Unit 2 - Facilitate

Now that you are officially set up in the course, we are ready to dive into some new ideas and tools. Most of you probably do not have a background in education, and even if you do, you might not have had much experience with technology for teaching. That is completely okay. Everyone is coming in with different experiences and perspectives. 

This unit is designed to give you a shared starting point while helping you think about how educational technology connects to things that matter to you. Understanding how technology supports teaching and learning is not only useful in education. These tools and strategies can also help you in other fields that involve communication, training, or creative problem-solving. Whether you plan to teach, work in design, lead workshops, or support learning in other ways, this unit can help you start seeing where those connections might happen.

This unit is due at the end of the day on Monday, September 22 at 11:59 pm. Unit 3 will be posted by noon on the same day. As always, please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns. And if you haven't had a chance to purchase your "textbook" - you'll need it for this unit and it is now available. Make sure to use the discount code and the purchasing procedure explained in Unit 1.

Before you start this task, take a few minutes to read the first 4 pages of this document, "What is G Suite for Education" by Kasey Bell from Shake Up Learning. This is still relevant even though the name has changed to Google Workspace for Education. It's a nice overview of Google tools for education. Sure - there's no quiz to check if you read it. Honestly, who would know if you skipped it? But if you take the 5 minutes necessary to read the linked article, everything else you do in this task will make more sense. I promise that I truly only link to articles that help glue everything together. So please - just read it. Didn't you tell yourself at the end of last semester that you'd actually start doing the assigned readings?

Part 1: Complete the Overview and Basic Use of Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals (3 pts.)

1. Review the Overview of Workspace.

2. Watch the short video about Fairfield County and its use of Google Tools: Fairfield County School District - 5 Years On.

3. Work through the 6 sections of Basic Use of Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals - no need to complete the assessment or survey at the end. You'll likely need to log in with your Google account information.

4. Write 4-5 sentences about what you learned from the tutorial directly onto your Facilitate page (under the Insert menu, use the Insert Text Box option to write your sentences). 

5. Make sure to publish your page using the Blue Publish button in the top right corner of your Google Sites screen to update what you've added. If it's not published - I can't see it.

Part 2: Complete two additional Intermediate Training Sections (2 pts.)

1. Pick two of the 6 sections to complete from the Intermediate Use of Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals.

**Don't pay any attention to the suggested time required - most take much less than half the time listed. Choose a topic that's of interest to you - not the one that looks like it will be the quickest to finish. You're already here - so you might as well learn something you can use. **

2. Work through all of the parts of the two sections you selected, no need to complete the assessment or the survey at the end.

3. Write 4-5 sentences about what you learned from the tutorials directly onto your Facilitate page (under the Insert menu, use the Insert Text Box option to write your sentences). 

4. Make sure to publish your page using the Blue Publish button in the top right corner of your Google Sites screen to update what you've added.

**If you're an education major, you might want to consider exploring some of the other areas of Google Workspace for Education training and even completing some of the certification tests. Adding "Google Certified Teacher" to your vita is not a bad way to stand out from the crowd when you're applying for jobs!

Part 1: Get an overview of different types of facilitation tools (2 pts.)

Before you start - I want you to read the overview for several types of facilitation tools. It's going to take me longer to type out the list than it will take you to read them - so don't freak out. Also - since the "text" is a website - there are no page numbers. You'll want to access your text here: https://teachersguidetotech.com/welcome/ and then either use the search box for each of these categories or use the tools menu where the tools/categories are listed alphabetically. You'll need to be logged in to the teachersguidetotech website to access this information. I've also linked to the sections, so the links should work if you are logged in to the website. Each tool section will have a description of the section and then information about several relevant tools (just click on the image of the tool to access detailed information about it). 

• Assessment

• Classroom Management

• Feedback

• Flashcard Creators

• Flipped and Blended Learning

• Games

• Learning Management Systems

• Note-taking 

• Parent Engagement 

• Presentation 

• Productivity and Planning 

• Survey Tools

Part 2: Selecting and exploring facilitation tools (3 pts.)

1. Now that you've read about 12 different types of facilitation tools, select a type that is most interesting to you. Explore at least TWO of the tools listed for your facilitation type. [For instance, if I were interested in assessment, there are 9 different assessment tools explained in the textbook in the Assessment Section. I might choose to explore Formative and Gradient.]

2. Spend some time reading the descriptions of the two tools you selected and then choose one to explore more in-depth. 

3. Think of an artifact you can create to show what you've learned about the tool. Example: I might create a 5 question quiz about my major using Formative.

4. Once you've created your artifact - add a link or a screenshot (whichever makes the most sense for the tool you selected) to your Facilitate webpage and write 4-5 sentences describing what you created and what you learned. 

5. Make sure to include the name of the tool you selected and a link to it. And don't forget to publish your page.

It's time to think about what you've learned so far this semester. Since we're online - writing about our thinking is one of the best ways to communicate what you've learned. You'll use Google Docs to write a bit about what you've done in this unit and connect it to your readings from Unit 1.

Create a new Google Doc and respond to the questions listed below. Your finished piece will be 3-4 paragraphs. You could type this directly on your Facilitate page but using a Google Doc and then embedding it gives you more editing options. Also - you don't have to address every single question that I ask - these are just suggestions of what to talk about in your writing. [If you've never created a Google Doc before, here's a good guide.]

Your goal is to build connections, not just between tools and readings, but also between what you are learning and how it might apply in real-life settings. You might think about how you have used similar tools in other classes, at work, or in your daily routines. Even if you are not planning to be a classroom teacher, there are plenty of ways these tools can support collaboration, creativity, or communication in other fields.

Spend some time writing about your thoughts on the following questions. Your finished document should be 3-4 paragraphs (this is college - paragraphs consist of multiple sentences . . .) A long time ago, one of my teachers taught me a wonderful rule of thumb for writing: The minimum number of sentences you should be able to write easily is the same as your age - on any topic. 

• Think about the articles you read in Unit 1: (Meaningful Learning with Technology, Universal Design for Learning, the ISTE Standards for Students) and all of the readings from your textbook. Where do you see themes/ideas from that article connecting with tools that you've learned about in this unit? There's no shame in looking back at your article to help with this. Quotes are a fantastic way to add a few sentences!!! Here are some ideas for what to think and write about:

  • Based on the ideas found in your readings - what should teachers/students consider when using GSuite tools and/or the tool you chose in Task 2?

  • What would be an interesting way to use one of the GSuite tools and/or your Task 2 tool with a group of learners that would support what you read in your article?

  • Think about the ISTE standards you've read about. How could these tools support those standards in a classroom or another collaborative setting?

  • What is still unclear to you about the readings, standards, or the tools? Is there one idea or strategy that you could see yourself using in a course, a job, or another part of your life beyond this semester?

• Once you're finished writing, look back over your work. Does it look like college-level writing? Does it look like a final draft (no typos or grammatical errors)? Are there multiple paragraphs? Do you reference readings and tools you've used? Does it reflect what you've learned so far (remember, you've just covered a huge chunk of this semester's information)? Take 10 seconds to read this writing tip: "Don't Just Write Words. Write Music" - it's some of the simplest (and most useful) writing advice I've ever seen.

Now let's insert that Google Doc into your website. 

STEP ONE: Sharing your Google Doc
Before you leave your Google Doc/Slides, click on the Share button in the top right corner. In the "Share" box that pops up, in the "General Access" section at the bottom, click "Restricted" to change to "anyone with a link". Then click "Done." Here's a really short tutorial video to show you how.

STEP TWO: Embedding your Doc onto your Facilitate page
Go to your website, navigate to your "Facilitate" page, and click the Insert tab on the top right. Scroll down the Insert menu and select Document or Slides. Choose your "Connect Paper" from your list of documents and insert it on your "Facilitate" page.

You'll need to do this each time you embed a new Google Document (or Slides or Spreadsheet) on your website. Please DO NOT just paste a link to your document - it should be embedded so that it appears directly on your Facilitate page.

DON'T FORGET TO CLICK THE BLUE PUBLISH BUTTON!!!