Running head: Google Sites for Education

Google Sites for Education Scott A. McKee EDU623 Designing Learning Environments Linda Kaiser Post University

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Introduction As a 21st century educator finding ways to integrate technology into daily teaching strategies is becoming more and more important. For this to happen effectively, a great place to start is by building a teacher website to use as a platform for daily instruction, classroom management, communication, and collaboration with students, parents, administrators, and the communities inside and outside of the classroom. By making a classroom available to the outside world through a website, an educator can tap into and make readily available a wealth of resources and tools while sharing and storing learning activities, information, and ideas while creating a showcase for daily and projected classroom activities for all stakeholders to view. The Google Sites for Education course is designed to provide an easy and effective way for concerned educators to begin to move into the 21st century of teaching and learning. Sponsored by Merced County Office of Educations Career and Alternative Education Department, this course will be offered in the spring or summer of 2013 as a workshop for teachers, support staff, and administrators to learn how to build a basic website for the needs of virtually any educational or instructional need. Participants will learn the basic skills and knowledge of how to build and maintain a customized website, using Google Sites, through an extensive series of hands-on activities supported by presentations, guidance, discussion, and modeling. This course will be implemented in a one day workshop, which will consist of five hours of instruction and activities to build a basic customized website and two hours of end-of-course presentations from each participant to share their website with the rest of the class to provide opportunity for discussion and feedback. To allow for adequate time for instruction, discussion, creativity, and presentations the anticipated class size will be 15 or fewer for each session.

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Handouts, a PowerPoint presentation, and video media will be provided for each facilitator. A train-the trainer session will be required for each trainer and assistant trainer before he or she will be allowed to implement the course. The target population for this course will be teachers, support staff, and administrators who have an interest in using a customized Google site for daily educational needs. Analysis The Current Situation and Why Training is Needed The current situation at Valley Community School located in Merced Ca, is an educational environment for at-risk students who have been expelled from local comprehensive schools. Over the past few years the school sites have acquired some technologies that if used effectively will enhance daily instruction, such as; student computers, teacher laptops with internet access, and Smartboards or other projection devices. Now that these technologies are in place it is necessary to begin various forms of training to provide teachers, administrators, counselors, and support staff the knowledge and skills needed to fully utilize the technology to enhance daily lessons and create a more engaging educational environment for the students using websites as a platform for various educational needs. The educational teams at the sites have the basic knowledge and skills to use these technologies but most do not have a platform, such as a website, to operate, store, and present information. Training is needed to help these educators create, design, and maintain an internet based location that can be used as a platform for their daily educational needs. What type of training is required? The most common and readily available internet location used as a platform is a website. There are several sources for creating, designing, and maintaining a website. Of those sources, Google Sites provides a simple and easy tool to build a

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website that can be used by educators to build a personalized website for educational purposes. Educators who elect to take the Google Sites for Education course will be trained to use Google Sites for these purposes. How will this training close the instructional gap? With limited options for instruction, using textbooks and worksheets along with direct instruction is no longer effective with todays 21st century learners. According to the U.S. Department of Education (n.d.), technology ushers in fundamental structural changes that can be integral to achieving significant improvements in productivity. Used to support both teaching and learning, technology infuses classrooms with digital learning tools, such as computers and hand held devices; expands course offerings, experiences, and learning materials; supports learning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; builds 21st century skills; increases student engagement and motivation; and accelerates learning. By integrating technology into daily practices and creating a more student-centered approach to instructional methods the level of student interest and engagement should increase. Building and Using a website as a platform provides a foundation for almost all other technology integrations in daily educational practices by providing a starting point with a wealth of resources located in one place that can become an efficient way educators, students, and communities to interact. Audience and Population Analysis The audience of this training session will consist of Valley Community School educators who elect to take the course. The participants will have a variety of educational needs; teachers will build classroom websites, administrators, counselors, and support staff will build websites to enhance daily educational practices. The prior knowledge related to building websites is minimal and the participants should be considered beginners.

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Learning Environment Analysis The learning environment will be in a fully equipped computer lab intended for training purposes at the district office complex located off-site from the school. Each participant will have a computer with full internet access and all software necessary to complete the training. The trainer will utilize a Smartboard to deliver a full visual demonstration of the process using a PowerPoint presentation which will include instructional media to illustrate each step in building a Google Site. Task Analysis and Content Mastery Review of the steps and skills needed. Participants will need to be able to complete the following tasks in order to achieve mastery of the content delivered through the training; 1. Using the districts Google Domain, mercedlearn.org, participants will need to

have an assigned username and password to log on to Google Sites. 2. Using Google Sites and following the instruction provided participants will need

to build a website using templates, page edit, and actions menu to create a personalized functional website for daily use. 3. Once the website is initially set-up, the participants will need to learn to utilize

various actions to customize, update, manage, and maintain the website efficiently with minimal amount of time on a regular basis . How will content mastery be determined? At the end of the training session participants should be able to demonstrate content mastery by achieving all enabling objectives and the terminal objective by presenting the website to the group in a guided tour and provide reasons for the layout and design and be able to demonstrate how to manage, add, and delete

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content. Situational Analysis In order to deliver the training effectively, participants will need to have the time allowed for the training to take place at an off-site location and be relieved from teaching responsibilities for one school day. The district computer lab will need to be reserved in advance and substitutes will need to be scheduled for all teachers the day of training. All participants will need to be prepared after registration via informational email in advance as to the need and purpose of the training in order to anticipate and understand the expectations of learning goals and objectives. It will be essential for the course to demonstrate the ease of use and effectiveness of using a website as a platform for educational purposes. Media / Technology Analysis The district training and computer lab is a state of the art learning environment which is equipped with thirty individual computers for the participants and the trainer will have access to a computer for presentation purposes and is attached to a Smartboard for delivery of content. The lab has full internet access and is supported by a district Wi-Fi network with all software needed to effectively implement the training. Design Schedule for Full Development and Delivery The full development of the Google Sites for Education courses analysis, design, and development elements and formative evaluation will be conducted in conjunction with EDU623 Designing Learning Environments, January 10 March 2, 2013. The implementation of the course will be delivered in the spring or summer of 2013 on date still to be determined with summative evaluation to follow immediately afterward .

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Course Outcomes and Objectives Terminal Objective (TO): Given a computer with internet access and instruction using a presentation and modeling, the participant in the Google Sites for Education course should be able to build and maintain a basic Google site using a customized template designed to suit the needs of their educational purposes. At the end of the course the participant should be able to present their Google site and describe the process they went through to set up their site and describe possible ways they can use it for their educational needs. Enabling Objective 1 (EO1): Given a computer with internet access, domain log-in information, and instruction, the participant in the Google Sites for Education course should be able to log-in to their @mercedlearn account and go to Google sites. The participant will demonstrate this with a successful log-in using their user name and password. Enabling Objective 2 (EO2): Given a computer with internet access, a brief presentation, and instruction, the participant in the Google Sites for Education course should be able to select, create, format, and customize a site template for their website. The participant will demonstrate this by showing the trainer the customized template they have created and state the basis for their selection. Enabling Objective 3 (EO3): Given a computer with internet access, a brief presentation, and instruction, the participant in the Google Sites for Education course should be able to create and edit page templates. The participant will demonstrate this by creating three different page types and home page. Enabling Objective 4 (EO4): Given a computer with internet access, a brief presentation, and instruction, the participant in the Google Sites for Education course should be able to manage the pages they have created on their site. The participant will demonstrate this by

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editing each of the four page types with specific changes for their educational needs. Enabling Objective 5 (EO5): Given a computer with internet access, a brief presentation, and group exploration the participant in the Google Sites for Education course will be exposed to a variety of other more advanced options to enhance their site as they become more familiar with the use and management of their site, these options include; embedded gadgets, media types, and other app tools. The participant will be exposed to and discuss various options regarding gadgets, media, and apps and be encouraged to explore usage of options. Enabling Objective 6 (EO6): Given a computer with internet access, a brief presentation, and instruction, the participant in the Google Sites for Education course should be able to share, publish and protect their site. The participant will demonstrate this by sharing their site address with other participants and observing each others sites. Enabling Objective 7 (EO7): Given a computer with internet access, a brief presentation, discussion, and trainer led modeling the participant in the Google Sites for Education course will be exposed to a variety of options to use their site to manage their Google site. The participant will be exposed to and discuss various ideas of how to use the custom site to manage daily educational needs. Learning Theory The learning theory that will initially support the Google Sites for Education course is constructivism. Each participants knowledge will be constructed by experiences during the instruction and creative phase in a step-by-step process during the course and then reinforced at the end of the course in the form of a mini-presentation. Each participant will develop their own interpretation of the skills and meaning through the experiences of building a customized website. By discussing, sharing, and collaborating throughout the course each

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participant with have an opportunity to develop a schema conducive to building a custom website. The learning will take place utilizing the same technology that will be needed to continue developing and maintaining the website after completion of the course. Each participant will be given the opportunity to reinforce what was learned by sharing and discussing the customized website with the entire class in a mini-presentation at the end of the course. With time and repetition through use and maintenance of the site the participants knowledge should eventually become more embedded and develop into a more cognitive learning mode. Lesson Structure According to Robert Gagne (1985), there are nine events that are needed for effective learning, thus they include a sequence of events similar to the following (with corresponding cognitive process): 1. 2. 3. 4. Gaining attention (reception) EO1 Informing learners of the objective (expectancy) - EO1 Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval) EO1 Presenting the stimulus (selective perception) EO2, EO3, EO4, EO5, EO6, and EO7 5. Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding) - EO2, EO3, EO4, EO5, EO6, and EO7 6. 7. 8. Eliciting performance (responding) - EO2, EO3, EO4, EO5, EO6, and EO7 Providing feedback (reinforcement) - EO2, EO3, EO4, EO5, EO6, and EO7 Assessing performance (retrieval) Formative = EO2, EO3, EO4, EO5, EO6, EO7, and Summative = Mini-Presentations to test TO 9. Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization) Continued regular use after

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end-of-course. The content of the Google Sites for Education course is arranged in a specific set of steps that creates a logical flow from one topic to the next, whereas, each step builds off the one before it and allows the participant to build and customize an effective basic website that can immediately be used for the participants needs. The participant will also learn the basic skills needed to continue to add, edit, and modify content on a regular basis to maintain the Google site to meet the evolving needs of the educator. The sequence of course content phases is: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. EO1 Introduction to Google Sites EO2 Create, Format, and Customize a Site EO3 Choose Page Types EO4 Manage Pages EO5 Gadgets, Media, and App Tools EO6 Share, Publish, and Protect EO7 Use Site to Manage Educational Needs

In the process of learning each phase of the course content, the participant will be actively involved through extensive hands-on activities supported by presentation, instruction, demonstration, guidance, and handouts. Assessment Formative assessment will occur as an on-going process as each participant successfully accomplishes each enabling objective through observation by the trainer as they provide guidance and assistance. Summative assessment of the terminal objective will occur during the end-of-course mini-presentations given by each participant. After the course is completed the trainer observation feedback and participant survey data will be used to evaluate the

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effectiveness of the course by the instructional designer. If necessary, the instructional designer will revise the course design as needed for future sessions. Media Specifications The Google Sites for Education course will take place in a fully equipped computer laboratory at the Merced County Office of Education district office. Each participant will be using a network computer with full internet access and all software necessary to successfully complete the course. The facilitator will employ the use of a network computer that has full internet access, all necessary software, and SmartBoard to deliver the presentation through PowerPoint, with video and audio, and demonstration by modeling how to build a functional Google site through each phase of the course content. The content of the course will be delivered using a variety of methods. Through a mix of PowerPoint enhanced lecture presentation with group discussion and hands-on activities that will be reinforced by peer and trainer feedback, each participant will be exposed to a variety of instructional methods that address all learning modalities. According to Breaux and Magee, (2010), students learn differently. Some are more visual than auditory; most are kinesthetic in that they learn by doing (as we do in life in general); some need extended time to grasp concepts fully; some prefer a quiet, still atmosphere, while others are more open-minded when in motion (p. 4). The effective use of PowerPoint lecture/presentation supports Mayers Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learn. 1. There are two separate channels (auditory and visual) for processing information (sometimes referred to as Dual-Coding theory), 2. Each channel has a limited (finite) capacity (similar to Swellers notion of Cognitive Load) and, 3. Learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating information based upon prior knowledge. PowerPoint lecture/presentation when combined with group discussion, facilitator guidance, and

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modeling should create a well-balanced form of differentiated instruction that addresses all participants learning needs. Development The development phase for Google Sites for Education is presented in the form of PowerPoint storyboards on a separate attachment using the provided outline of requirements and the supplemental documentation write up that follows. Supplemental Documentation Each participant will be given a course agenda, course flow chart with objectives, and web address for Google Training Module 5: Sites, to be used as a users guide during and after the course as a resource and step-by-step guidelines. This courses PowerPoint presentation and instructional videos will also be made available on the mercedlearn.org domain for future reference. The participants will also be informed that the will have ongoing support, as needed by the CAE Technology coaches and will be provided all necessary contact information. Course Agenda The course agenda will have a detailed timeline of events and course of study. The participants will meet at 8:00am till 8:30am for coffee, juice, and bagels for a meet and greet. The morning session will go from 8:30am till 12:00pm, and will cover enabling objectives 1-4. MCOE/CAE will provide lunch on site for facilitators and participants to collaborate from 12:00pm till 12:45. After lunch enabling objectives 5-7 will be covered and participants will have over an hour before end-of-course presentations start at 2:00pm till 3:00. Facilitators and participants will have between 3:00pm and 3:30pm for any last minutes needs or questions. Course Flowchart The course flowchart will illustrate the course of study, course enabling and terminal

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objectives, and activities for each phase of the course. Google Training Module 5: Sites Google Apps certified training program has a website with a variety of module to help potential applicants to prepare to become a certified trainer for Google Apps. These modules are a great resource for learning the various Google Apps that can be used for education as well as other needs. Each participant will be provided the web address and shown how to use this website as a resource for the course and afterward for the participant to use to update and maintain the Google site. Course PowerPoint with Embedded Instructional Videos The PowerPoint presentation used in this course will be made available on the mercedlearn.org domain for participants and others to view and use as a resource as needed for refreshers or reminders. Each participant will be given the web address. CAE Technology Coaches MCOEs Career and Alternative Education (CAE) Department has a trained group of experienced educators who are made available via in person, telephone, text, chat, or email to help educators in the department. Participants will be given the contact information for the CAE Technology Coaches Website to get help as needed. Implementation The Google Sites for Education course will be offered as a one day workshop by MCOEs CAE Technology Coaches in the spring or summer of 2013. The workshop will take in one of MCOEs fully equipped computer lab facilities. The training will be delivered by two of the CAE Technology Coaches and will be able to accommodate up to 15 participants per session. The CAE Technology Coaches who are chosen to be trainers will participate in a train-the-trainer

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session to be given by the instructional designer, Scott A. McKee. This session will be conducted at a date to be determined before the implementation of the course in the spring or summer of 2013. During the course each participant will be provided supplemental documents and resources, computer, full internet access, and all software necessary to successfully complete the course. This course will be a face-to-face training and will also have an eLearning component that will be made accessible after the initial session on the CAE Technology Coaches Website. Evaluation Level 1: Reaction I would use a level 1 evaluation at the end-of-course before each participant leaves the training session. This form of evaluation is often called a smile sheet. The immediate feedback from each participant may be of value if it is honest. In my experience as a participant I realize that by the end of training often participants are ready to go and just want to go through the motions if time has ran out. If this evaluation is going to have a chance at being of any value it has to be done at least 10 minutes before the time is up and should be brief and to the point. I would also prefer it to be anonymous or name optional so the participants feel they can express themselves without any repercussions. This information would be reviewed as part of the summative evaluation with all other evaluation data. Level 2: Learning Level 2 evaluation of learning would require a thorough review of each participant and the success achieved for each enabling objective and most importantly the terminal objective of the training. Through the course of Google Sites for Education training each participant will be observed and monitored each phase of training to insure they are able to achieve each enabling

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objective. If needed the assistant facilitator will spend extra time with participants who need assistance to experience success. At the end-of-course mini-presentations, each participant will be expected to present their Google site to the class and engage in discussion as to their experience, the development, maintenance, and potential uses for their Google site with regards to their needs as an educator. After the training is complete the facilitator will have some observed and collected data regarding the initial impact and effectiveness of the course to report back to the instructional designer. The instructional designer will use this feedback along with Kirkpatricks Level 3 (behavior) and Level 4 (results) evaluations, if applicable, to determine if any revisions or redesigns are necessary for future implementations of Google Sites for Education. Conclusion The Google Sites for Education course is intended to assist educators to begin using technology for educational and instruction purposes. By building a basic Google site, educators will have a platform to move into the 21st century of teaching and learning and create an on-line showcase to share, store, communicate, and collaborate with students, parents, administrators, and the world beyond the school. WordPress Link and Google Site Link for Project Showcase WordPress link located on http://edudigitalteacher.com/welcome/ at http://edudigitalteacher.com/welcome/edu623-final-project-google-sites-foreducation Google Site link for project showcase at https://sites.google.com/a/mercedlearn.org/scott-mckee/home

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[Video]. (2010, September 26). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EexHUtTuuGI&playnext=1&list=PLE6E4E3C8DC33 A56C&feature=results_main EF Smithsonian. (Poster). What is 21st century education? [Video]. (2012, May, 15). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax5cNlutAys K8teaw. (Poster). Digital world: teachers today [Video]. (2008, July 2). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W2j9qw-A0NM Rogge, J. (Poster). Cae tech coaches 2 [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaLaSB-I9aY