3 - Collaboration Tools - 21 Things for the 21st Century Educator

Collaboration Tools
Cloud Computing with Google Docs

The term “Cloud Computing” refers to accessing programs, files, or resources from the Internet, or “Cloud”. The benefits of cloud computing include anytime access, less storage or demands on individual machines, and the transfer of tech support and maintenance to a third party. The computing resources are often owned by a third-party company (i.e. Google, Flikr, Jing, Picasa), and some require a download, or are a pay service. However, the benefits to use programs and resources from the Internet far outweigh the cost.

Pre-Assess your skills for this "Thing"

Before beginning this "Thing", complete the Pre-Assessment of your technology proficiency.

Google Docs

Applications up in the "Cloud" can be FREE or charge a FEE. Educational applications may include:

FEE Based: Student information systems (SIS), data warehousing (DW), or course management systems (CMS). The school pays a third party vendor for use of the program and tech support in a secure environment. In exchange, the school loads student information up in the “Cloud”. Tech support transfers to the vendor, and the school doesn’t have to download the program on every machine!

FREE Based: Teacher use of Jing to create screen-casts, or Picasa to organize photos, or Google Docs to share documents. All files are stored in the “Cloud”, which keeps storage space available on individual machines.

Collaborating with colleagues can be difficult in our connected world, especially for anyone trying to work on a collective resource. One of the best free online resources that enables educators to work collaboratively is called Google Docs. Google Docs allows an individual to store documents online, share them with others and even invite colleagues to collaborate on a shared document, spreadsheet, form, or presentation. What is really nice is that you can each edit online and in real time. When a Google document is edited the document is automatically saved and stored, and a history of the change is kept. An on-screen chat window shows who else is online viewing the documents.

You may create folders to keep your documents orderly. To move a document to a folder, you can drag and drop it in the appropriate place. Google Docs also lets you save in a variety of formats, including: DOC, XLS, CSV, ODS, ODT, PDF, RTF and HTML. In addition, you can also import files from Microsoft Office or other applications for collaboration.

Aligned to NETS-T: 1.b, 1.c, 1.d, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2d, 3.a, 3.b, 3.c, 3d

Connections to Marzano Strategies: Summarizing and Note-taking; Incorporate Cooperative Learning

For a video tutorial on how to use Google Docs, click on the graphic below. After you watch the video, you will see two links on the left, click on them to view: "Take a Tour" and "New Features".

For an online text tutorials visit: http://www.scribd.com/doc/16654/HOWTO-use-google-docs or try:
http://services.google.com/apps/resources/overviews_breeze/DocsSpreadsheets/index.html

Doodle the best date and time

Doodle to solve a scheduling challenge. Have you ever had trouble coordinating your schedule with others? Finding out the best time to meet together for parent conferences? To hold an event? This is a great tool to find out when the majority of you are available at the same day and time.

21things Hands-On Activity and Assignment:

1.       Before beginning this "Thing", complete the Pre-Assessment of your technology proficiency.
2.       Open your Google Account.
3.       Create a new document using one of the Google Templates. Capture a screen shot and paste it into your portfolio. Include some reflections on how you see Google Documents templates making you more productive in the classroom.
4.       Create a new document using the Google Docs application of your choice (document, spreadsheet, presentation). For example: 1) select document/text to create a handout for class or agenda for a meeting; 2) spreadsheet (classroom budget or grading sheet); or 3) presentation (slideshow for use with a lesson/instruction or meeting). Reflect on how you can use this technology and/or document to increase your productivity.
5.       Collaboration Assignment: Get a collaboration assignment from your instructor, this might be to use Doodle, or a Google document and/or contribute to a shared document or discussion.
6.       Optional: Complete Activities 2-4 using the Zoho suite
7.       Optional: Demonstrate your use of the Discussion/Forums utility within your Learning Management System (e.g. BlackBoard, Moodle). Post a thread/comment regarding new technology tools used in education.
8.       After completing all of the activities for this "Thing", take the Post-Assessment of your technology proficiency for this "Thing"

Post-Assess your skills for this "Thing"

After completing all of the activities for this "Thing", take the Post-Self Assessment of your technology proficiency for this "Thing". (This is part of your hands-on activity/assignment).

Additional Resources

1. Collaborate online with the Zoho Projects suite of tools.
Zoho tutorials
2. Scribblar.com - Collaborate online with a virtual whiteboard which includes text chat, audio, and no user or session limits.
3. Hold live meetings, collaborate on documents, host live events, share information virtually using DimDim. It's real time collaboration made "real easy".
4. TodaysMeet - Let's you connect with your classroom students and/or colleagues in real time.
5.EtherPad. This is a web-based word processsor that allows people to work in real-time together online.

21 Things for 21st Century Educators by CCRESA, IISD, MISD, SRESD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at 21things.weebly.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://21things4teachers.net/.
Page updated August 17, 2011

Collaboration ToolsCloud Computing with Google Docs