ASPIPractical Issues, 2015

Google Docs: Time optimizer for our classes

Maria del Carmen Colussa

What´s the situation here?

I have several adult students.Different levels.Different needs.

Different interests. I have a wide range of options.

But....

Lots of options often mean...no option!Organization Challenge.PLUSNew things appear all the time.

Eureka!

Google Docs!

1. Install Google Drive2. Click on grid on top right corner.

Creating your personal resource bank

This is my drive:

Important features of Google Drive

You can customise your drive.You have a fairly good storage space.You can delete and modify files as needed.Your documents automatically generate a shareable link.

The e-workbook

Why an online workbook?

Organization: everything in one placeCustomization: differentiate interestsOptimization: allows file sharing after class (eg.homework tasks, students´contributions, additional material)

What does it look like?

What other things can I do?

Oral correctionEg. Using Soundcloud

Working with Oral Production

Use your smartphone to record your student.

Upload the recording to google drive. (Use: Share via Google Drive)Annotate different areas to work with in class. (Vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation,etc)

Students` Contributions

To continue exploring

Russel Stannard´s Teacher Training Videos

Collaborative projects

Class Challenges

Photo and Video challenges. eg. “The best part of your day”, (Idea by Shelly Terrell)

Criteria for designing tasks

What: ContentHow: Technique / ToolWhy: Purpose Ask yourself: Is this really practical?/ Will this motivate/engage my students? Will their voice be heard? Who will be their audience?(Idea from Sylvia Guinan)

Google docs to save interesting material or the art of content curation

Bookmarking tools or where did you get that from?Flipboard

Try: Clearly to “clearly”read only content.

Twitter Search, the power of # (hashtags)How I heard about “Microfiction”.The amazing Taylor Eaton and her flashfiction(I used No Swimming and sent a thank youemail to the writer with a photo of my students working with her stories!)

Videos, videos, videos!Room 8 (An award winning short film)Seeds, by Glass A commercialThis I recommend!: Film English I worked with: The Gift in a 4th course public secondary school.(while substituting) One of the students suggested:Feast, by DisneyNo wifi? No worries, use: ATube CatcherCheck: Adblocker (clears adds from You Tube)

The potential of online materialThe visual elements in E-books should have the purpose of inspiring production of content and have potential to trigger interaction among students. A powerful tool to achieve this could be pictures, after all they are worth a thousand words, right? They could trigger all sorts of associations and we could also use our students photographs and why not video material as well.A minimalist design will help us focus on the tasks at hand. Icons could be useful for signalling different skills or moments of the class or learning channel involved.The reason I explore Google docs is not because I think textbooks will disappear. I LOVE textbooks, I was taught to teach with them and they have made my life easier. (I still remember pages of my early days as a learner when “Arthur” introduced me to the English language when I was a zero beginner!) However I also consider that the amount of material based on the web with potential for classroom use is immense and not making use of that is staying away from what our students do on a regular basis. Plus I´ve found really good things out there to liven up my classes! There is also another side, where new technologies allow us to give our practice a different twist. Now we can make our classes as personal as we want. That´s why I´m here:To explore how to make better use or how to implement a system so that I can get all this material and technology and the teaching ideas that they inspire organized.I only see positive things in web based material: they are multimodal, fun, dynamic, (re)usable with multiple levels and age groups. The future will see us checking our students`productions through our mobile phones and making online material available for our students 24/7 in the cloud. I am already overwhelmed by the amount and the creativity of materials available in any given online webinar and I really like what I see! It´s a great time to be a teacher!

Remember

Work to improve your personal scenario,if you don´t, who will?

Photo credit: Maria ColussaSlide 16 Students´contributionsSlide 19 Flipboard magazine, retrieved 25th June, 2015Slide 20 screen capture from Taylor Eaton´s blog: LittleWriteLies