Week 7 Reflection: Synchonous CMC, Materials 1, and Google Docs

This week has been interesting.  In class, we focused on synchronous CMC, and learning about Blackboard Collaborate was useful. In building my course shell for ENG 105, I've noticed the tab, but I never really knew what it was. Having tested it out in our CALL class, it may be something I would be willing to try in 105, though if a group of grad students started adding cat pictures while using Collaborate, I'm not sure I'd trust 24 freshman to not abuse it. Hmm...

Materials 1 was also due this week (see last post).  I chose to adapt a lesson that I taught this week (sans technology) and then add technology.

In the CALL class, we have talked quite a bit about not adding technology just to add it. Thankfully, in (re)creating this lesson, I did not feel like I was doing that. Sure, the lesson worked fine without technology. (Note: I somewhat different activities but still had the same number.)  However, with technology, the lesson feels more fun in some way. It also feels more organized at points. My favorite part is the Google Docs segment.

While I am on the topic, I feel Google Docs is a wonderful educational tool. In fact, I plan on incorporating it into my 105 class more.  Though I used it sporadically in the past, since using it earlier this semester in the lab, I have been using it to work on assignments. Indeed, there seem to be many assignments that require students to co-author, and so Katie and I have discussed our plans for the assignment in person and then complete it online. So far, it has worked well.

In applying this idea to the classroom, there are a few important factors to keep in mind: the number of people who have access to any given document and whether they will be accessing the document at the same time. I believe Google Docs has worked for Katie and me because it is just the two of us, and since we are working at the same it, the document turns out to be highly collaborative. When we compare this idea to the Google Doc we did in class, it began well but ended up a mess, as most everyone wanted to contribute something funny. In contrast, other Google Docs have worked better with larger groups if the groups are not necessarily posting at the same time, or if there are fewer people posting per section of the document.