If you’re wondering what use Google’s new Wave tool might have for teaching, one online-learning leader has an answer: combining classes from different colleges.
Think of it like bringing in a guest speaker. But with Wave, which is like e-mail but live and jazzed up with multimedia features, you can build online communities that link entire classrooms for a week or two. And you can do it without the administrative headaches of booking rooms or adjusting class schedules.
Ray Schroeder gave it a try last semester at the University of Illinois at Springfield, one of the first colleges to use Wave for online teaching since the preview version came out in September. For about two weeks in December, he joined his “Internet in American Life” course with a class on energy studies at the Institute of Technology at Sligo, in Ireland. They created a “wave” to discuss the impact of the Internet on energy sustainability.
But what if you merged a biology class and a philosophy class? You could have them evaluate a bioethics case study, suggests Mr. Schroeder, director of the university’s Center for Online Learning, Research, and Service. Or what about a class on Asian history? You could use Wave’s translation tool and hook up with a group of Chinese students.
It’s different than a proprietary learning-management system, Mr. Schroeder says, “where licensing restrictions limit these kinds of inter-institutional projects.” Already, some college professors and administrators are excited about Wave’s potential to be a course-management-system killer.
Plenty of other technologies already enable online collaboration, like wikis and Web conferencing. The difference is that Google Wave dumps everything into a one-stop Web 2.0 sandbox of audio and video and text. Also, it’s free. And it has a “playback” feature that lets you watch the history of each posting in a kind of time-lapse animation.
So if a student comes to you whining about how she should get an “A” because she did all the work in a group project, Mr. Schroeder says, you can check exactly who did what.
But you’ll have to be patient. While students liked the Wave collaboration, they also complained about technical glitches such as the system’s slow speed, Mr. Schroeder says.
11 Responses to How to Teach With Google Wave
haohtt - January 4, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Ray Schroeder continues to be a pioneer in pushing the limits of technology for learning. As the cost of learning/course management systems continue to escalate, it will be fascinating to see how these tools can make e-learning more robust and affordable.
douglascrets - January 4, 2010 at 8:20 pm
There’s another interesting frontier mover in Southern China. Jeremiah Foo at Shantou University is lauching a completely open source web application teaching tool that he hopes to connect to other schools in Asia, and the West, by using mobile phones. He’s actually working with the founder of Sharp, Dr. Tadashi Sasaki to do this. Check it out, it’s pretty good stuff. Defeating Blackboard and other SAAS platforms. http://bit.ly/4FTs83
11889431 - January 4, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I use Blackboard to have my students communicate with students from Finland and Thailand and have had no issues getting students access to the courses.
laoshi - January 5, 2010 at 7:44 am
@douglasecrets: Is there an alternative URL you can provide for Fu’s article? It seems to be inaccessible even from behind the Great Firewall of China.Open-source is full of possibilities for teaching, and putting the tools in our hands. It’s very exciting to be part of the ever-evolving future.
fcrawford2 - January 5, 2010 at 8:39 am
It’s also possible to use Second Life to exchange ideas with students from across the world or across the room. My classes have met and exchanged ideas with people from Australia (across the world), Sam Houston State University (across the state), and Government (across the campus) – to name a few.
22170144 - January 5, 2010 at 11:05 am
@laoshi: Try using a free web proxy like http://www.myproxy.ca or http://www.vtunnel.com. I used both of these services in China last year to get around their Internet controls.
wendyvisits - January 5, 2010 at 12:43 pm
@laoshi and others who were not able to get to the article via @dougsecrets shorter link: at the risk of entering someone else’s business, and since the link did work for me outside China… here is the full link: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/douglas-crets/low-base-media-entrepreneurs-global-industry/shantou-university-using-open-source
vahidm - January 7, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Forward thinking, though i think it’s a bit too early for the Wave platform. Let it reach at least Beta stage and free/open registration first.
billso - January 8, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Wave isn’t ready for classroom use yet. AFAIK, Wave doesn’t even support inline editing of Google Docs.
douglascrets - January 17, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Thank you for people who are trying to access the link. @laoshi, if you can email me, I can cut and paste the whole thing for you.The story is a bit bigger than just using open source. The story is also about private money going into public universities in China and creating innovation, reform and better infrastructure for the Chinese higher ed system. my email is doug [dot] crets at gmail dot com Thanks also, @wendyvisits, sending people to other people’s sites is what the web is for, thanks for putting in the link. :)
davidvictor - February 1, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Google Wave may be the “wave” of the future. There has been lots of hype for it in certain communities. I have been able to get access and played around a little bit and the potential is pretty awesome. I am trying to figure out how to use it with my blog to better educate people.