Google Applications in the Classroom

This week I explored four different google applications.  I explored the google calendar, Picasa, Knol, and iGoogle.  All four of the applications do have a place in the classroom and can be especially useful for a teacher to stay organized. 

 With google calendar, a teacher can create various calendars possibly one for each student.  This would be particularly useful in the special education setting.  A teacher could put the student's homework deadlines on the calendar and what assignments are due.  They could then share this calendar with the student's parents.  This would be more efficient for certain students than a traveling notebook or sheet of paper with the homework assignments on it.   Teachers can use iGoogle for their personal use of seeing everything they are interested in but could also be used for the whole classroom.  The site could be projected up on a screen or smartboard.  Younger students could make use of the weather component as well as the calendar component.  This would provide a new twist on the original idea of calendar time.  For older students, i Google would be useful for checking current events in various subject areas. 

Picasa can be used in a similar fashion to Flick'r.  Teachers can use it to organize pictures of classroom events and share with families.  Teachers could also use Picasa to find pictures to use for classroom assignments and to use for classroom discussion based on the subject.  For instance, an English teacher may find a picture using Picasa and assign the students to write poetry based on the picture.  

Knol can be used in the classroom to get background information on a topic.  It could also be used as a lesson in teaching what is and what is not a credible source.  Knol would be useful if you wanted a quick question answered without a real need for credibility.  Knol could be used also as a place to brainstorm about different topics for projects.  Teachers may even find Knol as a place of inspiration for lesson plans.  With a little bit of creativity, google applications such as knowl, picasa, igoogle, and google calendar can work great in the classroom setting.   

Useful Wikis in the Classroom

A wiki is a relatively new concept.  I knew about wikipedia but I only recently learned that anyone could create a wiki for their personal use such as planning a camping trip or in collaborating on a school project. After watching the common craft video about wikis, I realized how useful wikis can be used both professionally and personally. Professionally colleagues would be able to work together to develop different ideas for curriculum or any other group project they need to tackle. In one's personal life, wikis can be used to plan trips or events as well as work on letters to send for family during christmas time. A wiki would be useful to students when working on a group project.  Wikis are great ways for students to learn how to collaborate.  On a larger scale is the issue of using wikipedia in the school.  Many teachers "ban" the use of wikipedia as a source for student resource because anyone can contribute information so therefore it is not necessarily true. I think "banning" the use of wikipedia might be too extreme, however I think that wikipedia makes a good starting point. It should be able to be used in research in an appropriate context. Wikipedia probably should not be used for a formal research paper, but if a teacher wants students to research basic information about Spain for background information Wikipedia could be used appropriately. I practiced using the wiki first hand by using the Wiki Sandbox. I thought it was a strange experience to be putting something on the internet that others could access and see. The concept of a wiki is a new idea that I think will become more and more popular among the general public.