Google+ Communities Study Group Reflection
Background: a small group of grades 3-5 teachers in my district participated in a study group that allowed us to “play” in a private Google+ Community… we did a series of tasks over 10 weeks that gave us the time to figure out how we could use this Google service in our current positions.
This week, I am sharing my Google+ Communities Study Group Reflection… as always I welcome your thoughts!
My reflection:
Prior to this study group, I had dabbled a little bit in Google+ Communities. My Google Educator Level 1 and 2 training had exposed me to some basics of the service, so I knew it had potential in this era of social media and sharing. I had started looking at what communities were out there and for what people were using them. The service did not seem to be as prolific or popular as Facebook groups. It did mimic some desirable features like other social media services, such as more characters being shared than a Twitter post. (I was an early convert to Twitter and the sharing with educators world-wide, but I never have been able to get my colleagues as interested. I think the stream can be very much like drinking from the fire hose, and it takes quite some time to build up a good professional learning network to follow.) Facebook has always seemed too personal, non-work related for me, and having two accounts to keep my home and school life separate just has seemed like a lot to keep straight. I think others have felt the same as well. I also tried to get something going with a work-related Pinterest group, but again, people did not want to have two accounts to keep things segregated. As we have become more comfortable within our work Google domain, it seems like the timing may be right to harness the power of Google+ Communities since I know people (with whom I work) are not using it personally, and Google+ has the feel of other social media services that have become a way of life.
This study group was a good playground for figuring out how to set up a closed community with parameters. We were able to try out all of the features in a small environment so that the sharing did not become overwhelming. It gave us an opportunity to practice writing helpful posts and comments with each other, but it also allowed us to check out a world of sharing going on beyond our Community “walls”. We then were able to be curators, learning how to bring specific resources/posts from those outside Communities into our special interest group for a more focused share.
It’s been a very positive experience overall interacting with each other. We also have noticed the limitations. There are not as many special interest Communities out there to join in Google+. I’m not discouraged by that fact. That says to me that there is room for growth as more districts are entering Google domains. We need to build these Communities. However, the challenge is getting people to hop into something that is in its beginning stages. Many other social media arenas are running full steam now. In order for Google+ to flourish, more people have to use it. How do we get people to do that?
In my job as a Digital Learning Specialist, I would like to use Google+ as a place to pull together two other great Google services: Classroom and Team Drive. Right now, I can set up a shared folder in Team Drive with specific members and add lots of resources; however, there is no conversation mechanism in that service. It’s merely a place for me to put files. Of course, I can’t forget that I can collaborate on those files in that space with those specific members. I can create resources with these colleagues to be used with other teachers and students. Moreover, that’s where Google Classroom comes in. That’s the delivery system to students. A teacher can be added in to collaborate on the learning assignments within that environment. Again, another great space to share and work with a colleague; yet, I feel the editorial, conversation piece is missing for the educators. There is no virtual place for the teachers to reflect with each other about the student assignments (and face to face is challenging these days). Teachers could be co-teachers off all their colleagues Classrooms to see what’s going on in those rooms; however, realistically, a team of Grade 5 teachers would not want to be teaching members of every other Grade 5 teacher’s Google Classroom. That would be too many places to visit to see and find ideas/resources!
To simplify things, I have recommended setting up a teacher only Classroom in order for the teachers to reuse their posts from their respective Classrooms to the “teacher” Classroom. (Here is a recent blog post.) This set up give the teachers the opportunity to share the files/resources plus the narrative/directions delivered to students in the initial Classroom to one place. Far easier than “co-teaching” in everyone’s Classrooms! Plus, teachers would be able to write comments below the reused posts in this teacher group Classroom. Finally, a place for some reflection/conversation among colleagues!
But that’s only within that team or school. There’s so much more out there. I do think this can go a step further with a Google+ Community. With a Team Drive and a teacher Google Classroom established and linked in the About section of the private Community, the teachers can add more to the discussion and conversation of their work together in the stream of the Community, but they also have the opportunity to share entire posts of resources from other Google+ Communities there. The teachers now have the capabilities of collaborating/creating together in the Team Drive, sharing full views of work delivered to students, AND bringing other educator resources into the mix in one location. It’s one stop sharing. I’m hoping to kick my idea off with a Guided Math or math stations Google+ Community this year.