Google Sites

This was the most difficult item for me to learn on Google so far. I could get used to Spreadsheets, Presentations, and some other features because they are similar to something I have used often in the past. But I have not spent much time using tools to make websites or wikis. The only experience I have creating websites is from one of my computer classes in high school, but that was during my freshman or sophomore year, making it at least seven years ago. Technology and the Internet have come a long way since then. It also took some time to make up a class for the wiki. But, when it comes down to it, Google Sites is a great resource. It might take some time, but it's a great tool. I came across a website for a fourth grade class, and I thought it was neat because the teacher had so many resources on her site. It also looked great and seemed to have a great layout.

I did have to watch some Atomic Learning videos to learn how to do things in Google Sites. I also looked at the examples given to see what types of items other teachers included on their sites. It definitely took me some getting used to, and I still have plenty to learn. I like that even though you choose a theme, you can still change the background color of that theme. It is nice to know that if you like a certain theme, but not necessarily the color combination, you can change the color. I love the revisions history feature. I added in a couple items I decided I didn't like, but I didn't know how to delete them. By using the revisions history, I could revert the wiki back to an earlier stage. It's nice to know that if you do something you don't like, there is an easy way to change it. The most recent versions are pretty much saved. I thought it was pretty easy to add links and pictures, which is great. I also like that each page within a wiki can have its own layout. They will have the same theme, but the layout I used on one page could be different than the layout I used on another page. On one page I only wanted one column, but on another I wanted to have three.

I think Google Sites is a wonderful option for teachers, and also just in general. It took me a while to create my wiki, and it doesn't even have very much information on it. If I were to create one for a real classroom, I think it would take quite a while. But after using it often, I think it would become easier and take less time. I enjoyed learning about Google Sites and will have to keep it in mind for the future. Here is the link to my wiki.

Google Forms

I think Google Forms is a great tool. I had never put a Form together or even knew Google had that feature. Now that I think about it, I've taken many quizzes from this, but I never thought about how it was put together. Teacher Education students at Johnson normally post quizzes on Facebook at a certain time of year and ask people to take it because it's for a class. Now I know how they put it together. It's a great tool to manage quizzes, send them out easily, and have them graded for you. I thought it was easy to learn how to make a form. I liked that it didn't take much time at all to figure out how to do it. It's great that responses are sent to a spreadsheet. It was a little trickier to figure out how to have the responses self graded, but it still wasn't bad. I really like this feature on Google.

Here are the links to the form and the spreadsheet.

After reading from Google Apps Meets Common Core, I learned that Google Forms can be used for more in schools than just quizzes. Forms can be used for student surveys or to gather information about students. Teachers can use Forms to track grades, behavior, and assignments. They can then share this information with parents or other school personnel. Some Common Core State Standards require students to present information, findings, and evidence to support those findings. One high school standard requires students to conduct researcher projects to answer questions or solve problems. Google Forms would be great for helping fulfill these standards because it is a great way to easily gather information and results. Students can create a form and share it as a way to gather answers or opinions from people. They can then have responses put right into a spreadsheet so they can easily see results. There is also a tool on Forms where students can see data in simple charts and graphs without having to make them on their own. And of course, Forms are great for tests or quizzes, because they can be self graded and students would enjoy getting to use technology to take them.

Drawing Pad

I like the Drawing Pad app, probably because I had a lot of fun with it. I like that the drawing items actually look like paint brushes, pencils, markers, and crayons. The different backgrounds look like construction paper and the different types of erasers look like erasers. Everything looks real. I think it's just a fun app because of all the different options, such as stamps and stickers. It's also easy to share and save pictures. I don't know how often it could be used in a classroom because sometimes it can be hard to make your best artwork on an iPad. I think a lot of times that's better done on paper. But, it could be good to help students see how creative they can be and I think it's something they would enjoy using it.

Story Kit

I thought this app was pretty neat. Books are stored on a bookshelf and they can be read right on the iPad. Pages can be arranged and pictures, text, paintings, or voice can be added to them. It also has a great place for notes to be added while reading the book. Even though it didn't always work well for me, I liked how I could just swipe to the next page. I just thought it was great how different things could be added to the book so easily. That can help make reading a little more enjoyable or memorable sometimes, which would be great when working with students. It could also be cool to have students add text or pictures to certain books. It's a good way for them to interact and dig into the book themselves.

My Spelling Test and Merriam Webster

My Spelling Test

I did not like this app as much when I tried to use it on the iPad. It was a little tricky for me to use, even though I don't think it should have been that difficult. Setting up the tests and then going through them did not come easily to me. But after watching a video about the app, I saw how it could be used in the classroom, and that made me like it more. I never really minded spelling tests in school, but this app presents another way to take them, and sometimes it's nice to have more than one option. Someone can set up a test on the app and when the test is ready, the words will be spoken but not seen on the screen. Students then type the words and are told whether or not they got them right. Even if teachers still want to give writing tests themselves, I think the app would be great for practice. Students can take practice tests and do them on their own. They also might be a little more inclined to practice since they can use an iPad. While it was not the easiest for me to use, I think My Spelling Test is especially a great tool for spelling practice.

Merriam Webster

I liked this app on the iPad. I normally use Merriam Webster's website when I want to look up the meaning or pronunciation of words. One of my teachers told me about it when I was young and I have been using it ever since. That's why I like seeing it as an app. I like how the app has a list of words on the side. You can see the words that come before or after the word you look up, or you can scroll through all the words under a certain letter that are in the dictionary. You can also hear how a word is pronounced, just like on the website. You can also do a voice search. I like this app and would recommend it for iPads being used in the classroom.

Spreadsheets

I have used Microsoft Excel in the past, but it has been a while since I used it. I had never done any work with Google Spreadsheets until this assignment. From what I did with Google Spreadsheets, I thought that it was very similar to Excel. Both programs are great and I like the formula functions, but both take some work getting used to. I think since I had already worked with Excel it was easier for me to get used to Spreadsheets, but I think I still have a lot to learn in both. I think I would need to work with both quite a bit more in order to get the hang of things. Excel seems to have the formulas on the toolbar at the top of the page, while I did not find that feature in Spreadsheets. However, the formulas in Excel are still kind of confusing because there are so many. Of course the nice thing about working with Google is that the spreadsheets are online, so they are easily transferred from different devices, while that is not an option with Microsoft Excel.

I attempted to make a grade book using Google Spreadsheets. I did not think it was too hard to figure out how edit text or cells on Spreadsheets, whether that be changing color or merging cells. It did take time to get everything organized and enter in the formulas. I looked at a couple templates of grade books to see what types of layouts and formulas were used. I used two sheets in my grade book and tried to insert totals from one sheet to another. I believe there is a way to do this, but I am still not sure how to do it. I tried using a formula I found, but it didn't working. I don't know if it had something to do with me renaming the spreadsheets or if I was not entering the formula correctly.

The Common Core State Standards require students to work with different types of data. Certain standards require students to gather data. That data could then be organized into a Google Spreadsheet. Once the data is organized, students can then put the data into a graph. They could use Google Drawings to make that graph or they could use Spreadsheets to create bar graphs, which will be linked to their data. The graphs will change when the data changes. This would be one of the functions that I do not know how to use and would take some practice for me to get used to. The Common Core Standards also require students to represent and interpret data, and Spreadsheets is a great place for them to do either one of those. Teachers can also easily share documents with students. Other standards require students to understand data to help them answer statistical questions, and by working with Spreadsheets they should be able to understand that through practice.

Safari vs. Rover Apps

I have not used the Rover app at all before this class, but I have used Safari a lot on my phone. I like Safari because it is easy to use and is mostly like using the Internet on a computer. Both apps allow Internet access, but other than that I was not able to find many more similarities. I was able to find some differences though. With Safari you can get onto any website, but Rover is limited to educational websites. Rover does not allow access to just anything on purpose, which in that case makes it great for education. Teachers can allow students to get on certain websites, but keep them from getting on sites they're not supposed to. Teachers can add educational websites to Rover. iPads do not support Flash, which means when using Safari certain items may not work because they require Flash. Rover has a way to still be used without requiring Flash. Safari has better quality and not as many delays as Rover does. Rover also uses up a larger portion of the network which makes the Internet collection slower than when compared to Safari. This makes it hard for many people to use Rover at one time.

I like that teachers can only add to Rover what they wish, but I like Safari better. It is easier to use multiple items on one network and teachers don't have to worry about adding a new website if they later decide they want students to use it. Safari cannot be deleted from iPads anyway, so students will still be able to easily get on and search what they want. Most schools block certain websites anyway, so hopefully that will help keep students away from inappropriate sites when using Safari.