Collaboration

Collaboration is one of the best ways to increase learning and create a sense of community. Many tools are readily available to facilitate collaboration, whether that is peer-to-peer or teacher-to-student or student-to-student collaboration. Any way it is done the goal is to learn together, sharing understanding and resources. A great resource to consider is a ning. This is general term referring to an online learning community where people of similar interests pool their combined resources and knowledge in order to help the group at large. Nings exist for art teachers, people with cats, or mountain bikers; they exist for every possible group you can imagine.

How might a ning be used within a classroom, in a traditional teacher-and-students setting? Suppose the teacher set up a ning to discuss topics they had been discussing in history class. Perhaps they can list or catalogue their understandings of over-arching themes and show how history repeats itself. Students are quick to grab onto a resource like a ning because they are accustomed to using sites like Facebook, Google+, and MySpace, where they join together with their friends and discuss a variety of subjects.

Nings can also be used to encourage professional growth. Participants can discuss current methods they are implementing and topics being discussed in the classroom. Everyone that participates in a ning benefits, whether they are actively participating or simply reaping the benefits of others' experience.

Using Google Forms in the Classroom

Another fantastic addition to the bevy of Google applications available is Google Docs, the more familiar name for Google Documents. Docs allows multiple users to simultaneously collaborate on a single project, assignment, or document, which, if incorporated into the classroom, would allow students to work on a project with other members of a group without needing to be physically near their classmates. Students can work from the luxury of their homes, the comfort of a coffee shop, or their school library and also be working with their peers at the same time, even though those peers are currently elsewhere. Google Docs allows learning to happen outside of the classroom, but will still allow collaborative learning and group participation.


One feature within Google Docs is Forms. This allows users to create a document that other users could complete and submit their answer. So, how might this be used in the classroom? One way is to create assessments at the end of a unit. Students would access the form, which can be distributed via email or by embedding it into a website, answer the questions and submit their answers. Google Docs will then collect all submitted answers into an easy-to-read spreadsheet that has also graded the students answers! This means teachers do not have to spend time copying tests nor grading if they take advantage of Google Docs!


How else might Google Docs be utilized in the classroom?


Here is an example of a Form that has been embedded into my blog.