Google Tools, a New Way to
Learn?
For years, Google was used primarily as a
search engine; admit an extremely popular one at that! "A joint survey conducted by ABC News and The Washington Post found that Google beat out Apple, Facebook and Twitter to win the title of most popular tech brand" (BGR Media, 2012). However in recent times
we have seen a move away from the typical one dimensional search provider to be
presented with a multitude of Google tools or products that enable us to do
anything from translating a slew of documents to even exploring the world from
the comfort of our own computer. Now while I consider myself quite
technologically savvy and up to date, even I was unaware of the many free and
downloadable programs outlined below:
(Google, 2012)
Lucky for me, my group was granted the opportunity to explore this concept, through the form of a weekly 15 minute presentation. Before delving into this new world of Google, my own understanding included the use of programs such as Google Books, Scholar, Images and Chrome, which I utilised for personal and academic work. As such, my group made the decision to focus on previously unknown or unused Google tools to further develop and extend our technology knowledge base in relation to these digital tools. This decision was made with the expressive objective of incorporating the TPACK model (Koehler) into our research; learning how to use these educational technologies, considering how they could be used pedagogically and the context and content areas in which they would be most effective.
What ensued was a highly educational and gratifying journey and experience into all things Google. My own understanding of Google tools developed through researching various programs and tools, downloading and playing around with these, exploring specific Google applications through the workshops and relating this knowledge to learning experiences seen out on Practical Experience. As I am extremely committed to professional development, I undertook further personal research to become an expert on all things Google. I must admit, I even turned to Youtube at one stage to watch a ‘how to’ video on how to begin using Google Earth once I had downloaded it.
(Koehler)
T (Technology): Google Tools
P (Pedagogy): would benefit from implementation using a constructivist pedagogy of teaching to enable students to become active members in the creation of their own learning
C (Content):
- English (Blogger, Docs, Books, Scholar, Translate, Reader and News)
- Maths (Maps, Earth, Docs, Code and Youtube)
- SOSE (Earth, Translate, Reader, Video and Youtube)
- Science (Maps, Reader, Video, Images and News
- Art (Picasa, Sketch Up, Video, Panoramio, Images and Youtube)
Contexts:
- As a means of communication, collaboration and development to stimulate students thinking and foster and create technological higher order thinking skills
The extent of my new knowledge and understanding has evolved to include how beneficial particular Google tools can be in encouraging communication, collaboration and ICT usage. My new understanding
has enabled me to show a progression in personal understanding, whilst also
becoming a confident user of such digital tools, navigating my way easily
around programs such as Google Blogger and Google Earth, which are now used frequently. In particular, I was able to showcase my understanding of Google Maps whilst out on Practical Experience, by creating a constructivist lesson based on student’s using Google Maps to search for their own houses.
Reference List:
BGR Media. (2012). Google is more popular than Apple, Facebook and Twitter, poll shows. Retrieved 14th April, 2012 from http://www.bgr.com/2012/04/10/google-is-more-popular-than-apple-facebook-and-twitter-poll-shows/
Google. (2012). Products-About Google. Retrieved 13th April, 2012 from http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/index.html
Koehler, M. (n.d.). TPACK- Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. Retrieved 3rd March, 2012, from http://www.tpck.org/
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