To teach collaborative writing, I like GoogleDocs. I like
the real time changes and immediate sharing of ideas. I can easily see this as
a format to teach writing and editing skills, then used as a tool for peer
editing. This one is on the web, but can be very secure. Only people you invite
can share and collaborate on your story. I want to know more about setting up a
class with gmail so they can communicate with each other, and without being
bombarded with other Google ‘stuff’ that keeps popping up.
I also checked out GoogleChat. I think I like this one, too.
They can chat 1-1 or in small groups. They can ask me a question if I’m on, but
the concern the text raised is the need to not be on all of the time, unless
you like working around the clock. If I were to set this up for my class, it
would be strictly for classwork (not about who sat by whom on the bus) and
there will be no text speak. I’d like to be able to have access at any time to
their conversations. A little controlling, I know. Any thoughts?
Good points. I'm not sure about having access to student conversations, but I know that you can make yourself "invisible." PCC recently switched over to google for several things, and I pretty quickly figured out how to make myself invisible. There's just something about the world knowing when I'm online that's just a little weird, kind of like living in a fishbowl, you know? =-)
ReplyDeleteAs for student accounts, that would probably be best handled on a district/school level, rather than an individual classroom level, so call that district techy on speed dial!