.  Most of my exploration has been my own but I would like to now "back it up" with some research and ideas from "experts" in various fields.  I think this will add some depth to my inquiry, and perhaps lead me to better practices in using Web 2.0 tools.