What Does Google+ Mean for Education

I became a Google+ user this week and I like it.  From what I can tell it lets you do pretty much everything Facebook lets you do with some bonuses including being able to edit your status updates and comments and that you can select who the feed goes to via the circle(s) in which you share your updates.  The circles I'm using are colleagues, co-workers, GTA, friends, family, volleyball.  The status updates still don't have a feature which I really want:  nesting of comments.  Is that really so hard???  It does let you tag people in your status which I find useful.

Another cool feature is hanging out.  This lets you connect with up to ten people via audio, video, and chat and from my experience it works rather seamlessly.  It also has a YouTube video share which I think will be powerful as a teaching and learning tool.  While as an educator, my initial thought was only ten people?  My next thought was, the reality is that it is difficult to have meaningful discussions with more than ten people.  The rule of ten might in fact result in much more interesting and effective learning.  For instance:

• What if students were empowered to lead hang out discussions and if necessary the teacher could move from discussion to discussion.  
• What if the teacher set discussions with groups of students as it made sense.
• This could be great for meetings of educators who are not from the same school.  Think librarian hangouts, science teacher hangouts, etc.
• This is a nice tool that could be more efficient for staff who are located in different districts.  Rather than spend time commuting, just set up a hang out.

Here is what I like, love, a great tip, and what surprised me about Google+

Top 3 things I like.
1-You can edit your posts
2-You can hit return without the comment posting itself
3-You can still tag people

Top 3 things I love
1-You can select who sees your message. I REALLY like this as I know my friends are annoyed by my work chatter.
2-Hangouts are really cool. They're so easy. I didn't need to install or do anything, though I believe this is because I use the Google Suite. If you don't, you may need to install some plug ins.
3-Creating circles. I don't know why but this seems so much better than creating groups in Facebook.

Great tip
Shorten your Google+ page url at http://gplus.to
This allows you to change the url for your Google+ page
to be something like this: http://gplus.to/InnovativeEdu
instead of this: https://plus.google.com/116727180683288878674

Surprise
One thing I wasn't looking forward to is re-establishing my personal learning network on Google+. I was surprised that this wasn't a problem. Within a few days it seems I already have all my Facebook work friends in Google+.  Rebuilding those I connect with was very easy and the circles are so nice because as people are added I quickly and easily dropped them in the right circle. Facebook let you just accept friendship without grouping people so there was no good way to connect with certain groups because I hardly grouped anyone.  The instant circles feature has allowed me to instantly group all and those I spoke with most on Facebook and Twitter are right there with me and in the right group :-)

That's as far as I've gotten so far with Google+, but if you want to learn more here are some suggestions :-)

1) Check out the Google+ Guide that is being created by hundreds of Google users, using Google docs.  How Google Coolgle is that??? Imagine what kids could do if we allowed them to use social networks to connect with others and make guides about things they cared about???

2) Eric Curts, who I was fortunate enough to have join my first hang out, shared with me a whole blog post he wrote about his ideas for Google+ for schools which you can read here.  If you're a Google Apps school, you'll love his App User Group which connects and assists schools in the use of Google Apps for education.  His post was also mentioned on the Read Write Web blog in their article, "Is This the Social Tool Schools Have Been Waiting For? by @audreywatters . Check it out.

3) Click this link for information about why it's great for folks who create graphic novels / comics.

4) Visit Larry Ferlazzo's round up of Google+ resources here.

5) Check out this Google collaborative doc that shares Ways to Use Google+ in Education.  Consider adding your own ideas too!

6) View "What G+ is really about (pst!!! it's not social") -- +Vincent Wong Believe it? Go here http://bit.ly/qfHKZQ and see his G+ photo album that argues the case. (Just click the first photo then use the arrows to see the rest.)

7) Google+ Shortcut Cheat Sheet

8) The GPlus Info: How GPlus Can Become The Social Network For Education by Rich Kiker

Unlike Google Wave which I waved goodbye to well before it disappeared and Google Buzz which I felt wasn't worth the buzz, I think Google+ has a place in social media arena.  Facebook, watch out. There's a new kid in town and I think he might become more popular than you.

You have read this article Google / Google + / Google Apps / Google Certified Teacher / Google for Educators / Google in Education / Google+ with the title Google Certified Teacher. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-does-google-mean-for-education.html. Thanks!

An Innovative Educator’s View of A Day at The Google Certified Teacher Academy Reunion

On Friday, February 27th Google hosted the reunion of the first northeast cohort of Google Certified Teachers. For an innovative educator, being at Google admittedly feels much like winning the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Once you enter the Google facilities, what you find inside is as awe inspiring as to innovative educators as it was to Charlie and Grampa Joe.


In place of Willy Wonka’s psychedelic wonderland full of chocolate rivers, giant edible mushrooms, lickable wallpaper, other ingenious inventions you find the Google micro kitchens, whimsical lava lamps, colorful rubber balls for sitting, lego sculptures, first class (and free) dining facilities (including a fabulous sushi chef), gyms, a full game room (pool, ping, foos, Guitar Hero, etc), laundry rooms, massage rooms, dry cleaning, Razor Scooter stations, and collaborative workspaces fully equipped for 21st Century innovation.


When you put innovative educators in the mix, you have a recipe for success that drives innovation and customization right into the hands of those best suited to help students and other educators serve up an enticing future. One of the many benefits of being a Google Certified Teacher is that you get an insight into all the great educational uses of Google from some of the most innovative educators in the world.

Here is a peak into what we saw.

• How to launch Google Apps in your school district
  Presented by mother and daughter team, Connie & Kyli Sitterley from the PENNCREST School District in Pennsylvania.
  Visit: Google Apps and The Sitterleys – Part 1 and Google Apps and The Sitterleys – Part 2.
• Yes You Can! Conquering Copyright Confusion
  Presented by Kristin Hokanson, Technology Integration Coach Upper Merion Area HS, Media Education Lab, Temple University
  Visit: Copyright Confusion
• Google Forms - Visualize. Capture. Analyze. Act.
  Presented by Kevin Jarrett ,Technology Facilitator, K-4, Northfield Community School
  Visit Google Forms
• What's New in Google Earth 5 – Travel back in Time with Historical Imagery, Dive Below the Surface of the Ocean, Record Your Journeys with Touring
  Presented by a Google Earth Programmer
  Visit Google Earth 5
• Sharing Effective Staff Development Strategies a.k.a "How to share the magic."
  Presented by Barry Bachenheimer, Director of Instructional Services at Caldwell-West Caldwell Schools, NJ and Pam Friedman, Instructional Technology Specialist at Westfield Schools, NJ
  Visit Staff Development Strategies
• I Didn’t Know Google Could Do That!
  Presented by Jerry Crisci, Director of Technology at Scarsdale Public Schools, NY
  Visit "I Didn't Know Google Could Do That"
• Taking it Virtual …into Second Life as a Google Certified Teacher
  Presented by Nancy Sharoff K-4 Technology Facilitator in Ellenville, New York
  Visit Google Certified Teachers in Second Life
• Web 2.0 Smackdown – Sharing of Cool Tech
  Presented by various GCT Participants
  Visit Web 2.0 Smackdown

In addition to these presentations, one of the big features/pushes at the event was Google Apps for Educators which schools can use to bring communication and collaboration tools to the entire academic community for free. Kevin Jarrett, Technology Facilitator, K-4 at Northfield Community School and Lisa Thumann, Sr. Specialist in Technology Education at CMSCE, Rutgers University showed participants how to get started with this presentation. They shared that Google manages all the technology details, so educators can focus their time, energy and budgets on teaching and learning.

From the Google Apps for Educators website:

“Google Apps Education Edition lets tech administrators provide email, sharable
online calendars, instant messaging tools and even a dedicated website to
faculty, students and staff for free. There's no hardware or software to install
or maintain, since everything is delivered through a standard web browser --
anytime, from anyplace.”

Here are the services included:

• Gmail - Offer email to your faculty, students and staff with 2 gigabytes of storage per account, search tools to help them find information fast, and instant messaging built right into the browser (chat can easily be disabled for the whole school if you don't want students to be able to IM with their accounts).
• Google Talk - Teachers and students can call or send instant messages to their contacts for free -- anytime, anywhere in the world. Imagine the possibilities for people collaborating on projects from different locations.
• Google Calendar - Everyone can organize their schedules and share events, meetings and entire calendars with others. You can even publish the school calendar on your website to let families know about events like back-to-school nights, homecoming and vacation days.
• Google Docs - Students and teachers can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations and then collaborate with each other in real-time right inside a web browser window.
• Google Sites - Create a class site and edit it the same way you'd edit a document -- no technical expertise required. Your site can bring together all the information you want to share with your colleagues and students, including docs, calendars, photos, videos and attachments. IT decision-makers can learn more about Google Apps Education Edition.

Here’s a pictorial peak captured by Google Certified Teacher, Kevin Jarrett.

I know many of my readers want more information on how they can apply to become a Google Certified Teacher. Stay tuned for a future post outlining how and when to go about applying.

You have read this article Google Certified Teacher / Google for Educators / Google in Education / Google Teacher Academy with the title Google Certified Teacher. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2009/03/an-innovative-educators-view-of-day-at.html. Thanks!