K-12 Classroom with Google Apps

"The use of technology in the elementary school is growing and evolving. This changing environment means that mobile devices are being used alongside computers and laptops and district policies are changing to meet the new demands. Student achievement and motivation can be increased through the use of technology in the classroom. The amount of information available can make finding quality resources challenging. This paper provides information to assist teachers in integrating quality resources in the elementary school in the subjects of language arts, math, science, and social studies. It also includes resources that can be used to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of gifted, special needs students, and English language learners. These resources give teachers a good place to start looking for new technology and reduce the hours spent searching for quality resources. These technologies can be used with students to help them achieve at a higher level."

"ducators in the state of Hawai'i currently use the Lotus Notes email host program as a method of communication and collaboration. One public elementary school in Hawai'i, on the island of Maui, is currently in the process of replacing Lotus Notes with Google Apps for Education. More than just an email system, web-based Google Apps for Education offers an easy way to share documents, work together virtually in real-time, and much more. Educators requested assistance on learning the basic necessary skills for Google Apps for Education, in particular on Gmail and Google Docs. To meet that need, an online training module was designed and delivered through a Weebly website that utilized an interactive tour, instructional videos, and step-by-step instructions with screenshots that are printable documents. Participants were asked to complete a challenge at the end of Module 1 & 2 as a way to reinforce and assess what was learned. Survey results indicated that all participants have considered using Gmail and Google Docs as a way to collaborate with their fellow colleague."

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Collaboration beyond the school campus can be made possible through technology. Online collaboration tools and the all-encompassing "cloud" have sprouted up as possible solutions to facilitate collaboration. However, Google Apps has emerged as the front runner, because of its unique ability for multiple users to simultaneously collaborate on a single document in real time. Additionally, Google Apps provides numerous tools that not only have collaboration as an inherent feature, but are also specialized to complete numerous tasks.

"Google Docs, an online word processing application, is a promising tool for collaborative learning. However, many college instructors and students lack knowledge to effectively use Google Docs to enhance teaching and learning. Goals of this study include (1) assessing the effectiveness of using Google Docs in an out-of-class collaborative writing activity through measuring the assignment's influence on students' learning experiences, (2) teaching students to work collaboratively, and (3) teaching students to successfully communicate their understanding and application of concepts through writing. Undergraduate students (N = 35) were randomly assigned to small groups to complete two out-of-class assignments. We compared students' collaborative performance and learning across two assignments, one with Google Docs and one without. We found (1) most students were unfamiliar with Google Docs prior to the study, (2) Google Docs changed the means of communication used in collaborative writing, (3) 93% of students considered Google Docs a useful tool for group work, (4) using Google Docs had no effect on students' paper grades, and (5) half of the students reported they would like to use Google Docs in the future. Our results suggest that Google Docs was a useful tool for collaborative writing and influenced student learning. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)"