I was reading an article about the new Google Wave. It is a program that will allow maximum interaction between students and teachers on the Internet. Dennis Carter, Assistant Editor of eSchool News, says,
“Combining text, audio, and video chat with features like drag-and-drop documents and interactive polls, Google Wave is a free web program that could add unprecedented depth to student interaction, many educators say.”
In my opinion, I think Google Wave will be a great feature to utilize in the classroom. Just like with any other piece of technology, I think students will be very excited and more inclined to participate if a program like Google Wave is involved. The article talks about group projects and the age-old question: “How do you know that everyone is participating?” With this program, you will be able to monitor the students’ work and who are participating. I think that is great! Students will have no choice but to do what they are supposed to do. Students that would normally slack and let all the other group members do the work will run into some difficulties, and feel that it is necessary for them to do their part. The teacher will be able to see exactly what is going on and will be able to grade group work fairly and accordingly. This feature alone should peak teachers and school systems interests.
Additionally, I think this a great program because it’s FREE! Therefore, the program should be accessible to many. There won’t be any problems with school systems that are not as financially stable as other system, and everyone will be able to enjoy and benefit from the perks of Google Wave. Another feature that caught my eye was the spell checker. The spell checker is not like the ordinary spell check. It not only corrects spelling, but it also corrects words used inaccurately or out of context. Dennis Carter says, “Wave’s spell checker doesn’t match words against their dictionary spelling, but rather accounts for the word’s context using a complex language model spawned from billions of web pages. Even if a word is spelled correctly, Wave will underline the word in red if it is used incorrectly or out of context.” At the same time, this feature could hinder users because the user can become dependent and expect every wrong to be corrected. This will truly hurt them if the long run if the user does not know the reason for the correction. As a result, I think this feature should come with some moderation, but I think it is a good feature.
My overall reaction to Google Wave is WONDERFUL! I want to try it out myself to really get a feel for the program, and be a witness to all of the great things described about it. I truly think Google Wave will be a positive and effective thing for the education world, but there are a few questions I would like to propose:
1. Will teachers and students be able to use Google Wave at home?
2. Will Google Wave serve as an after-school connection for students and teachers for additional help?
3. Will there be some kind of filter in determining who can and cannot use Google Wave?
Here is a link that should be helpful with Google Wave:
http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html#video
Works Cited
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/01/19/has-google-developed-the-next-wave-of-online-education/
Good app review. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI noticed in your blog you had reasoning to question Google Wave’s spell checker feature.Don’t get me wrong, I completely see your point in being uneasy about students relying on its use to correct grammar and spelling errors. However, I do not think they will stop learning how to use correct grammar and spelling because of this program. Microsoft Word also has a spell check and grammar check feature, and although students use it, I do not think they depend on it. Google Wave will simply underline the word, which means, I am assuming, it will be much like Word where the user will still have to go back and correct the error. Students can still learn from this. Just a little something to put your mind at ease.
ReplyDelete