Enhancing Student Collaboration with Google Tablets
My students need two Nexus tablets and keyboards in order to work collaboratively using Google Apps across classrooms and with students in other schools.
The widespread adoption of Google Apps for Education creates an unparalleled opportunity for students to do web-based collaboration. But in order to access the power of Google Apps, students need the hardware that will admit them into this world. Nexus tablets are a cost-effective Google gateway.
My students attend a suburban middle school with a population of approximately 700 6th-8th graders.
Our school - and our state - has faced budget cuts in recent years due to the economic crisis. This has resulted in days cut from the school calendar for the last three years, as well as a freeze on all technology purchases. Our community is racially and economically diverse, with a growing immigrant population and a corresponding growth in the number of students eligible for free and reduced lunch. We are a Title 1 school with over 50% of our students from families considered to be living at the federal poverty level. Attendance and school engagement are high, and we have been able to access local community support to offer a rich after-school program in academic support and other activities. The teaching staff is dedicated and caring, and many of the teachers are also members of the local community.
My Project
Our district is in the second year of a district-wide adoption of Google Apps for Education. All email and most data storage is now through Google, and most staff members now use Google Apps for documents and other work. All students have Google accounts, saving the district money on data storage and streamlining the ability of students to access their work from school and home. Google Apps for education allows students to collaborate with others on writing, research, math and science projects, and many other assignments. But students need the devices that will allow them to access the internet in order to do this work. The Google Nexus tablets, combined with Logitech bluetooth keyboards, are a proven economical and user-friendly way for students to easily and efficiently access Google Apps. Even having a couple of these devices in a classroom will open a wealth of opportunities for students to do online research, and to collaborate with students in other classrooms and schools.
The recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards has highlighted the role of literacy in ALL subjects, not just English/language Arts.
This emphasizes the increasing role of technology in literacy. Indeed, if we are to truly prepare students for college and career readiness, it is imperative that we give them every opportunity to do the kind of work professionals outside of school do every day. Using web-based research in collaborative ways is a necessary skill in today's world.
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