Google Docs is a free, online collaborative writing tool provided by Google. An interesting background note: Google was created by students at Stanford University. The rest is history, as they say…the developers offer most Google services to educators free of charge as a way of giving back to a community that is typically underfunded.

Anyway, back to Google Docs. Students and instructors can make the document public or keep it private for collaborators only. An important feature of Google Docs is that students no longer have to search for their flash drives or remember to email attachments to themselves. Once a Google Doc is created, it is available on any computer that is connected to the internet. I use Google Docs in my classes so that I can collaborate and provide feedback to my students as they develop essays, ideas for projects, or other text media. There is a nice feature in Google Docs that allows one to send private feedback to one or all collaborators, so grades can remain private between instructor and student. One can also insert comments (similar to Word’s reviewing feature), or just use a different color font to give feedback or help develop a document for a group.

In my research, I often use Google Docs to collaborate with colleagues across campus or across the country.

It is easy to upload an existing document to Google Docs, or to create a new document right in the tool. Google also offers spreadsheets similar to Microsoft Excel that are easy to use, especially for simple graphing or organizational needs.

Unfortunately, this blog tool does not support widgets, so I cannot embed this Google Docs youtube video here so it is easy to watch, but you can click on the link to see how teachers and school administrators are using Google Docs in their schools. Google Docs

Globaloria WV is an innovative teaching and learning project now being piloted in WV schools. The program has completed its second year as a state-wide intervention in a variety of learning contexts, including middle and high schools, a community technical college, and alternative schools. Globaloria uses open source social media and Web 2.0 technology to encourage teachers and students to engage in “learning by design” projects that can be integrated into any curriculum. Open source software can be very useful to schools, because there is no charge for using it, and one can change it to individualize it. Open Office and Gimp are two good examples. Open Office provides nearly all the tools that Microsoft Office does, at no charge, while Gimp is a free alternative to Adobe PhotoShop. Web 2.0 tools go beyond the Web 1.0 delivery and access to information because they allow users and groups of users to create and share digital media (think youtube and this blog, for example).

Specifically, teachers and students use high end gaming software such as Flash to create educational games for younger learners, often based on themes of social justice or core content such as math or science. As pilot year three begins, all participating schools are developing games that help develop civic literacy, a 21st century skill now required by the new Content Standards and Objectives recently approved by the WV Dept. of Ed. The process is supported by an array of social networking media that provide synchronous, asynchronous and face-to-face resources, just in time learning and services for students and their teachers.

I have been researching the teacher experience in Globaloria, and there have been some really rich and useful findings so far. For example, the networked environment (including wikis, webex, and blogs) make teacher and student learning visible in ways that are not possible in a classroom. You could think of it as virtually leaving the classroom door open—teachers post reflections about their teaching in their blogs, and post new ideas and solutions to tricky scripting problems that are available anytime to other Globaloria teachers and students. Teachers reported both the challenges and rewards of learning with their students rather than being the “sage on the stage.” Overall, the rewards seem greater than the challenges, and teachers say that they are now using what they have learned in Globaloria in their other classes.

Globaloria exemplifies the effective use and integration of digital and social networking media to create powerful learning experiences that are transforming teaching and learning in the schools where it has been implemented. Here is a link to the research reports from year one and year two, if you are interested in learning more.

“States are setting the bar too low,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in response to last week’s release of the study Mapping State Proficiency Standards onto NAEP Scales: 2005-2007.

The federal study compares proficiency standards of states using the results of the National Assessment of Education Progress, or Nation’s Report Card as it’s more commonly known.

“Far too many states are telling students that they are proficient when they actually are performing below NAEP’s basic level,” Duncan said. “At a time when we should be raising standards to compete in the global economy, more states are lowering the bar than raising it.

“We’re lying to our children when we tell them they’re proficient, but they’re not achieving at a level that will prepare them for success once they graduate,” he said.

So, are states setting the bar too low? Download the complete report in a PDF file for viewing and printing.

College of Human Resources and Education Dean Dee Hopkins – http://twitter.com/wvudeandee
U.S. Department of Education – http://twitter.com/USedGov
West Virginia Department of Education – http://twitter.com/wveducation

Ok, so I am going to start my blogging experience on here by talking about something simple that is semi-familiar. In an upcoming lesson, I will be using the search engine generator known as Rollyo. (Anybody ever heard of it?) We just learned about it in my Instructional Development course. It actually creates a mini-search engine for your students to use. You put in whatever websites you deem pertinent and appropriate, and your students can search for terms within those sites. The reasons this sounds great are that this will cut down on class time lost to managing the endless sea of information that is the Internet and it makes sure that the students do not wander onto any links that result in nasty phone calls from parents. For example, I am teaching a few lessons on adaptations of plants and animals, so I made a Rollyo for my 4th grade class to search specific websites, such as parts of DiscoveryKids, for information related to the content.

I have never actually taught a lesson to a whole class using computers, so I am a little nervous. However, I feel quite relieved to know that my “uh-oh” moments will be drastically decreased through the aide of this media.

I will try to write a follow-up after the activity to analyze Rollyo’s efficacy and results after teaching the lesson. Until then, what do you think of this site? (Go Google it!!!)

Governors came together earlier this year to come up with a set of national education standards. If you haven’t read the first official draft of the college- and career-readiness standards, check it out at http://www.corestandards.org/ and offer your feedback. The public comment period closes Wednesday.

Related CNN story: “State, federal education experts mull nationwide standards”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/20/education.standards/

President Barack Obama recently brought attention to the issue of year-round schooling. He believes a longer school day, or year-round school, may help improve academic performance.

From an Associated Press story:

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

“Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas,” the president said earlier this year. “Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom.”

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

“Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

What do you think? Make a case for or against year-round school.

Welcome to the College of Human Resources and Education’s EduBlog. This is a place where students, educators, and others interested in issues surrounding education can meet and discuss 21st century teaching and learning. We invite you to join the conversation as our bloggers—an administrator, a couple of faculty members, and a student—share their thoughts about special education, teaching methods and tools, instructional technologies, and the like. If you’d like to weigh in with an idea or innovation, offer topics for future blog postings, or volunteer to be a guest blogger, please e-mail janey.cink@mail.wvu.edu.