GOOGLE APPS FOR EDUCATORS & SCHOOLS

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Google is currently offering schools a hosted solution for their email, calendar, documents, websites, and chat through Google Apps for Education, an integrated communication and collaboration cloud-based network. Gmail: Email storage and search tools that help find information fast and instant messaging from right inside your account. Google Calendar: You can organize schedules and share events and calendars with others. Google Docs: Share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Collaborate in real-time with your team or with your whole school. You can publish final documents to the entire world, too. Google Sites: Work together to keep related documents, web content and other information in one place, on one site.YouTube: A video hosting and sharing solution that enables schools and other organizations to use video as an effective medium for internal communication and collaboration.

This course is dedicated to teaching how to apply Google Apps to your teaching, IT, or professional situation. Course participants will learn how Google Apps can enhance lessons inside and outside of school and support teachers in collaboration and sharing of resources and ideas. In addition to learning and implementing Google Apps, educators will create motivational and relevant classroom activities, teacher support materials, and assessment tools.

This course is applicable for any K-12 teacher, administrator, or anyone looking to increase their technology skills.

Participants in this course will become familiar and learn how to use Google Apps (Google Sites, Google Documents, Google Calendar, Google Mail, Google Groups and YouTube). There is no textbook for this course. All references and materials are located online.

Assignments will be submitted via online forum as well as through "sharing" Google Docs to ChrisBrita@gmail.com

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon completion of this course, participants will have:

1. Understand how Google Apps work and how to use them.
2. Understand how to apply various Google Apps in the classroom and general education environment.
3. Be able to create and share forms, spreadsheets, word documents, presentations, calendars, websites, groups, and emails through Google Apps.
4. Understand how Google Apps will enhance collaboration both inside and outside of the classroom.
5. Understand how Google Apps increases productivity.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Completion of all specified assignments is required for issuance of hours or credit. The Heritage Institute does not award partial credit.

HOURS EARNED:
Completing the basic assignments (Section A. Information Acquisition) for this course automatically earns participants their choice of CEUs (Continuing Education Units), Washington State Clock Hours, Oregon PDUs, or Pennsylvania ACT 48 Hours. The Heritage Institute offers CEUs and is an approved provider of Washington State Clock Hours, Oregon PDUs, and Pennsylvania ACT 48 Hours.

UNIVERSITY QUARTER CREDIT INFORMATION

REQUIREMENTS FOR UNIVERSITY QUARTER CREDIT
Continuing Education Quarter credits are awarded by Antioch University Seattle (AUS). AUS requires 75% or better for credit at the 400 level and 85% or better to issue credit at the 500 level. These criteria refer both to the amount and quality of work submitted.

1. Completion of Information Acquisition assignments 30%
2. Completion of Learning Application assignments 40%
3. Completion of Integration Paper assignment 30%

CREDIT/NO CREDIT (No Letter Grades or Numeric Equivalents on Transcripts)
Antioch University Seattle (AUS) Continuing Education Quarter credit is offered on a Credit/No Credit basis; neither letter grades nor numeric equivalents are on a transcript. 400 level credit is equal to a "C" or better, 500 level credit is equal to a "B" or better. This information is on the back of the transcript.

AUS Continuing Education quarter credits may or may not be accepted into degree programs. Prior to registering, determine with your district personnel, department head, or state education office the acceptability of these credits for your purpose.

ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION

REQUIRED TEXT

All course materials are available online, free of charge.

None. All reading is online.

MATERIALS FEE

There is no additional fee to be paid after you have registered.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHING THIS COURSE:

Chris Hill, M.E.T., received his Master of Educational Technology from Boise State University and currently teaches Marketing, Leadership, and Digital Media at Lake Oswego High School. His diverse teaching experience includes teaching at The International School in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is a Google Certified teacher, and is one of fifty educators from across the country who was chosen to participate in the 2011 STEM Institute in Washington D.C. He is a member of the NorthWest Council for Computer Education and the International Society for Technology in Education. He has served as the Technology Coordinator and Activities Director at various schools.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GOOGLE APPS FOR EDUCATORS & SCHOOLS

“Free Tech for Teachers.” 2011. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/.   A great website that includes free resources, lesson plans, Google tutorials, and favorite resource lists. A technology teacher runs this site and keeps it updated with the latest and greatest free technology resources.

“Google Apps for Education Training Center.” 2012. http://edutraining.googleapps.com/Training-Home.   An online learning environment dedicated for educators and students to learn how to effectively use Google Apps in an educational context.

Harris, Beth. “Tech Support: Google Docs in Education.” National Science Education Leadership Association.” 11 January, 2011. http://www.nsela.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=235:tech-support-google-docs-in-education&catid=73:current-issue&Itemid=86.   In this article on the National Science Education Leadership website, it talks about what Google Docs are, how they work, and how they can be used in a science classroom. There is also a video of teachers and principals talking about the usefulness of Google docs.

Holzner, Steven and Nancy. Google Docs 4 Everyone. Indianapolis: Que Publishing, 2009.   A great book that is all about Google Docs. It gives step-by-step instructions on how to create, share, and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and templates. If you are looking for easy to follow instructions in a book form, this is for you. One problem with this book is that it was published in 2009, and Google Docs has been updated many times since then.

“International Society for Technology in Education.” 2011. http://www.iste.org/welcome.aspx.   This website is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. ISTE membership is a powerful and meaningful way for educators to connect with peers, to gather in a variety of forums to share the challenges and excitement of teaching, and to be part of a community that leads the transformation of education.

“Northwest Council for Computer Education.” 2011. http://www.ncce.org/    NCCE is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting effective uses of technology in education.  In addition to hosting the largest educational technology conference in the Pacific Northwest, NCCE provides its members with resources and professional development opportunities throughout the year. The mission of NCCE is to promote and support the effective use of technology in all aspects of education as Technology plays a fundamental role in lifelong learning and is used in all aspects of education such as teaching, learning, assessment, evaluation, record keeping, personal productivity, and communication systems. They put on an amazing conference every year in the Northwest.

“SmartBrief on Ed Tech.” 2011. http://www.smartbrief.com/news/edtech    This is a website designed to help you navigate this constantly evolving tech world. It helps you to make the best possible decisions for your school. It is designed specifically for education stakeholders with an interest in the education technology world, SmartBrief on Ed Tech also sends out a FREE, daily e-mail newsletter.

“Transforming Education through Technology.” 2011. www.thejournal.com    A technology website that focuses on transforming education through technology. Some features include; articles, webinars, discussion boards, events, K-12 news.

Whitney, Heather. “Writing Equations in Google Docs.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 16 Dec. 2010 http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/writing-equations-in-google-docs/29563    An article in The Chronicle that discusses how to use Google docs to write math equations. This articles gives step-by-step instructions on how to add equations into Google Docs.
 

GENERAL WEBSITES FOR GOOGLE APPS
Google Apps for Education: Lesson Plans:   http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/education/resources/lesson-plans.html    
A great site that has app-centered lesson plans broken down by subject, grade, and product.

Google Apps Learning Center:  http://learn.googleapps.com/     A great site that helps you get started with apps, switch over from Microsoft, become an expert, and learn about individual apps.

Google In Education:  http://www.google.com/edu/teachers/    A site with classroom tools, professional development, and student resources.

Guide to Going Google:   http://eduguide.googleapps.com/    Tools and guidelines to use as a starting point to getting your students, faculty, alumni, and community ready and excited about bringing Google Apps for Education to your campus.