Google plus communities in the cLassroom
What is Google+?
Google+ (Google plus) is a social network developed and operated by Google, where you can find interesting communities based on your interest. Where Can I Download It?
You can download Google+ on your computer by searching Google+ in Google. Or you can simply click on the link above to go to Apple Store to download the app if you are using iPad. |
Signing In
I downloaded Google+ on my iPad. You can sign in with your Google account if you have one. If you don't have one, you can easily download it by following the instruction in the app. I signed up a new gmail because my google account couldn't be connected to the app for some unknown reason. Once I singed in, I could see there are four navigations down at the bottom of the page, which are Home, Collections, Communities, and Notifications. I clicked on the Communities bottom and it led me to this page (see the first photo on the right side). All the things are very easy to follow in this app. |
Communities
There are a lot of different kinds of communities that you can join in Google+ Communities. For example, I joined the Teachers Helping Teachers community. You can go to their site here: This is a great community for teachers to share resources and have discussions with each other. There are teachers sharing their bundles, sharing teaching tips for middle school students, and sharing the art works of their students. There are just a lot of stuff on there, and everybody is just there to help out each other as a community.
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I also joined another community called Google Education Group Kansas (GEG Kansas). This is also a group organized by teachers, aiming to help out each other about the technology of Google. However, this community is smaller, which is mainly focusing on Kansas area.
As you can see, there are also a lot of tips and useful resources here. Also, there are teachers asking questions and having discussions here too.
If you are interesting, you can visit their site by clicking the button down here |
Google+ Communities and the classroom
There are a lot of ways that a teacher can use Google+ Communities in classroom. First of all, the teacher can utilize all the resources on the Google+ Communities. For example, practices and bundles etc. Also, I believe that there are a lot of reference materials that can benefit the students. Secondly, the teacher can create his own community for the whole class, which can be a communication and assessment platform for students. |