Now that you're officially set up for the course, it's time to start learning some new things. Most of you aren't necessarily education majors and those of you who are education majors probably haven't had a course on using technology for teaching. Your experience as a learner using educational technology ranges widely depending on where you went to school, your personal interest in technology, and the courses you've taken. My goal for this semester is to help you have a broad understanding of how educational technology tools can support you as a learner and how they can support teaching and learning in K12 classrooms. This unit is due at the end of the day on Wednesday, February 5th. Unit 3 will be posted by noon on the same day. As always, please feel free to call, text, email, or schedule a time to meet with me if you have any questions or concerns. And if you haven't had a chance to purchase your book - 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.
A quick overview of Unit 2 and some navigation tips for your "textbook" that is honestly a website - a useful one, though.
Asynchronous Learning Tip: Taking an online, asynchronous course isn't for the faint of heart. My job is a lot like taking a bunch of asynchronous courses at once (lots of things to do - with most deadlines off in the distance and no one checking in that I've done it unless I don't do it by the deadline). That makes for difficult times when you're a procrastinator like me. And working from home doesn't help. Before the pandemic, if I had a lot of work to finish, I'd go to Starbucks with a list of what needed to get finished before I'd "allow" myself to leave. I've gotten out of the habit of that, and now that I do most of my work from home, that little game doesn't really work. I talked to other faculty and they were having the same problem (most of your professors have the same work habits as the rest of us - none of us are immune from the temptation of Netflix.) We realized that a lot of what helped us work was the background noise of other people in coffee shops, campus buildings, or wherever we went to get our work done (I also used to get a lot of work done in the Science Learning Center and the Pharmacy building - because I knew that nothing I was working on was nearly as difficult as what the students studying/weeping around me were working on.)
So, I've figured out how to sort of simulate that coffee shop work/study experience. I've learned to make a pretty decent iced coffee (but sometimes I just grab a real one at the drive-thru before I start work) and I've found a million YouTube videos of ambient sounds. Want to study by a river? Like the idea of studying in a cabin while it gently rains outside? Miss the standard coffee shop sounds of people talking quietly, cash registers, and clinking coffee mugs? There are YouTube videos for every. single. one. of those sounds! Just Google the environment you're looking for and "ambient sound" and you'll find plenty of choices. If you search "Harry Potter Pomodoro" you'll get videos set up using the Pomodoro technique which breaks work into 25 minute segments (you can read more about it here.) I'm currently listening to one called "Coffee Shop Ambience" while I write this.
So, if you're struggling to stay on task - maybe try this to see if it helps.
Grade value: 5% of total grade
To facilitate means to make something easier. Isn't that one of the main roles of a teacher? To make learning easier - and more accessible - to learners? There are many tools that can help with facilitation. You'll start out looking at Google Tools. Then in Task 2, you'll start exploring a few facilitation tools that are used frequently in PreK-12 and higher education classrooms.
Google Workspace for Education is a group of tools that can be used to support teachers as they facilitate learning. We've already used a number of these tools to support teaching and learning in this course: you've filled out Google Forms, you've made a Google Site, and you're getting all of your course assignments from a Google Site, too. Most of you have probably shared notes for a class via a shared Google Doc. Understanding more about this "ecosystem" of tools is pretty important to learn new ways to use technology as a teacher and as a learner. Seriously - all of these tools will help you in your current coursework.
Before you start this task, take a few minutes to read the first 4 pages of this document, "What is GSuite 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?
Now to the actual task: You're going to spend about an hour or two completing two tutorials about Google Workspace tools in K12 education. Along the way - you should learn more about how to apply these tools to your own productivity. This is a good excuse to grab your headphones (there are a few short videos you'll need to watch) and head to your favorite quiet spot.
Review the Overview of Workspace
Watch the short video about Fairfield County and its use of Google Tools: Fairfield County School District - 5 Years On
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.
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).
**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.
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.
Work through all of the parts of the two sections you selected, no need to complete the assessment or the survey at the end.
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).
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!
Grade value: 5% of total grade
Now that you know a bit more about Google Workspace for Education tools - what else is out there? For this task, you'll pick a facilitation tool from your textbook and explore it in-depth. Then, you'll build an artifact with the tool you explored and post it to your Facilitate webpage.
There are hundreds of tools to explore in your textbook. I've identified 10 types of tools that I think fit under the "Learning Facilitation" category - but you are more than welcome to choose a tool from your textbook that is found in a different tool chapter.
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).
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 was 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. ]
Spend some time reading the descriptions of the two tools you selected and then choose one to explore more in-depth.
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.
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.
Make sure to include the name of the tool you selected and a link to it. And don't forget to publish your page.
Grade value: 10% of total grade
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.]
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, my son's kindergarten teacher taught me a wonderful rule of thumb for writing many years ago: The minimum number of sentences you should be able to write easily is the same as your age - on any topic. This is when I regret being 49.
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 can the GSuite tools and/or your Task 2 tool support that standard?
What is still confusing for you about the articles, the ISTE standards, or one of the tools that you used? What's an idea from the readings and/or a tool that you can see using 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
The default view setting for a Google Doc is private just to the creator unless you change the Sharing settings. Click the blue share button in the top right corner of any document and change the setting to “anyone with the link can view.”
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. Choose your Document. 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!!!
That's it! You've finished Unit 2! Please make sure to call or email me if you have questions or concerns at any point in these tasks. Please remember that all tasks are due no later than the end of the day on Wednesday, February 5th. No need to email me once you're finished. The next set of tasks will be posted on the morning of February 5th.