UNIT 6: Bring Meetings Online

In this unit, you’ll learn:

• Why it’s important to plan your meetings for maximum efficiency
• How to hold more productive and efficient meetings
• How to schedule a meeting, add participants and book resources
• How to keep track of who will be attending your meeting
• Why you should use a shared Google Doc for meeting agendas, minutes and follow-up
• Which tools from the Google Apps for Education suite can help you run more productive meetings
• How you can use Google Hangouts to conduct productive online meetings
• How to invite others to a Hangout
• How to share your screen with others during a Hangout

"Oh really, Google Training Center?  That seems like a tall order," you may find yourself thinking.  You're not alone.  I'm thinking it too.  But, we've learned all of the other menu options previously, so let's dive in.  Sorry for the food analogies.  Apparently, you shouldn't blog when you're hungry.

So the first point seems like something everyone, everywhere, that ever has to have a meeting should want to know - maximum efficiency means no one is wasting their time.  Planning to save everyone time so we can get on with our crazy lives? Yes, please!  so how can we hold more productive and efficient meetings? Making sure everyone is on the same page! Literally!  If you use a Google Hangout to meet, you can phone conference through your computer (if you have a webcam) so you can see each other, but did you know you can also share what is on your computer screen?  Instead of trying to flip through a power point while watching someone in a videochat present (because that never has problems), let your monitor do the talking.  You don't have to use the whole monitor either, you can choose which parts to share.  Need to do a Round-robin presentation? Just change who your presenter is, and the Hangout will change focus.

If all of the participants are using Google Calendar, by creating a shared Calendar, it can find the free time and add the attendees for you.  Need to make sure everyone has access to the minutes without worrying about who checked their email or mailbox? Attach it to the event! Use a shared GoogleDoc as the the minutes, then everyone can add to it during the meeting, make comments, and notes...your next set of minutes flow from the agenda!  Need to meet face to face instead of in a Hangout? Need resources? Book those too while creating the event! When the event is shared, people with access can help with the responsibility of creating effective and efficient meetings. 

Sure, you can get a few people together, but certainly there is a limit to the awesome that is a Hangout? Yes.  10 people are the max...unless you are part of Google Apps for Education, then you can get 15 people together.  Maybe that isn't your entire class of students.  But it could be a sports team, a PLC, or it could be students meeting with peers in another school, in another country.  Hello, Authentic Audience! And when the Hangout closes, it banks the conversation until the next time it is needed, so if you asked some great questions at the end but had to cut it short, all is not lost!

That went quick.  And so will your meetings when you use Calendar to schedule, book resources, share Google Doc agendas, and meet in the comfort of your own room or office with up to 14 other colleagues, or double dip, and use the projector and whiteboard in the conference room to bring 14 more people to your Hangout in a PD when the money is tight. (When isn't it?)

UNIT 5: Organize Activities for Yourself and Others

In this unit, you’ll learn:

• To create and share Google Calendars
• To set reminders and notifications for events in your calendar
• How to manage multiple calendars
• To manage to do lists in Google Tasks and Google Keep
• To integrate Google Tasks with Google Calendar
• To add media and share notes in Google Keep

Calendar, Tasks, and Keep are three applications I have not used but I'm curious how they are used, and how students can benefit from them as well.

First up is Calendar.  Between smartphones, and Outlook email/calendars which many schools use/support, I'm not sure how often I would use this.  However, in a few minutes of use, I'm realizing that a teacher can create a calendar and share it with students, providing a more visually appealing and MEANINGFUL deadline schedule.  Anytime I've created a rubric, and a schedule for students, I find myself going to a daily planner and plotting out when things will happen, and looking at a desk or wall calendar before adding info into a gradebook.  Instead of bouncing around between different calendar formats, just create a class calendar!  You can add guests to an event, and you can attach files, so if you are creating an event for a peer review, students have access to the rubric and checklist from home while preparing, as well as once they get to class, without having to print copies and then recycle the copies.  Events can be color coded, so if you teach more than one course, or multiple sections, you can glance quickly to see what is coming up without always having to read the details.

Google Keep is another useful app, but not one I'm likely to use just because of my own habits.  I like the feeling of sticky notes, physical little bright squares that I can have in my real space.  I keep a few notes on my smartphone for grocery lists or to do lists.  I personally do not want all of my apps trying to help me merge work, grad school, and home life in every aspect.  Some people need it.  I like keeping it separate.  I can see the appeal of having cloud accessible sticky notes though.  Say you are brainstorming ideas, sticky notes all over your desk, and even within a few books scattered across your desk.  Maybe the notes end up in the wrong place, someone borrows the book, or you forgot to copy it into a place you will take with you when you leave - Google Keep to the rescue!  Make a note you can get anywhere you can get Keep (which is both an app for mobile devices as well as for a variety of web browsers).  Notes can have images associated with them, and can be tagged with labels, and colors!  Google Drive does not allow files to be labeled or tagged, though a description can be made (however it doesn't really enhance search capabilities as my tests today showed me). 

If you have a checklist or agenda for a class, and need to create files in your Drive, you could create a Note/List and label the list.  It would require you to look through your lists first to find the labels to files you want, but the index would also be cloud-accessible.  I still prefer handwriting sticky notes because it activates my memory better - so if I lose the note, I'm not as messed up, but also it keeps me sharp, and I find I check off more items without needing to keep looking at the Note.  If you love sticky notes, hate handwriting, and love to label and archive things, then Keep is the answer you may have been searching for.

Finally, Tasks is an aspect of both Gmail and Calendar that allows you to create lists and set events with both the functionality of a Calendar as well as Gmail access to conversations and contacts.  I don't think a person needs to use every option in this unit to stay organized, however any one may be more appropriate to a specific lifestyle.  If I didn't have access to a school email account and had to rely on my personal Gmail account, the Calendar would be a welcome option.  If I didn't have access to a desktop, and used a Chromebook with apps, the Tasks and Keep feature would help me as a student stay in tune with my class needs and stay on top of my assignments. 

My school uses both GAFE and Schoology.  Some of the functionality of GAFE I do not use because I'm required or encouraged to use the similar functionality in another program...however GAFE is free.  And free will always take people a long way through necessity even when it might not fill every need.

UNIT 4: Save Time Communicating

In this unit, you’ll learn to:

• Apply the organizational benefits of Gmail in your classroom
• Explain how to use the Translation feature in Gmail to communicate with a diverse audience
• Identify the benefits of real-time communication with students
• Explain how to use instant messaging in Hangouts from any device
• Identify how Google Groups can be used in your classroom
• Identify the value of having a class website
• Create a customized Google Site for your classroom

I'm very excited for this unit because it gives me a reason to practice a Google Site, though for my cousin's wedding and not for my classroom.  But we can pretend it's for a business class, and the students are creating cooperative applications, and my model is for a wedding planner.  Yeah.  Let's go with that...

Before we get there, let's start with Gmail.  I've been a fan since it was in Beta, and invites were required to create an account.  I love that if I want to tie multiple accounts together (one for free coupons, one for games, one for school, one for family) I can check them all very easily, and if I forget a password, it's also very easy to reset it.  Despite being that easy to use, I've never had my accounts hacked.  Some of that is due to my own diligence and internet savvy.  Some of that is because they haven't had batches of data hacked and freely shared for all the world to see.  Like Sony.  Or banks.

What I've known for awhile but have never played with is that I can create my own folders for mail to go into, and then label the emails so when I search for it later, I can find it without rereading every email.  What I didn't know is that I could color code things to make finding it even easier.  I've recently re-discovered the All Mail tab, where mail I think I've deleted has gone.  But I have to tell it to delete it twice.  Once takes it out of the normal folder...and usually out of sight, out of mind.  But let's say you didn't mean to delete it, so you go to check your trash...and it's not there. And you check trash, because you deleted it...and if it's within 30 days, you should find it there.  But day 31? 100? Because Gmail gives its users so much space, it isn't in a rush to delete your information.  Before you give up hope that the coupon you meant to use before it expires is gone, and you won't be saving on a holiday clearance sale, check your All Mail folder.  It's probably in there, and you may even find missing socks.

The next tasty treat in this unit is Google Hangouts.  Because every platform must have messaging capability! This isn't just a messenger though. Normally, in a messenger, you have a separate window for each person you are talking to.  In a Hangout, you can have up to 150 people in one room.  It combines the utility of a forum, with the instant gratification of a messenger, and the personalization of Google/Chrome! And if the purpose of the conversation is over, the hangout and associated conversations can be deleted.  DIGCIT TIP: Only when all members of the Hangout delete the conversation will it truly be deleted.  Think before you type! Even if it is deleted, you can't truly know if someone has taken a screenshot, so don't be careless.  It could be a great tool for a classroom, a PLC, PD groups, or school clubs.  The strongest feature for a classroom  is that it can be impossible to hear everything every student is saying in class, especially in group work.  But you can be a part of every Hangout and never miss an insight, question, or teachable moment! It's similar to a Twitter Chat, only the hashtag is private.

If you aren't looking for the immediacy of a Hangout, but still need to get information to a group, or a group needs to share on a regular basis, sure you could just make an email group and make attachments and pray you don't exceed file limits...or you could create a Google Group!  Some schools that use GAFE also use Schoology for posting class events, assignments, and having limited conversations.  Google Groups is the same thing, in that a Group can have a purpose, a forum, share dates and information with members - maybe parents don't need to be involved in the classroom Hangout, but you want to remind them of the fieldtrip coming up - Add them to the Group! Students are running a school store or webstore, and need to share responsibility in answering customer questions? Group! Have more than 100 people you need to email in a shot? Group! You can set the group to share access by the link, and the email list will update itself, so no one has to be the address book moderator - and that can be a headache and very time consuming.

And finally, the Google Site.  We ask students to create audio-visual projects all the time, or paper and story one after another.  In a digital age, with emphasis on portfolio growth, a Site is one way a student can keep track of all of their work, for every class.  Create a home page for the student, add a new page for each class, and even a new page for each project, modifying the layout as necessary.  Or a class can make a page together, or a group instead of bulky tri-fold posters.  There are really many reasons to make a Site, and the more you do it, the more you can find a reason to.  With 1:1 initiatives popping up in many schools, Sites can give students the agency they need to own their learning, and really display what teachers are looking for. 

And because you're just dying to hear me describe it on a school-issued headset that makes me sound like an alien, here is my Screencast of using Google Sites: