Using Facebook and Google Docs for Teaching and Sharing Information

Using Facebook and Google Docs for Teaching and Sharing

Information Asst. Prof. Dr. Kanda Runapongsa Saikaew

Affiliations: 1) Department of Computer Engineering 2) Associate Director at Computer Center

Khon Khon University A. Muang, Khon Kaen, Thailand

The Asian Conference on Education (ACE 2011)

http://ace.iafor.org

Agenda

•  Educating the Net Generation •  The Need for Using Facebook •  The Need for Using Google Docs •  How to Use Facebook for Teaching •  How to Use Google Docs for Sharing and Collaborating •  Experiences and Results •  Conclusion

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Educating the Net Generation

•  "The Net Gen has been exposed to multiple media types

from a young age. Prensky estimates that by the time individuals reach age 21, they will have spent twice as many hours playing video games as reading (10,000 versus 5,000)" [1]

•  "They get bored if not challenged properly, but when challenged, they excel in creative and innovative ways. They learn by doing, not by reading the instruction manual or listening to lectures. These are the learners that faculty must reach" [1]

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The Net Generation as College Students [1]

•  "Ability to read visual images—they are intuitive visual communicators"

•  "Visual-spatial skills—perhaps because of their expertise with games they can integrate the virtual and physical"

•  "Inductive discovery—they learn better through discovery than by being told"

•  "Attentional deployment—they are able to shift their attention rapidly from one task to another, and may choose not to pay attention to things that don’t interest them"

•  "Fast response time—they are able to respond quickly and expect rapid responses in return 18"

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Understanding the Net Generation [1]

•  "Digitally Literate o  Students are more likely to use the Internet for research

than the library (73 percent)" •  "Connected

o  They are constantly connected and always on" •  "Immediate

o  They have fast response times, whether playing a game or responding to an IM. In fact, more value may be placed on speed than on accuracy"

•  "Experimental o  Most Net Gen learners prefer to learn by doing rather by

being told what to do"

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Understanding the Net Generation [1]

•  "Social o  The Net Gen has developed a mechanism of

inclusiveness that does not necessarily involve personally knowing someone admitted to their group

o  Being a friend of a friend is acceptable" •  "Teams

o  The Net Gen often prefers to learn and work in teams. o  A peer-to-peer approach is common, as well, where

students help each other o  Net Geners find peers more credible than teachers when

it comes to determining what is worth paying attention to"

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The Net Generation and the Technology in Learning [1]

•  "The Net Gen views the Internet as an access tool—a medium for distribution of resources rather than a resource with limitations"

•  "Net Geners use technology extensively to network and socialize. In their personal lives, buddy lists, virtual communities, and social networks such as Flickr or Orkut are heavily used"

•  "They thrive on immediate gratification. The expectation of immediacy holds true for access to friends, services, and responses to questions.

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Agenda


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What is Facebook? Home: Posts and Status Updates of Friends and Pages

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What is Facebook?

Our Profile: Posts and Status Updates of Each Individual

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Worldwide Facebook Usage Statistics [2]

•  773.77M Facebook Users Worldwide (As of Oct 29, 2011)

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Thailand Facebook Usage Statistics [3] •  Statistics from Socialbakers.com (As of Oct 29, 2011)

o  Facebook penetration in Thailand is19.40% compared to the country's population and 73.67% in relation to number of Internet users

o  The total number of FB users in Thailand is reaching 12 881 800 and grew by more than 3 754 860 in the last 6 months

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User age distribution on Facebook in Thailand [3]

•  The largest age group is currently 18 - 24 with total of 4 250 994 users (about 34%), followed by the users in the age of 25 - 34 (about 29%)

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Agenda


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The Need for Using Google Docs

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Collaborating via Google Docs

•  Can set the permissions for everyone or specific people •  Can set the right to view, comment or edit

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Real Time Sharing Collaboration

If multiple people are editing or viewing your spreadsheet at the same time, you'll see their names listed at the top

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Google Docs Supports Real-Time Collaboration [4]

•  Documents o  Fifty people can edit a document at the same time. You

can share a document with up to 200 people •  Spreadsheets

o  A total of 50 people can edit a spreadsheet simultaneously. You can share a spreadsheet with 200 collaborators and/or viewers

•  Presentations o  10 people can edit a presentation at the same time.

However, you can share a presentation with up to 200 people (whether you add collaborators or viewers, the total cannot exceed 200 people)

•  Drawing o  Up to 50 people can edit and view a drawing at the same

time. Oct 30, 2011 18

Agenda


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How to Use Facebook for Teaching

•  Creating Facebook Group with Type Closed/Secret o  Closed: Anyone can see the group and who's in it. Only

members see posts o  Secret: Only members see the group, who's in it, and

what members post. •  Writing Post

o  Suitable for real time information o  Unsuitable for information to be kept and referenced

•  Adding Photo/Video o  Suitable for visual information

•  Asking Question •  Using Facebook Docs

o  Suitable for a document with a single editor o  Unsuitable for a document with multiple editors Oct 30, 2011 20

Facebook Group for Teaching

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Information and Interface of Activities

•  Important information described above the group name •  Users can choose to perform a given activity

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A Post

•  In the post, we can add a link of another web resource

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A Photo

•  Best for describing what viewers/readers need to perceive visually

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A Question/Poll •  Best for asking opinions or getting the most favorited choice

for the majority of people in the group

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A Facebook Doc Status

•  After finishing saving a document edited, the status has been posted in the group

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A Facebook Doc Interface

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Agenda


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Using Google Docs for Teaching

•  Collection o  Organize related files

•  Spreadsheet o  Students' names and their information o  Students' scores

•  Documents o  Lecture notes o  Group projects links

•  Forms o  Students’ information or survey

•  Sharing documents with others o  Can edit o  Can view o  Can comment

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Organizing Information in Collection

•  Use a collection to store related documents such as documents that are used in the same semester

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Using Google Docs in Teaching

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Using Spreadsheet to Share Scores

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Using Document as Lecture Note

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Using Form to Get Info or Survey

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Sharing Documents with Others

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Sharing Docs for Teaching Team •  Teaching assistants create and edit the lab scores via

Google Docs •  Students can only view the lab scores

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Sharing Docs for Students

•  Students post their project proposal links, report links, and slide presentation links

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Sharing Comments in the Docs

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Agenda


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Experiences using Facebook for Teaching

•  Have used Facebook group for formal courses o 188230 Advanced Computer Programming o 188371 XML and Web Services o 188372 Wireless Devices Programming o 188746 Programming for Android

•  Have used Facebook group for advising students o Groups of senior projects and co-op projects o Groups of graduate students o Groups of students who are interested in

software competitions

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Sample Facebook Groups for Teaching

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Results

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Conclusion

•  Teachers and educators should embrace social media for interacting and sharing information with students or learners (the net generation)

•  Facebook is appropriate for o  Informing about announcements and assignments o  Exchanging opinions and comments

•  Google Docs is appropriate for o  Sharing information for students to view and edit o  Having students see our comments in their documents

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References

•  [1] Diana G. Oblinger and James L. Oblinger, Editors, "Educating the Net Generation", http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/pub7101.pdf

•  [2] SocialBakers, "Facebook Statistics by Country", http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/

•  [3] SocialBakers, "Thailand Facebook Statistics" , http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/thailand

•  [4] Google, "Google Docs: About real-time collaboration", https://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=44680

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Thank You

•  Slides •  http://www.slideshare.net/krunapon

•  Social Network •  http://www.twitter.com/krunapon •  http://www.facebook.com/tom.kanda •  http://gplus.to/tom.kanda

•  Official web site •  http://gear.kku.ac.th/~krunapon

•  IT blog •  http://gotoknow.org/blog/krunapon

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