Wow, what a few weeks that was! I have used Google Apps for Education many times and developed several courses in D2L and Canvas but I have never used Google Classroom. It was a big learning curve despite being familiar with most Google Apps. A big thanks to Fernando for his work in setting up the accounts for everyone interested in this platform, it was really great to play around.

Overall, I really enjoyed exploring Google Classroom but spent a great deal of time ‘googling’ the various features, watching videos from Google and other teachers, instructors and users on the features and functions and ultimately I had to remind myself that my introductory module does not have to be perfect as it is an experiment in my learning…and an experiment it was. I thoroughly enjoy learning the features and functionality of different Learning Management Systems and wish I could play in all of them but time does not permit and this was very evident in the time I invested in Google Classroom without actually building anything worthwhile at first.

The purpose of my project is to a part assignment #3 and part a personal passion project I have had in my mind for awhile but have not had the time to begin. I decided to create a course that will be relevant to my students and students across BC and to offer it in a fully online, asynchronous format. I chose this format for two reasons:

1.) Many emergency preparedness resources are present through e-learning successfully

2.) I want to sell the course province wide and believe this would be the best enrollment strategy for the online schools I plan to work with (this model could change if face-to-face schools wanted to do a blended model).

I asked myself when making this decision…how would I learn this material most efficiently _Best Practices in Online Course Design and Delivery, n.d.), and it is not in a particular time frame (synchronous course format) but over time and at my own interest rate. I delved deep into Brinthaupt (2014) and the Course Delivery Decision Model. I highly recommend this resources.

I decided to take this opportunity to start a course outline and information while learning all about Google Classroom. The course will incorporate natural disaster information relevant to BC and provide students with case studies and information and skills around personal preparedness and community and regional preparedness. I believe this course is important and would like to market it to students across BC in an online and possibly blended format (a useful tool to have for teachers who wish to teach this course for the first time as the content is there and adaptations to individual circumstances can be made).

As I want this course to be meaningful for my students and formatted in such a way that the content is proactive, I decided to create an introductory module including a “question” and “introductory discussion” and a “knowledge quiz” for the course to pique student interest. Honestly, I do not feel comfortable creating a quiz for a unit in which I am still unsure about the content or a course I am unsure about the content and a quiz is never my go-to assessment tool as a teacher. I did not feel that this tool was relevant to my context, vision or course goals but that a “pre-course knowledge quiz” was useful.

What I Like About Google Classroom

• I thought that the addition of “topics” on the left side of the page made for easy navigation.
• It is very simply to add documents online for students, to share and to collaborate
• Allows you to go paperless and use Google Apps for Education
• Students gain relevant online skills in a popular classroom
• The Forms App was easy to use to create quizzes
• When students hand in work it seems to go to a classroom folder which is easy to keep track of

What I Had Trouble With in Google Classroom

• Cannot change font, bold, etc…this was frustrating and seems like a simple programming fix…it is necessary while high school students that important instructions are highlighted
• I did not find the discussion tool I chose, google groups extremely intuitive or handy…may choose to link outside unless tool improves in terms of ease of use
• I had trouble changing the group name and was not able to do so after following several internet websites instructions…I am wondering if I do not have full permissions?
• When organizing and ordering documents, there is a “move to top” feature but this could be improved with a drag and drop system instead
• There is no option in the “Forms Quiz” for a matching question. This is frustrating as it was listed in the criteria but in the grand scheme, I do not believe matching questions are beneficial to student learning and understand that maybe it is outdated and Google is responding to this

Please check out my site here: https://classroom.google.com/c/MjcwNzExODcyMFpa and any feedback is warmly welcomed!!

References

Best Practices in Online Course Design and Delivery. (n.d.). Manuscript, South Oregon University. Retrieved October 15, 2016, from http://www.sou.edu/distancelearning/SOU DEC Best Practices.pdf

Boettcher, J. V., Dr. (2011, May). Designing for Learning: Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online Quick Guide for New Online faculty. Retrieved October 15, 2016, from http://www.designingforlearning.info/services/writing/ecoach/tenbest.html

Brinthaupt, T. M., Clayton, M. A., Draude, B. J., & Calahan, P. T. (2014). How Should I Offer This Course? The Course Delivery Decision Model (CDDM). Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 10(2). Retrieved October 15, 2016, from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol10no2/brinthaupt_0614.pdf