Comments on: Google Wave for Teachers: A Concept

By: Florida EnglishDoc

Florida EnglishDoc — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:58:03 +0000

Sounds great–if we can get the technology necessary to support it. I’m not trying to be a naysayer, but at our school we have to sign up for time in the media center/computer lab. The most I can get it seems to be a couple times a year. I have a website with message boards for my kids, but some of them don’t even have internet access at home….

If only I had millions of dollars to spend on education–that’s where I’d start.

By: Ellen Sears

Ellen Sears — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:20:54 +0000

My students love our wiki and blog, so I can see where I could incorporate Google Wave into my classroom. I do like seeing the changes and discussions embedded within a Wave, adding images and documents, inviting individuals as well as the ability for several people editing at the same time. I do wish that I could create logins and passwords for my students without requiring an email account… my students are 12 and 13 and still need to be sheltered from the ‘real world’ while they learn about digital citizenship.
The things I love about our wiki is that everyone does have a voice, and it offers time for reflection. I can also monitor all discussions and moderate, mediate and highlight great critiques so everyone can learn from them.
For teachers and administrators? Teachers at our school find email a challenge. And so does the principal. Our tech guy doesn’t like the idea of cloud computing. Does that paint a picture for you?
Ellen
PS – I don’t really agree with your flow chart for education. Sounds like what the majority of classrooms are even today…

By: Cynthia Tan

Cynthia Tan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:08:55 +0000

Just what I was looking for! Was fortunate to have a friend offer an invite to me, and the first thing that struck me when I explored it was the potential of Google Wave being used in education, as well as for the professional development of teachers. From the perspective of being an early childhood educator, Google is now providing a wonderful platform for collaboration amongst educators. Definitely, it implies that the education community will need to examine beliefs about teaching and fundamentals of learning. We’ll also need to recognize importance of professional development, as well as the collaboration with families and colleagues in empowering learning, before the community can truly benefit from Google’s creation. Google Wave has paved the way for technology to be meaningfully used and hopefully, there will be greater emphasis placed on teacher education programmes where teachers are guided to become more competent and confident users of technology.

(Shared your link on my page @ http://myloft.posterous.com/thoughts-about-google-wave-for-teachers-a-con)

By: Nathanael Parson

Nathanael Parson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:04:24 +0000

I completely agree with this post. I too believe that Google Wave will be a game changer for education. The age old lecture format must go and students must be given the freedom to find answers to their own questions using the collaborative knowledge of the world via the internet. Education needs to move away from a teacher being the vessel of knowledge. The teacher should be the guide who shows and demonstrates through examples how to utilize the technology around us to open our minds and find our passions.

I think José A. Bowen, a dean of the Meadows School of the Arts, has the right idea when tells his students to save the classroom time for discussion only. He believes students should be allowed to find their own answers and then when they come back to school the time is focused on reviewing what they learned and sharing ideas for information retrieval.

Nathanael Parson
Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher
The American School of Guadalajara, Mexico