Google Open Source Course Builder
No doubt some of you also noticed this announcement from Google today regarding its foray into open-source course building tools for education.
If you missed the announcement or would like to learn more, you can follow the link below:
http://edudemic.com/2012/09/google-course-builder
Cheers,
Scott.
Posted in: Blog Café, Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
David Vogt 8:46 pm on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
How could anyone, even Google, improve on PowerPoint as a course building tool? 😉
Seriously, Google rarely launches duds, but I’m worried about this one. I’m looking forward to some critical reviews from our MET-resident experts…
jkotler 3:01 am on September 13, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Scott,
Thank you for sharing that link. I actually was unaware that Google was launching a course builder but after reading the article and taking a quick glance at it, I am hesitant that it will offer something better than many other open-source platforms already out there. In any case, I am interested to see what type of response it gets.
teacherben 12:09 am on September 14, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Google has been playing in this sandbox for a bit. GApps integrates well with a number of Learning Management Systems, including Moodle, and last year, they released a product called OpenClass together with Pearson.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/pearson-and-google-jump-into-learning-management-systems/33636
Don;t know how this new course builder fits into the ecosystem, but it wouldn’t be the first time Google has released a number of different products that overlap.
I had a look at it but it looks like I will need a JavaScript refresher to make any use of it–ughh!
Eva Ziemsen 10:06 am on September 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Scott, Thanks for sharing. I checked it out. I hope that they refine things to be less tech-heavy. It would be more attractive for someone like myself, who would use this in a heartbeat, but not if it means I need to know HTML or Java, etc. I guess we will see what happens. Eva
melissaayers 7:19 am on October 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for sharing that Scott. I can not see this being too popular with the majority of learning professionals if it potentially requires Javascript and Python skills, these are not something you can just pickup in 5 minutes. Out of curiosity however I joined their Power Searching with Google course to see what it was like. It was very clear, easily to follow and had multiple delivery formats (text & video) for the content which was nice and I have to admit I did learn a few new things 🙂