Google Apps Promo Posters

Google Apps are extremely effective tools for teaching and learning.  They can advance nearly every instructional area, especially those revolving around literacy.

I've been working on getting our district prepared for a full Google Apps rollout...teachers, administrators, & students.  I'll be blogging the full plan of my roll out in the future.  For tonight, however, I'd like to share a poster I've built for creating positive publicity around Google Apps and what we, as a district, expect students and teachers to do with these tools.

Here are the posters.  Jump to the links at the bottom of post to download the .pages or pdf versions of the posters.  I've created one for Elementary (without Gmail) and one for Secondary schools (with Gmail).

Elementary version

Secondary Version

You can download the PDF Versions as well as the original pages version here.

If you like these posters or have any other suggestions, please leave a comment.

Setting up Nexus 7 for Classroom Use

I'm working with a teacher who got a Donor's Choose grant for 4 Nexus 7 tablets to use in his classroom.  Before we went in on this little experiment, I made sure he knew that this was going to be an experiment and we were sure to stumble along the way.

Here are the steps I've taken to setup the tablets this far.  Remember, this is NOT a 1:1 device.  These 4 Nexus tablets will be float around the classroom in 3 class periods with about 25-30 students each.

Class setup:

1. Create a classroom Google apps account with secure password
2. Login to the device with Admin/teacher Google account first.
3. Make the admin account the device admin
4. Create a passcode for opening this account (something other than the default swipe lock)
5. Add generic class account to device
6. Login and setup device with generic account
7. Launch Play store app
• Play store settings
• Create a pin to control and lock settings
• Use a pin to install apps. (Found out this only applies to apps requiring a fee.)
8. Turn off the syncing of Gmail, calendar, and contacts. (Since this is a generic account we don't want students using the Gmail account anonymously.)
9. Launch Play store web
• Settings
• Settings tab
• Give a device nickname
• Write the nickname on the physical device. (This allows the teacher to install apps remotely from the web, rather than touching each device.)
10. Install the Google Drive App on each device. (Could also use Dropbox. We may use both, for getting content to/from each device.)

Problems:

• Other than setting maturity restrictions on apps, we cannot prevent students from installing free apps.
• Cannot remotely organize/setup look and feel of the device
• I investigated the Google Apps Device Policy app from Google. However, the app allowed the user to uninstall it. I also didn't have much luck with figuring out how to make the device ring loud (According to the info on the app, the GAFE admin can make the make the device ring loud in an effort to recover a lost/stolen device.) The only real tool I found was to wipe the device remotely.

Do you have similar problems, solutions, etc? Please leave a comment or contact me via G+.

It's Time We Innovate Educational Data

Data...Educational leaders love it.  Many go to great lengths to find it.  Some even do it just to have others call them by another title.   (That's a joke Dr. Larson.)

All joking aside, today's schools are ripe for disruptive change in the realm of instructional data.  Education has an enormous problem with data that will require world changing solutions.

Schools are starving for data.  There are lots of companies offering programs that provide data to schools and teachers.  Some even do a decent job providing data that is easy to consume and interpret.  BUT, they all miss the mark.  Let me paint a clearer picture.  States require standardized testing at various levels and subjects.  They return data by which districts, schools, and teachers are measured.  The data includes course objectives, standards, student demographics, etc.  Districts and schools then purchase specialized programs for student remediation, tutoring, and progress monitoring.  Any given school might have 3-10 specialized programs that also house more data revealing bits and pieces of valuable information. I call it valuable, because I think that data, if used properly, could reveal the keys to learning.  How likely is a teacher to be able to use this data effectively when it is broken into so many fragments?  They don't have time or expertise to be able to use the data when it is provided to them in such an unorganized mess.

I question current educational methods for providing feedback on student performance and skill mastery to key stakeholders in a child's education.  What is the standard method for providing feedback on  student performance?  It's primarily letter grades.  Yes, we also give standardized testing scores and other sundry pieces of data that may or may not reveal student progress.  But in today's educational culture of NCLB they don't quite fit in.  The further my children get in their educations, the more I wish I had more specific data from their teachers that could assist my wife and I in finding activities, games, etc. that would move toward mastery of classroom objectives with which they need the most help.  It makes me ponder a world where a child is a data driven report of their skill mastery rather than a holistic grade that reveals their willingness/ability to complete tasks.

Here is the point...

Education needs a standard or a platform for housing student data.  A system that is either open source or has open standards, or APIs.  A standard for data that will allow data to be moved from platform to platform.  A platform that inspires talented developers and visionaries to create tools and systems where educational data is easy to collect, evaluate, and used to improve student learning.  We need to be able to track student performance across countless assessments, activities, programs, and other teacher-made assessments.  Educators, students, and parents need data to be easy, nimble, and powerful.  On top of all this it needs to ensure a strict level of security and privacy.  Then it must be widely adopted by state education agencies and private companies alike.

This would create a frenzy of innovation in the market of educational data and tools.  Look at the past few years in technology.  Take the MP3 file format, for example.  It was a revolutionary standard for transforming the music industry making music easier to create, and consume.  From it we were introduced to MP3 players, iTunes, iPods, and countless other music players and programs that are a part of our everyday lives now.  Then there is Twitter.  Twitter created a simple platform for sharing ideas, links, pictures, and more.  From it spawned the creation of hashtags, retweets, and countless new apps for creating and consuming media.  It was a simple platform that was easy for developers and users alike.  Yet, it was a powerful tool for communication, and remains so today.

It's a huge task, I know.  If done right, however, it could create a new market full of tools for creating and consuming instructional-based data.

So who's going to be next to change the world?

Google + Classrooms

A year and half ago, Google released Google+ to a select few power-users and slowly opened up to the public.  It was called many names and criticized for not having mobile apps, not being available for G. Apps users, etc.  Despite all naysayers, I have been watching it very closely.  I shared my first impressions of the social network and it's possibilities for use in the classroom in 2 blog posts days after getting an invite from Googler friend of mine.  I've been a regular user ever since.  It was not perfect on day 1, and it's not perfect now. But Google makes improvements almost every week, and that is what I love about Google!

In the last 2 months Google has made 2 major changes that make most of my ideas for integration into the classroom a reality.

1. Google+ was made available for K12 Schools using Google Apps. 
2. Google+ Communities

For schools using Google Apps for Edu all the pieces are in place to run a 100% Google classroom.  Here are a few ideas for organizing a Google Classroom.

Idea for G+ Communities in your classes:

1. Create communities for classroom communication.  Instead of using Edmodo, Schoology, or similar product, communities can perform the same functions. The number of communities to setup is up to the teacher.  They should be setup, at minimum, one community per course being taught.   From there we can get more creative with our community structures.  E.G. one for each course in the school/district, class period, groups, etc.
2. Create a community with a subject matter expert from anywhere around the world.  Find a SME and invite them to your classroom community. Then encourage students to post questions to the community throughout the unit.
3. Create an internal community for common planning and coordinating various projects, units, lessons, courses, grants, teams, committees, initiatives, etc.
4. Use a community to create cross-curricular communication
5. Use a community to connect multiple classrooms together, either inside or across content areas.

Using the Google Ecosystem 

The real advantage for using any digital ecosystem is that all the products work well together.  This is why Apple has been so popular.  The beauty behind Google's ecosystem is that it is built on the internet.  Meaning that, not only do all of it's products work very well together, but almost anything else that is built on the internet can be easily integrated with the Google ecosystem.  This can result in the most robust learning experience for teachers and students.  Simply, a walled-garden when you want it, and an open platform when you don't.  

As a teacher, you can build any classroom around Google knowing that you have the flexibility to integrate any internet resource in your classroom.  The integration of these resources can be used to generate conversations, videos, graphics, and most any learning activity.  When used all together, I believe that these tools offered by Google provide any teacher with the ability to create fantastic blended learning environments that ignite student collaboration, creativity, and learning.

Concerns

Although I am gaga over Google, I'm not so naive to think that there aren't problems.  

• Schools interested in using Google+ extensively with students should first condition their teachers through usage and practice.  Many administrators will be reluctant to change communication habits.  If done correctly, it will provide enough knowledge and skills to facilitate more thorough planning of policies and procedures before allow student-teacher access.
• Need to provide granular control over Google+ features to district admin via Google Apps Manager.  Control should include: limiting/allowing users to create communities; allowing outside users to view a community's conversations, while disallowing interaction with students.
• Training teachers how to setup/manage such powerful tools.  They will need to ensure student's security.
• Training students to be intolerant of bullying and other improper communications, and provide procedures for reporting such incidents.

7 Steps to the Connected Classroom

One question has been on my mind a lot over the last week.

How do you convince an entire community that technology is for instruction?

This can be especially hard for communities with lower incomes and other socio-economic demographics.  It's also a question that can't be answered overnight.

For the district that I serve, the first step is what many call "The Connected Classroom."  Yesterday I put together a presentation for our teachers that I believe will jump start our teachers toward setting the tone and norms for how technology is needed for learning in the 21st Century.

The Flyer I made for the class.  (No more paper and handouts)

Next is my presentation... 7 Steps to the Connected Classroom