BP5_20091102_Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom

I am always searching for ways to enhance group projects with my high school students. I believe that Google Docs is a great Web 2.0 tool that can help bring students together to create group projects.

Being a music educator, I am constantly finding ways to capture the minds of students through music. I enjoy keeping myself updated on the latest news and trends on music in order to stay relevant with the students. I am creating a group project that will allow students to choose a favorite band/artist and collaborate to create a presentation outline.

I split the class into groups and have the students decide which band/artist they would like to research. After finalizing their artist choice, I will lead them to the google site. I will show the group leaders how to create a gmail account so that they can get started on their google document. Once the leaders have an account, they will open up a google doc in order to create an outline for their presentation. The group leader will then share this document with all the team members by typing their email addresses and giving them an invitation to this document. I also explain to them that they need to invite me that way I have the capability of leaving them comments and other notes. The team members will accept the invitation and will instantly have editing access to the document. I continue to show the students how they can collaboratively work on their assignments simultaneously on their own laptops. I explain how the google document continuously saves the edited data while they are working on their presentation outline. And once they have completed the presentation outline, I will then introduce them to the power point presentation document and begin to have them transfer their outline information onto the power point slides.

I think that giving the student groups their own google document with their artist choice will give them a sense of ownership. Also, each student has to create their own section of the outline, which will keep them accountable to the rest of the group. And just to make them sweat a little, I will randomly choose a groups outline and project it on the classroom screen for the class to view.

Below is an example of a presentation outline on U2.