GOOGLE APPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION (GAFE): GIVING STUDENTS AN ELEARNING SPACE

Dr Iain DohertyDirector, eLearning Pedagogical Support Unit

Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning30th July 2013

The University of Hong Kong

Outline» What Does Moodle Offer?» What is Google Apps For Education (GAFE)?» What Can Individual Teachers Do with Google

Applications?˃ Part One

» What Can Individual Teachers Do with Google Applications?˃ Part Two

» What Are The Potential Downsides?

MoodleMoodle can be thought of pretty much as a teacher-centric environment. Create

activities

Setassessment

tasks

Deliver

content

Teacherscan

Where is the studentin all of this?

To be fair to Moodle, students can and do have a presence:

» Discussion forums» Wiki exercises» Database activities» Blogs» Poll» Survey

However, what happens when we think of students authoring content and / or maintaining a portfolio of their learning?

Moodle does not do so well here and we need to look to alternatives to provide students with an environment in which they can be authors and architects of their own learning.

Google Apps For Education (GAFE)Google Apps For Education (GAFE)is an enterprise level “software” solution for cloud based collaborative teaching and learning.

Applications include but are not limited to Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Sites, Gmail and Calendar.

Many more applications in the Google Market Place.

» An educational institution signs up with Google Apps for Education and is issued with a unique domain name.

» Signing up is easy and Google Apps For Education is free.

» The institution then has administrative control over the domain.

Google Apps For Education (GAFE)

» The dashboard provides the administrator with control over e.g. analytics, appearance, access (or not) to the various Google Apps.

» GAFE is controlled from an administrative dashboard.

» However, security etc. is the responsibility of Google and they spend a lot more money on security than any higher education institution.

» There’s more . . . Google are committed to a future of cloud based computing.

» Google Apps are available on any device, anywhere, anytime.

» This means that the user’s content is always accessible.

» Finally, collaboration can occur on any device, anywhere, anytime.

Why Google Apps For Education?“The world [students] encounter in higher education . . . is hierarchical, substantially introvert, guarded, careful, precise and measured . . . [Students] aren’t demanding different approaches; rather they are making such adaptations as are necessary for the time it takes to gain their qualifications. Effectively, they are managing a disjuncture, and the situation is feeding the natural inertia of any established system. It is, however, unlikely to be sustainable in the long term” (JISC, 2009).

» Google Apps facilitates student centered collaborative learning in a cloud based environment rich with possibilities.

» We can help to prepare our students for their place in the 21st Century workforce.

» This is 21st Century learning and the future is now.

» We want our students to be active learners engaging at a deep level with course content, with one another and with the teacher.

» Google Apps are not necessary for this – deep engagement can occur face to face – but Google Apps facilitate collaborative learning activities.

» Google Apps also present different possibilities e.g. media rich interactive presentations.

Google Apps For Education

Google Drive

Google Docs

Google Slides

Nicky’s presentation

Why Google Apps For Education?

The portfolio can include both their learning and their

reflections on their learning

Students can maintain a

portfolio of their learning

The portfolio can provide evidence of achievement

for employability (Konsky, 2012)

The portfolio can provide the

foundation for life long learning

The world of education may be changing with e.g. MOOC Certificates becoming evidence of achievement

CourseraedX

Badges as evidence of learningMozilla Badges

Envision a future where the personal portfolio is of paramount importance for employment

Google Apps For Education

A Portfolio

Nicky’s presentation

Following on from the idea that the way that knowledge is produced, circulated and consumed has changed radically, GAFE can function as a Personal Learning Environment (PLE).

A Personal Learning Environment is a visual representation of the environment in which the learner learns – formal and informal.

In the last five years, the twin concepts of the personal learning environment (PLE) and personal learning network (PLN) have been offered as alternatives to more traditional environments such as the learning management system (LMS) and institutionally-based courses. During that time, a substantial body of research has been produced by thinkers, technologists and practitioners in the field. Dozens of studies, reviews, conference presentations, concept papers and diagrams are now available.

PLENK 2010

“Being aware of the learning environment that encourages and motivates you the most to study and increase your own knowledge is not always a matter of course. Finding the best possible learning environment, tools and strategies to get your learning process in to a higher level may take a lot of time and effort, but once you have found your own, learning can give you much more of itself”.

My Personal Learning Environment

When our staff and students could all enjoy a centralized platform to participate in e-learning, we heard students at other institutions complained about logging into different systems for different courses. The one and only “controlled” environment gained popularity - adoption rate leaped from 45% to 69% of all courses between 2004 and 2006. On the other hand, the world wide web (www) continues to evolve, so does the e-learning environment of a CityU student.

eLearning Environment of a CityU Student (Learning Beyond Blackboard)

Google Apps For EducationGoogle Apps For EducationA Personal Learning EnvironmentA Personal Learning Environment

Nicky’s presentation

Keeping Up With Google Apps» You can make use of Google Apps if you

have a Google Account.» Google runs a site to keep users informed

about Google Apps.» There are other options but Google Apps

provides a one stop shop for cloud based collaborative learning.

What Are The Potential Downsides?» There will be

concerns over data privacy even though Google have a clear privacy policy.

» There will be concerns over ownership of data but Google are clear that “users” own the data.

» Security will be an issue but Google can spend more on security than just about any organization in the world.

References» Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner

Experience. (2009). Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World. Bristol: Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner Experience.

» Joint Information Systems Committee. (2009). Effective Assessment in a Digital Age: A Guide to Technology Enhanced Assessment and Feedback. Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearning/digiassass_eada.pdf

» Joint Information Systems Committee. (2008). Effective Practice in a Digital Age: A Guide to Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching. Joint Information Systems Committee. Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/effectivepracticedigitalage.aspx

» Konsky, B. R. Von, & Oliver, B. (2012). The iPortfolio : Measuring Uptake and Effective Use of an Institutional Electronic Portfolio in Higher Education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 28(1), 67–90. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet28/vonkonsky.pdf