Abstract

In order to educate the diverse population of our youth in the education system we must broaden our own views of what educational tools should consist of, what concepts need to be taught, how concepts are learned and interpreted for students of varying backgrounds.

The demographics of our students is not the same as it was 50 years ago or even the same as it was 10 years ago, as the student population diversifies, so must our educational tools. These tools must be able to educate a diverse group of students, appeal to their backgrounds and understandings.

These tools must move out of the class rooms and into the homes, these tools must take advantage of our growing technological advancements. And finally these tools must move beyond being tools for students but rather games. Games are what students occupy their times with, and in order to reach the student when not educating them in the classroom, one must use current technology and entertainment to incorporate education into the daily lives of the youth.

In order to create games that appeal to the diversifying student body, one must have a diverse team of specialists that understand the different backgrounds and interests of students.

In this presentation, I will discuss the diversification of the education system, the advancements of technology, how to use technology for education and how collaboration is the best way to reach a broad student audience.

Presenter

Palkin Zed

The author is a developer of the educational game PRIME, a game designed for ages 12 and higher, which educates the user on prime numbers, mathematics and strategy. This game was developed by four students at the University of Nevada, Reno. The students have ethnic backgrounds and education including computer science, art, music, business and philosophy.

We begin our presentation with an overview of Google Tools and the benefits of using them in your classroom. We will also discuss the pros and cons of using Google Tools. We will discuss methods to increase student access to information, decrease workloads, and create collaborative opportunities. The second part of this presentation will present a hands-on session that will help you work with the tools. We will cover Google Docs, Reader, Sites, and Calendar.

Purpose of presentation

With the current economic times, budgets are feeling the strain, as are teachers and faculty in both K-12 and Higher Education settings. With web 2.0 tools, specifically Google Tools, we are empowered to use the technology to decrease our budgets, create a paperless environment, and introduce collaborative learning environments into our curriculum.

The researchers work to empower teachers to embrace our digital natives and create a world of digital immigrants that are comfortable with the technologies and are given new opportunities to empower their students to reach new heights. Students often feel that they must ‘power-down’ when they enter the classroom. It is our desire and passion to help teachers and faculty feel comfortable with these learners. In order for our students to compete in the current job market, they must be cross-trained in all aspects of life and their curriculum with technology. Those who can meet the demands of the current job market will reach the highest levels of success. When we keep students away from technology, due to fear and lack of training, we take away opportunities that are readily available overseas.

Objectives of the presentation

Part 1 of this presentation works to:
•    empower faculty/teachers to take control of their classrooms
•    introduce collaborative learning environments into your curriculum
•    create collaborative communities of practice among cooperative teachers
•    create a paperless learning environment

Part 1 of this presentation is a theoretical introduction to Google Tools. We will share our classroom sites and other examples of practical uses of the technologies.  Attendees will leave this seminar/session with resources found on Google docs.

Part 2 of this presentation works to:
•    present Google Documents and gives pros and cons as compared to Microsoft Word
•    present Google Spreadsheets and gives pros and cons as compared to Microsoft Excel
•    present Google Presentations and gives pros and cons as compared to Microsoft PowerPoint
•    present blogging as a method of reflection for both students and faculty
•    present Google Reader as a method of managing blogs
•    present Google Calendar as a method of organizing classes and curriculum
•    present Google Sites as a wysiwyg method of creating websites

Part 2 of this presentation is a hands-on seminar that will allow attendees the opportunity to create accounts and begin the process of creating digital resources. Attendees will leave this seminar/session with working models of the aforementioned tools.

Practical applications

Faculty can use the tools to create collaborative opportunities that previously were more difficult to set-up.  Students can collaborate with other students throughout the US and worldwide.  Students are given the opportunity to work in collaborative groups without regard to other team members’ schedules, opening up opportunities and engagement. Faculty can keep all resources digital and can carry their documents from computer to computer. Students and faculty enjoy access to documents from the web which leads to lighter backpacks, lower copy costs, reduces lost homework or hand-outs, and keeps parents informed with access to all curriculum materials.  Lesson plans are stored online and are easily accessible to substitutes and other faculty members. These tools give you immediate access from either the office or home, making grading portable and paperless.

Relationship to the conference theme

Web 2.0 tools increase the accessibility to collaborative opportunities leading to engaged students and a more involved parent support system. Everyone benefits from the use of Google tools. Students can work on projects with students at different locations across the world increasing engagement, collaboration, social connections, and cultural knowledge via new medias to which our students are native.

Information (data or theoretical base) to support what is advocated.

The researchers have integrated these resources into the classroom over a 5-year time period. The benefits of the tools and the pedagogy is well documented and tested with a great number of students, and with personal use in our curriculum.

Presenters

Sandie H Waters

Dr. Sandie Waters is an Assistant Professor in the Elementary Education Department at Utah Valley University, former Adjunct Faculty and Distance Learning Endorsement Coordinator in the Instructional Technology Department at Utah State University, and Program Coordinator of the Intern Program of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. She has previously taught and conducted research at Indiana University, Bloomington, Utah State University, and Utah Valley University.

Dr Waters’ research focuses on the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into schools and higher education, the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on collaboration and creativity, and socially responsible open education. She has taught Distance Education, Technology Integration, Computers in Education, Foundations of Education, Projects in Instructional Technology, Practicum in Distance Education, Web 2.0 Tools in Education, and Learning Theory. She is currently working on ‘backpack’ technologies and will begin working with schools, principals, tech coordinators, IT specialists, and teachers to empower them to bring 21st Century Technological Tools into Utah’s educational system in Summer 2009. She is currently writing a book regarding Web 2.0 and backpack technologies to be published by an open publisher.

Dr Waters’ personal interests include Karate (1st Degree Black Belt), Life Coaching, bicycling, hiking, blogging , facebooking, texting, IMing, and of course my friends.

Suzy Cox

Her personal interests including spending time with her family, running, reading, and exploring new technologies.

So get ready to demo something cool related to teaching with technology.

Purpose: In today’s classroom it’s more important than ever to collaborate with our students and keep them apprised of valuable resources and upcoming schedules. The average instructor needs to devote most of his/her time towards developing pertinent curriculum, without the added burden of trying to get that content online in a useful way. Instead of spending hours learning the intricacies of HTML and web design, let Google provide an effective solution to your web publishing needs.

In this session we’ll focus on three free programs from Google: Blogger, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and Google Calendar . Each of these applications is designed to make collaboration and publishing accessible to the average person. Within minutes of signing up for a Google Account, you can set up your own classroom blog from Blogger. This new blog can become an interactive portal to the content within your course. You can post assignments, pictures, links to resources, and your thoughts about whatever is going on in and out of class.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets is an online word processor and spreadsheet program. It can take your existing Word documents and Excel spreadsheets and put them online where they can be accessed by all the students in your courses. So, now all of you handouts can be available online. This program also gives your students the opportunity to collaborate on their assignments, as they can invite others to become co-authors on any document or spreadsheet. Real time data can change hands without the students even being in the same room.

Google Calendar is a scheduling program designed to help you stay organized and inform students of important dates in the course. This online calendar can be made public in such a way that students can view important dates and receive an email of updates or new information added to the program. You can share authorship of the calendar with teaching assistants or colleagues to help you keep everything up to date. By adding the calendar to your blog, you can maintain a central information hub for everything going on in your course.

Objectives:
*Explore free and easy to use collaborative tools online.
*Demonstrate how these tools can be integrated into curriculum and increase student collaboration, as well as improve instructor productivity.

Applications: Participants will see how to create and utilize the tools, and then learn how they can be incorporated into many classroom situations.

Support Information: This session is largely a “how to” presentation, with one year of anecdotal experience underlying the effectiveness of integrating these tools in the college classroom. Collaborative learning is a proven strategy for success, and this session focuses on some new tools that make collaboration easier and more effective with the aid of technology.

2nd-Day Hands On: How to Use Google Tools in your Class
Discover how easy it is to use Google’s free tools to create a blog, calendar and connect other tools that are mandatory for a highly collaborative instructional experience.

Handout:
Creating a Collaborative Classroom with Google Tools

Biography
Jared specializes in teaching strategies for classroom integration of technology such as GPS (Global Positioning Systems), web page design, and digital cameras. His background is in secondary education where Jared was a Language Arts teacher at the high school level. Jared received his Bachelors degree in English and his Masters degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah. Besides his work at UEN, Jared is also adjunct faculty for the College of Education at the University of Utah, where he teaches technology integration classes to undergraduate students.