Touring Google Apps- Google Classroom, Google Tour Builder, Google Sites

Ms. Rainey's Google Classroom

Google Classroom

is a fantastic course management system. Although I have been using it now in a blended learning format for 4 years, it was spring 2020 that I was able to see exactly what it could do as it was my selected choice for providing online math and science instruction to my 5th-grade bilingual students. GC easily afforded a cognitive and constructivist learning theory to be applied as well as the ability to incorporate several technology applications. For example, A science lesson involving vocabulary words such as organism, population, community, ecosystem, and biome was introduced by Bandura’s theory of modeling of each word through a Screencastify video and an anchor chart I created for them. Using Blooms Taxonomy they showed an understanding of the words by completing interactive tasks in Stemscopes. Finally, they were able to analyze images and synthesize the meaning of the words by creating an AdobeSpark multimedia presentation. Example of Adobe spark video

Feasibility & potential unintended effects I use Vygotsky’s theory of the MKO in the classroom a lot, but I was not able to make it come alive in online learning.  I do see GC as a hindrance to that because of its limitations within the management system. Too often any technology app that I needed to incorporate had to be logged on to separately outside of the system. That is just one too many clicks for a student to have to make in learning. It should be much more streamlined and compatible or there is a danger of students running into upload and download issues if their wifi isn’t strong enough to handle multiple tabs and constant logging into other platforms. Grading is easy if you use google forms but if you are a reading teacher it could be tedious. One thing that GC could add within the system is rubrics to help with grading. 

Overall, GC can deliver interactive, real-time, on-demand, learner-centered, authentic, and learner-constructed moments. GC founders have also been great listeners to educators and have already made changes that incorporate even more interactive options such as audio capabilities, google meet synchronous abilities, and they are working on the hindrance of making other applications more compatible.

Google Tour Builder I have used many of the google apps but this one piqued my interest and I was not disappointed in taking a tour to learn more. I have been looking for ways to make my classroom more culturally responsive as well as a way to incorporate some social-emotional learning and this app is perfect for both. It was initially created for military service members so they could plot out all the locations they had served. Within the presentation, it would show the location on a map and the soldier could add a paragraph with personal memories and insights. Pictures can be uploaded as well as web links to articles, more images or websites that tell more of the story. It is a virtual historical tour on steroids. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs explains the need for students to feel accepted and Erickson’s stages of psychological development say that 5th graders at ages 9 to 11 start to compare themselves to their classmates. In a 5th grade bilingual classroom in matters where you were born but also where your parents were born. 

A Google Tour Builder presentation would be a great way to show where we all come from to see our differences and similarities. I created my own Google Tour Builder presentation for the 1st day of school with several objectives in mind. My tour is simply to introduce my self and my culture. Meet Your Teacher  I want them to create one too. I want to use Gagne’s 9 levels of learning because I can see this app being used in future science and reading research presentations. In science, they can research ecosystems and their populations. Their paragraph presentations can come to life by them using Google Tour to drop markers and show these places on our planet in 2d or 3d format or even street or walking view. The same with an analysis or summary of a book. They can plot the settings at different chapters of the book as they talk about the main characters, problem, and solution. Research on the locations a book takes place can give them insight into the author’s purpose. More Integration Ideas

Google Tour Builder is interactive, learner-centered, and authentic. As I completed my tour I called my parents and asked about their childhood homes and any special memories they had. It was great to research pictures, websites, and articles about those places to include in the tour. It created a closer connection for me to my heritage and culture and I want this to be the case for my bilingual students as we share and learn who we are with each other.

Google Sites affords a very simple platform in which to build a website.  I would compare it to Wix or Weebly. Designing the website is made easy by adding “gadgets” like photos, texts, or charts. The themes you can choose from makes it an easy way to make it look like you spent days coding HTML except you don’t have to know anything about that.  This is a great technology tool that can support collaboration in the classroom. Vygotsky’s theory of learning calls for the more knowledgeable other as well as scaffolding and that would be great pedagogy to support language objectives of writing, speaking, and reading in my bilingual classroom. The assignment could be culturally responsive as well and it could start on the first day of school. Students grouped by four initially by something they have in common then partnered by high strength to low strength in the English language would interview each other and be tasked with keeping a classroom website. The website would be a digital “This Is Us” or “Nuestra Familia”. A page would be dedicated to each student where someone else would be in charge of writing in the details after conducting an interview. The students could come up with questions that help us know about them and their heritage. Here students would support each other in their Spanish/English speaking and writing skills. This is a fun get to know you activity and throughout the year we can continue to add more to each students page. Example of Class Website