Apples and Oranges

I had planned a "vs." post before I spent time with the Google Groups and Blogger apps. Things changed as I read about and worked with them, however. I realized very quickly that this model of comparison would not fit. I do not see Groups and Blogger as all that similar -- more of an "apples and oranges" scenario. As such, I think that it would make sense to look at each separately, and give examples of where both could be successfully used in today's classroom.

Google Groups

Google Groups is an application that allows users to create an online gathering place devoted to a specific theme (i.e. cross stitch, educational policy, a particular sports franchise) and post their thoughts and ideas about it. Specific topics related to this theme are begun by the group members, and a threaded conversation ensues. Beyond posting rich text posts and replies -- enhanced with links and media -- not much more is done with Groups. Based on earlier versions of Groups in which I have participated, I believe that this is a conscious choice on the part of Google, which is currently in the process of retuning their flagship apps, deleting others and reorganizing, in general.

At first, I saw this paring down of features in Groups as limiting but, as I began to reflect on how I would use Groups in a classroom, I saw it as more of a strength than a deterrent to using Groups. Students can easily be distracted from the main components of an assignment with an app with too many bells and whistles, and this can detract from the final product. I have been an instructor in classrooms K-6, and seen all ages struggle with knowing when to move on and stop tweaking the sounds, colors and special features part of their online efforts. If I wanted my class to turn in something that was text-heavy, to collaborate quickly and often, I could see Google Groups as being a good online destination for students. Below are some ways that Groups could be utilized:

• ongoing conversation about the pros and cons of a local, state or national law or policy
• book reviews, with commentary from others who have also read a given book -- or questions from those who would like to read it
• "homework helper" thread, with classmates offering ideas on where to find help online, and tips and tricks that have helped them succeed

In summary, Google Groups is a good application for assignments that involve a lot of "collaboration by conversation". The simplicity of the format gets students into posting quickly, with little to distract them from the topic at hand. A benefit of creating this online group is that it can stay archived from school year to school year -- giving students who are new to a course of study or grade level the combined experiences of their peers who have already traversed the topic.

Blogger

Blogging is something with which I feel somewhat comfortable, and Blogger is an application that I have used before. My husband is a contributing writer to a comics blog, and my daughter regularly posts to her classroom blog, adding commentary and original written pieces, and reading what her classmates have added. I have seen the vast potential of blogging as a collaborative tool, a perfect example of how Web 2.0 "changes everything" about how we teach, work, play and communicate as a society. Like Groups, the heart of the blog is its ongoing conversation. A blog can be maintained by one author, giving his or her take on the given topic to which they have devoted the blog. However, a blog can easily be divided into subtopics or "features" that reappear in regular intervals. It is not just a chat, but can be the equivalent of an online newspaper -- with regular columns and columnists. The ability to quickly, in WYSIWYG fashion, gather links and media to enhance the topic makes it similar to many "social" applications. The more people who become involved, the more opportunity for teaching and learning to take place. Because of the nature of the blogging community to link to each others blogs in a blogroll, you have many more resources connected to the original resource. A community of members grows quickly, and the body of information about the given topic can increase exponentially. Here are just a few ways that a blog can be used in the classroom:

• create a writing blog for a communication arts class, with different days of the week providing different types of assignments for the class (i.e. "Poetry Mondays", "Critique Tuesdays")
• subject area blog, originally created by the teacher (but continually built by the students), of helpful websites, reviews of online apps and "how to's" (i.e. math algorithms explained)
• parent-teacher organization meeting place, where upcoming events and school happenings can be discussed -- with an archive of slideshows and videos of past school functions

In summary, Blogger is an app that has so much potential to keep everyone in the school community -- administrators, teachers, students and parents -- "in the conversation". The body of information that affects all of us in today's Web 2.0 schools grows and changes constantly, as the "school community" can now involve individuals from all over the globe. An online presence in the form of a blog not only connects the students to more information, but makes them active participants in the body of information, contributing their knowledge and experiences to the collected works available. When you can teach others about a subject, you really know that subject. Students can demonstrate that knowledge in much more complex and diverse ways in a blogging environment, and many learning styles are accomodated by its multimedia approach.

"What's Up, Docs?"

When faced with the "Docs vs. Word" question, I used to always answer it the same way: Word. However, my feelings about GoogleDocs has warmed considerably (as new features/improvements have been made) and I would say that the final product of the document you are creating can be similar in both. As such, it comes down to the following items of consideration:

1. Where will the document be created/edited?
2. Who will need access to the document/table/image/presentation?
3. Will it need to be accessible online?
4. Will it be text-heavy, image-heavy, or both? 

The answers to all of these questions, considered together, makes the decision for me if I will launch Word -- or fire up my browser. Below, I have addressed each question separately, to illustrate the process that helps me make up my mind "to Docs, or not to Docs":

1. Where will the document be created/edited?

There are many reasons to create a document, table, spreadsheet, or presentation, and where I will need to do the bulk of my work will drive my decision on which app I use to make it. If I am not in a wireless environment, and creation will be expressly on my own laptop, I am likely (out of habit, if for no other reason) to launch my Word 2008 for Mac. I need to have a compatible app throughout the creation process, though, as editing is a constant process for me. Ergo, if the document will be moved around from home laptop to school laptop and beyond, a specific version of Word is not always available. I am more likely to use GoogleDocs in this instance.

2. Who will need access to the document/table/image/presentation?

If the document et al. I am creating is something that is "just for me", then what I use is more driven by convenience than anything. As mentioned above, I have used Word for a long time, and launch it without thought (as I have a home license for the Office suite, and the same version can be found on many of our computers). If I am only bringing a hard copy for mass printing to school, what difference does it make what app I use to create it?

However, and this is increasingly the case in my personal and professional life, changes "on the fly" are necessary, and collaboration/sharing with peers is a must. As such, using a specific version of Word is counterproductive. Having to remember to "Save As" for different individuals with different Word versions is tedious, and being able to share/edit as a group is not conducive to the "email attachment" model of productivity. This, to me, is THE reason to use GoogleDocs over Word: ease of creating and sharing as a group, team, department or entire school district. Items of concern, edits and other changes are not lost along the way, and all of the revisions are trackable to the given individuals who made them.

3. Will it need to be accessible online?

As many items that I create need to be accessible in "the cloud" (as I rarely bring my laptop to a work environment, where computers, tablets and iPods are plentiful), GoogleDocs makes having what I need, where I need it, so easy. If this is not a concern, then the "image-heavy, or not" question that follows lends more weight to my decision. I can always save a document that was made in Word to my personal GoogleDocs account, by importing it. However, if I am going to import it to a GoogleDocs format in the end, why not just start creating it there, in the first place?

4. Will it be text-heavy, image-heavy, or both? 

This question is THE reason to use Word: if a document or presentation is very image-heavy. I am continually frustrated by trying to force an image to a location, size or style with an app that was not created for that main purpose. I find Microsoft Office's many document types  and layouts (i.e. publishing layout) to be more user-friendly in this instance. I have finished working in GoogleDocs with less-than-perfect alignment and positioning more than once, rather than waste a lot of time formatting in this app. As I am a perfectionist, it makes me grit my teeth when I do this -- and I launch Word, if this is to be shared with a large audience. 

I think it is evident that purpose, design and accessibility drive the decision to use GoogleDocs or Word in any given instance. As GoogleDocs becomes more sophisticated, feature-laden and document-diverse, I find I go to it more and more. As my local school district has accounts for all students, teachers and administrators, it is an easy way to keep us all connected and collaborating. With the current financial crunch in all school districts, updated licensing on word processing/Office "suite" products becomes cost-prohibitive very quickly (and different versions of Word means you will send something to someone that they cannot open, eventually). Moving forward, from a teaching perspective, the GoogleDocs option is the more viable one.

Google Sites: Pros and Cons

When choosing projects for our Google Tools course, I knew that I would want to select website creation as one of them. When I was home with my children for 9 years, I did some freelance website development for friends and family. I had decided, after trying several WYSIWIG ("what you see is what you get") website creation applications, that I would learnhypertext markup language (HTML) and work in a simple text document. With a HeadFirst book in my hand, and an open TextEdit document, I started making websites using strict XHTML and a carefully crafted CSS stylesheet. I met with some success, and was quite excited about what I created -- but it still was not as good as I had hoped it would be.

When I opened Google Sites for the first time, I unpacked my skepticism at the same time. How could a online WYSIWIG app give me the amount of control I wanted over the content and format of the website? How hard would it be to understand? Would the website feel like a uniform set of pages, or a disjointed mess?

The good news is that Google Sites does create a clean, uniform, functioning website, with many template options for quick setup. Most of the instructions (plenty of video and written support) are pretty straightforward. However, the number of tutorial sites that apologize for having the wrong screenshots (as Google Sites has been revamped since its initial launch, apparently) was a bit annoying. It seemed best, in most instances, to just go to Google services and look up information directly from there.

Having worked with the software for some days now, I feel that I can make a pretty strong endorsement for using Google Sites to create websites, especially when time is a critical element in the site's production (i.e. students collaborating on a project RIGHT NOW, a teacher who has one week to create her "Welcome to My Class" website before school starts). As Google gadgets embed easily into your finished product, the Web 2.0 possibilities for what you create are quite amazing. This makes the site not only attractive and content-filled, but a real tool for the classroom teacher and others hoping to harness the new technologies currently available.

Google Sites Critique

PROS:

• easy to get started, with blank pages or templates options
• easy to get a customized "look"
• easy to get a "reasonable URL name" (creates it for you, based on your website's title)
• lots of storage space for pages, documents, images, videos, apps
• many online tutorials when you need support
• WYSIWIG application that allows easily and predictable results when dragging and dropping images, videos, gadgets and content elements
• can alter HTML when specific customization is required

CONS:

• "Themes" and "Fonts and Colors" modules were a bit confusing; found early decisions in website creation affected later changes dramatically
• deleted website names are permanently removed from use by Google Sites in the future (got burned on that one!)

In summary, I feel that the "pros" far outweigh the "cons" when using this Google app, especially for the novice website creator. The website that I am in the process of creating is coming together very quickly -- and I haven't cracked open my Head First book once.

Uses for Google Sites in the Classroom

• post homework online (can attach needed worksheets, forms and permission slips)
• keep parents and students connected to the latest classroom information with "Announcements" section
• add Google gadget for calendar to communicate important tests and school events
• include links to content-rich, interactive websites
• keep important files (i.e. graphic organizers, spelling lists) available to students in a "Files" webpage
• integrate blogging with curricular goals easily
• integrate GoogleDocs to encourage collaborative work between students, faculty members and parents
• way to collaborate with other teachers on a department or team website