Vector 2: Leading Solution Providers

The invaluable part of the digital age is the ability to share information. Gone are the days of secretaries transcribing notes with carbon paper to send multiple copies. With the ease of copy and paste, links to websites, and the exponential explosion in affordable memory, it is not surprising that the pendulum has swung the other way.

In the days of the information superhighway, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of communications a person receives, from emails to text messages, not including all the SPAM. The initial message can be lost, re-written, or simply ignored creating additional miscommunications that affect many more people. In order to deal with the inefficiencies of being able to share and collaborate information, yet not pervert the original message, some really smart people have come up with different platforms to host productive gatherings.

Background

Prior to Web 2.0, collaboration among students and teachers required the coordination of individuals whether it be on the telephone or meeting in real-time in order to discuss various topics. With the ubiquitous nature of technology and its presence in schools today, students and teachers have the ability to socialize and collaborate through the use of technology without the need to meet face to face.

Wikis are collaborative websites where visitors can edit anything they want, anytime they want (Kahn, 2009). They can be private, password protected and monitored or public and open to the world.

Google Wave is a platform created by Google where account holders can work collaboratively on documents and chat both synchronously and asynchronously to achieve a desired goal. Still in its developmental stages, Google Wave has the potential to revolutionize learning.

Google Wave vs. Wikis

From a learning perspective, Google Wave and wikis offer high school students and teachers venues to work collaboratively in a variety of ways, each with their own specific functionalities.

* for wikis, this is provider-specific. Some providers only operate with HTML.

** for wikis, this depends on subscription level.

Summarized in the table below are a few ways Google Wave and wikis can be used in a high school setting.

	Google Wave	Wikis
Uses for students	work collaboratively on assignments/projects chat and send email synchronously and asynchronously share and interact with other classrooms or groups around the world in one of 52 different languages create a poll create a school newspaper gather input and feedback on work	build collaborative pages start discussions share and interact with other classrooms or groups across town or around the world create a school newspaper
Uses for teachers	departmental communications and meetings plan parent-teacher conferences with multiple teachers share links to web resources school wide calendar/scheduling post assignments and conduct discourse surrounding clarification faculty meeting follow-up share lesson plans planning school events book club discussions	publish class notes, powerpoint, schedules and policies, student work post assignments, key dates, and volunteer lists host student portfolios share links to web resources share lesson plans
For more ideas	http://www.theshinywave.com/collaboration/google-wave-in-the-classroom/	http://educators.pbworks.com/

Google Wave

Google Wave is the perfect all-in-one collaboration tool that could be used anywhere, but especially in a high school setting. This free, open-source collaboration tool merges email, chat and Google docs onto one platform, where users can edit documents in real-time on a cloud. Not only is Google Wave a relevant tool for students, but it can also be used by staff. The software is easy to use, has lots of tutorials freely available on the web, and uses WYSIWYG and "drag & drop" editing. The full power of Google Wave takes some initial experimentation to ascertain the intricacies of the system, however the basic functions are intuitive and would be very easy for students to acquire.

What is Google Wave?

This 2:14 minute You Tube video explains briefly "What would email look like if it was made today?"

Original video can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDu2A3WzQpo"

Google Wave Overview

Greg and Steph from the Google Wave Team condense their 90 minute Google Wave video into this 7:52 minute YouTube video to describe the functionality of Google Wave.

Original video can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pgxLaDdQw

How to Get Started

This website is the Google Wave equivalent to "Coles Notes". It describes the basics required to start a Google Wave.

http://mashable.com/2009/10/01/google-wave-get-started/

Wikis

Wikis are a good collaboration tool that could enhance a high school classroom. This collaboration tool enables users to post information onto a website, with abilities to control who views and can edit the information. Changes made to a wiki can be reverted back to earlier versions (Ovadia, 2010). Depending on the provider used, wikis can be edited using WYSIWYG. Some wiki sites limit the type of information embedded, while others have limited WYSIWYG functionality and require HTML proficiency.

The amount of help available for wikis is dependent on the provider one uses. Some examples of support include the following:

PBworks Webinars: http://pbworks.com/content/webinars

PBWorks Support: http://usermanual.pbworks.com/

Wikispaces Wiki Tutorial: https://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour/myspace

Wetpaint Video Collection: http://www.wetpaint.com/page/Wetpaint-Videos

Wiki Provider Comparisons

Wiki Service Providers	PBworks	Wetpaint	Wikispaces	Zoho
Site Address	http://pbworks.com	http://wetpaint.com	http://wikispaces.com/	http://wiki.zoho.com/
Founded	2003	2005	2005	1996
Run By	Jim Groff (CEO)	Backed by Trinity Ventures, Frazier Technology Ventures, Accel Partners and DAG Ventures	Tangient	Zoho Corp.
Headquarters	San Mateo, CA	Seattle, WA	San Francisco, CA	Pleasanton, CA
Cost*	Free up to $799 annually	Free up to $240 annually	Free up to $1000 annually	Free up to $960 annually
Storage Space	2 GB - unlimited	N/A	2 GB - unlimited	50 MB - 10 GB*
Users	100-1000*	N/A	unlimited	unlimited
WYSIWYG editing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RSS feed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ad-Free	Yes	No*	No*	Yes

* depending on subscription level

Glossary of Terms

API: (Application Programming Interface) an interface that enables a software program to interact with other software.

Blip: a single, individual message.

Cloud: a single point of access for users' computing needs, generally through the Internet.

Facebook: a social networking site that allows users to add friends, share pictures, send messages and update their personal profiles.

Gadgets: an application users can participate with such as a voting poll or a map.

Google Wave*: open-sourced collaboration platform enabling users to create, edit and share documents and chat both synchronously and asynchronously.

HTML: hypertext markup language. This is code used to create webpages.

Robots: an automated participant within a wave that have a specific function.

Twitter: a social networking service that allows users to send and read text-based messages. See "http://www.twitter.com

Wave: a specific threaded conversation.

Webinars: typically a one-way seminar broadcasted over the web.

Wiki: a website that allows the creation and editing of interlinked webpages; generally done collaboratively.

WYSIWYG: stands for "what you see is what you get". A term used to describe a system where the content displayed during editing appears like the final output.

* other terms associated with Google Wave can be found on “Google Wave: A Complete Guide” found at: http://mashable.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-guide/

Report Card Rating

Google Wave deserves a "B" for this vector because it is a fairly intuitive program that can be used by students and teachers for both school and at home. It provides teachers who use this tool in their classrooms for group work, a transparent look at how the group accomplished their end product, while adding accountability.

Based on its unintuitive robots and other intricacies, such as embedding a wave into an external site, Google Wave did not receive a “perfect” grade. Although useful, one can really only know and understand how to use the robots and other tools by further researching the help forums. In addition, most high school students would not possess the programming ability to create their own gadgets and robots for use on Google Wave; although this could be an excellent challenge for an upper level computer course.

Wikis deserve a grade of "C" for this vector, ranking it lower than Google Wave. The reason wikis scored lower than Google Wave is on account of the variability in the wikis available in the market today. Students who do not understand how web pages work or lack the knowledge of HTML code could be left frustrated. Also, since wikis are specific sites, it would be difficult for students to breakout into groups to collaborate and discuss an assignment that is unrelated to the central wiki.

In conclusion, both Google Wave and Wikis are an excellent evolution for group work. These are tools used to assist us as human beings to collaborate, communicate and create. Depending on the situation and expertise, either of these can be complementary of each other rather than in competition. The platforms share some similarities, but the differences are what will determine the niche that each will be applied, like two parallel skytrain lines that share some stops, but ultimately which one you choose will depend on your final destination.

Activity

Our group decided to focus on Googlewave and Wikis as our emerging market in social technologies in learning. Other than the aforementioned, what products or services would you recommend for use in a learning environment? Try out Google Wave and add your suggestions and comments to the ETEC 522 Social Technologies Emerging Markets Wave as well as posting your thoughts on the ETEC 522 Wordpress site. Detailed instructions will be posted on the Wordpress site on how to access the Google Wave.

Follow-up

Here are some of the other social technology products members of ETEC 522 recommend for the classroom:

Blogs

Delicious http://delicious.com

Elluminate http://www.elluminate.com

Facebook http://www.facebook.com

Flickr http://flickr.com

Google Docs http://docs.google.com

Google Sites http://sites.google.com

Moodle http://moodle.org

Ning http://ning.com

This 7:10 minute You Tube video demonstrates the power of using Ning in a high school English and History classroom.

My Space http://www.myspace.com

Twitter http://www.twitter.com

YouTube http://www.youtube.com

Wise http://wise.berkeley.edu/

Here are some reactions from the class about using Google Wave:

“This is a good tool and it seems to be getting better. Although my 510 group had a hard time uploading files of the larger variety. It was also a bit tough at times to follow each others threads."

“I see this as playing a different role than Google docs. If I wanted to work on a document that would later become official I would use Google docs, or if I wanted to brainstorm ideas and have the whole picture there to see it as a whole. This I see as more of a conversational tool where there can be many tangents and purposes of conversation.”

“I've been using the wave throughout the MET courses and find it amazing for brainstorming for group work. The groups I was involved with later moved into Google docs for the collaborative writing. The combo is really powerful!”

""The deadline gadget will be great for my students! Other gadgets look useful as well. I'll need to sit down and explore this more carefully next time.”

“Yet another interesting tool to enhance teaching and learning.“

“So far, I find google wave intriguing. Is there a Google wave help desk that walks you through FAQs and hints on how to effectively use this technology?”

“I think this is a great tool for collaboration. I got an invite last fall but didn't look into it after balking at the hour long video Google had up to explain it.”

“I agree this is a great tool for collaboration. I used Vyew (another site that is capable of live collaboration. However, this site appears to be easier to use.”

“I'm really glad we're using this tool. I've tried it out a bit when it was by invite only. I'm still getting a feel for things and I'm not totally sure that this is the revolutionary tool that Google is presenting it to be, but it definitely has potential.”

“This is the first time I use Wave. I've used Google doc before. I like how multiple people can work on one document in Google doc. Collaboration in Wave looks better than doc. As many suggested, using both Google doc and Wave would be very powerful.“

“Google Groups doesn't have the same range of gadgets and adding members in Wave is a lot more seamless. The interface here is a lot nicer than docs or groups. Each has their own advantages - we use Google Docs at work a lot to get people to volunteer for things via spreadsheet (like ever so fun provincial exam invigilation)...it generally works and is quick and easy. Wave adds some nice vitality to the conversation...it might be more useful for getting people energized about upcoming events. I'll give it a try at work for our upcoming staff golf tourney...hopefully, it will help avoid the usual repeat questions: where is the golf course? did you send me an email about that? how much does it cost? what are the rules? what team am I on? ...maybe Wave can make can help people keep track of the obvious (well...at least what the creator thinks is obvious :-)”

External Resources and References

Devaney, L. (2009). Google wave has great potential for education. Education Today, (3), 18-19. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Kahn, S. (2009). Wonderful Wikis and Internet Forums. Science and Children, 46(9), 27-31. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Kirk, M. (2009). "Google Wave for Teachers: A Concept" - an online article that discusses how Google Wave will revolutionize teaching. http://www.googlewaveinfo.com/200911/google-wave-for-teachers-a-concept/

Ovadia, S. (2010). The Viability of Google Wave as an Online Collaboration Tool. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 29(2), 158. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database.

Parr, B. (2010). "Google Wave a Complete Guide"- a comprehensive guide to Google Wave. http://mashable.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-guide/

PBWorks "Seven Deadly Sins that Block Team Collaboration". http://pbworks.com/team-collaboration