Cloud is the name of the protagonist in video game Final Fantasy 7. If you know that and have beaten the game (4 times cause you can't just play it once!) you are an über nerd.
Cloud computing is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit, but what is it exactly? Basically, it means that instead of saving to your computer or to a server in our school district, you are saving your work on the Internet. This means that you can access your work from any computer (or other device) with Internet access. It also means that you can allow other people to access your work at the same time you do instead of figuring out how to send them a copy. Since Mounds View provides Google accounts for all users, it is a powerful, free tool for collaboration with our fellow teachers or for our students to use when working on group projects. Watch the following video on Google Docs Suite for Education.
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This next video gives an example of how you might use Google Docs with students to give feedback on their work:
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Google Drive is one example of cloud computing; there are several others out there. In fact, most of our camp activities reside in the cloud, since you create an account for each website, which then stores your work. Since Mounds View uses Google Apps for Education, that is what we're using for our activity this week.
The following videos are broken into sections with each explaining a different aspect of Google Apps.
Google Drive Layout
Introduction to Google Documents
Google documents have a number of benefits over other word processing programs like Microsoft Word and Apple Pages. It allows teachers and students to work collaboratively on material. You can track student's work in real-time and make comments on students work, that can be quickly followed up on by students. The following video introduces the concepts above.
Organizing Google Drive
Sometimes all the files, folders, documents, spreadsheets, etc. can be a bit overwhelming in your Google Drive. Coming up with a way to keep your material organized is important, especially when working with PLCs and others. The following video explains how to organize files in Google Drive and gives tips for the organization.
Using Google Drive does not mean you cannot use Microsoft Word or PDFs any longer. Google Drive allows you to store, convert, and use various different file types. The following video explains how to upload and download files into Google Drive.
Add-ons and extensions allow teachers to do more with the Google Drive suite. From being able to automatically create PDFs or Google Docs from user generated information to simply refreshing the website page automatically. The following videos explain how to add add-ons and extensions, as well as some examples of each.
Google Chrome Extensions
If you want to further explore extensions, here is a Google Slides presentation with 60 different Chrome Extensions that can be used by educators.
Extensions are great for teachers but they can also be great features for students as well. High school students are able to add their own extensions so if you find extensions for your classes, you can teacher your students how to add them to their Chromebooks. For students in elementary and middle school to add an extension, it has to be pushed out to the students by technology so if you find an extension you want students to use, you need to get it approved by your school, then contact technology to get it pushed out to all students. Share to Classroom is one example of a great extension for students and that one has already been pushed out to all student Chromebooks at all schools.
To Complete Activity 3:
1. Create a Google document that you could use at school (it could be a word document, a form, a spreadsheet, a presentation, a calendar...you have tons of options!
2. Share your document with your camp counselor and a few of your fellow campers. Give them access to comment on your document.
3. Create a link to your document and include it in your blog post. Make sure that your document is either a public document or accessible to anyone with the link, so that others can view it! If your document contains confidential information, email the link to your counselor and some of your fellow campers for their feedback.
4. Choose a document or a folder with a collection of documents to upload into Google Drive and convert into Google Documents (side note: uploading something into Google Drive will not remove it from your computer). Share this document with your counselor and some of your fellow campers for their feedback.
5. Record a video of you reviewing some add-ons and extensions that you have tried. You should be pros at doing screencasting from activity 2.
5. Record a video of you reviewing some add-ons and extensions that you have tried. You should be pros at doing screencasting from activity 2.
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