A Little Google Help

A call for a little help from those out there in the World who have moved to the Google Apps for Education in the higher education space.

I read stories all the time about people moving to Google Apps with the focus on email or in K-12 environments, but what I am really interested in are stories about how people have promoted the notion of collaborative authoring across the Google Apps suite of tools (Docs, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Sites, etc) and have focused primarily on the pedagogical side of the adoption. I'd be curious in hearing any stories related to how these tools may or may not have changed what one can and can't do from a teaching and learning perspective beyond what I can read at the Google run community. Here at Penn State we have a handful of faculty really taking advantage of these tools, but are doing it without us having any official relationship with Google -- that means no real identity tied to their use and a less than clear idea of policy. I think these tools can be part of a huge shift in teaching and learning and I could really use some help by hearing some real world stories. Comments, emails, and Twitter responses are all welcomed and much appreciated.

Comments

[Peter Linehan]

I use Google Docs a great deal myself. Almost all the pages I put on ANGEL I write in Google Docs. I have shown it to students and had them do some assignments. However, everything on campus is MS Office centered. People exchange files. The concept of collaboration is still too new for many faculty to embrace.

[Moh]

I used Google Docs an amazing deal myself. Nearly all the pages I put on ANGEL I write in Google Docs. I had shown it to colleagues and had them do some assignments. However, everything on campus is MS Office centered. People trade files. The concept of collaboration is still too new for many faculty to embrace.