Part D-Findings and Implications

Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
We started out thinking that doing Google tutorial wouldn't give us enough information to fill ten minutes, but as we worked on the project, I thought we could possibly go longer than that time frame.  In order to create a good tutorial, we had to go into detail which took up some time.

Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
Our project was dealing with Google documents, so using a Google doc/presentation to complete the project seemed only logical.  I think the tutorial did a good job of teaching someone who had no idea how to use the documents feature of Google.


How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

A good tutorial needs to have a little more video.  When I view a tutorial, I'm following step by step the instructions in order to check that I'm doing everything correctly.  I'd like to do another project like this where I can teach other teachers or perhaps students how to do something for class.  For example, I've been thinking about making a tutorial for my students to create their own learning blogs (using Weebly, which is what I use for my class site).  In order to help students, it would have to be very straightforward and simple enough that they could follow instructions without me around.  I'd also like it to be something that they could refer to often if they were struggling.  


What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

Google really is awesome!  Even as I was investigating the very generic presentation we did on Google docs, I found so many other things.  For example, I had no idea you could change your parameters in a search to include specific types of sites.  I also learned that in Google, I can create a specific search and use that to include only the sites I want my students to see.  Voicethread is awesome too, and it's even more awesome on the iPad.  When I tried to use my cursor to circle things and draw arrows, etc. on the computer, they weren't great, but then I discovered VT had a FREE app on the iPad and I was circling and drawing with precision just using my finger or a stylus.  It was really great.  Jing is a lot of fun as well, although when I tried to use it to record myself making the form, I learned that it didn't give me a file that could work with VT.


In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

I would do a project like this again; I'm on a mission to become a Google expert.  I think it's one of the few programs that we as teachers can feasibly expect to have access to any place.  It really contributes to the "anywhere, anytime" learning initiative.  Many other programs that we use are great as well, but they're not necessarily as accessible as Google.  I'd like to find a program that is more a combination of Jing and Voicethread because it would allow me to talk over a video (instead of just pictures or slides); and of course, I'd like it to be free.  Maybe there is one, but I haven't discovered it yet.