Google+ Communities for Blended Learning

1. Supporting Blended Learning
with Google+ Communities
Bill Knapp
Dean of Learning Technologies
Lakeland Community College
bknapp @ lakelandcc.edu
CC-BY-NC-SA

2. Fostering a Sense of Community
Online Human Touch…
 ‘The OHT concept asserts that students are more likely
to persist in an online program if they are engaged in
and outside of their courses and if the educational
experience is personalized.”
- Kristen Betts

3. Interactivity and Learner Engagement

4. Getting Started with Google+
 What are Google+ Pages?
 Pages can create communities as well as follow others
 Sometimes easier for students to get to the page first,
and then to connect to the community
 Communities can be either public or private
 Send an email invite to your Page
 Google+ for Blended Learning Page

5. Inviting students to follow a Page

6. Setting up your Community
 Categories
 Welcome / Begin Here!
 Orientation
 Getting acquainted
 Introductions
 Discussion topics
 Group projects (Google Drive)
 Presentations
 Events
 Hangouts

7. Getting Students Onboard

8. Notifications:
 By turning on notifications you will be alerted to
activities in the Community, including new posts,
comments, requests to join, sharing, etc.
 Receive via Email or via Phone Text Message
 Who can interact with you?
 Who can invite you to Hangout?
 Notifications about posts, circles, photos, events, etc.
 Configure - Account settings >> Google+
 https://www.google.com/settings/plus

9. Subscribing to Email & SMS

10. The Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education:
 encourages contact between students and faculty
(student to instructor),
 develops reciprocity and cooperation among students
(student to student),
 encourages active learning (student to content)
 gives prompt feedback,
 emphasizes time on task,
 communicates high expectations, and
 respects diverse talents and ways of learning
- Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson (1987)

11. …contact between Students & Faculty
 Using Hangouts & Chat for Virtual office hours
 Begin Here! and Course Description Categories
 Subscribing to your own posts
 “Texting” with your Students

12. …Reciprocity & Cooperation among Students

13. Active Learning
 Sharing / linking to Google docs
 http://youtu.be/QLwYv6c58bw
 Discussion topics
 Using Google Docs for Collaborative Learning
 Student generated questions
 Students can serve as “moderators” (team leaders)

14. Prompt Feedback
 Creating Quizzes and Polls in Google Forms
 http://youtu.be/zBDtOc4AHCQ
 Sample quiz:
 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CwsTYE8E_201Q7X
WPxf60p1qLgVqCTJyXl9saeJgOnY/viewform
 +1 (voting in Google+ Communities)
 Comments & replies

15. Time-on-Task

16. Communicating High Expectations
 Using Forms and Spreadsheets for Rubrics
 http://youtu.be/od3bfA2p1jI
 Providing examples
 Upload or link to examples of assignments
 Events:
 Hangouts
 Hangout On Air (streaming)

17. Diverse ways of Learning
“When the idea is to ask questions, diversity is a
good thing. Moreover, students are both willing
and capable of learning from one another in
deep and profound ways”.
- A New Culture of Learning
- Douglas Thomas & John Seely Brown

18. Community of Inquiry

19. Images – CC-BY-NC-SA
 Some rights reserved by superkimbo
 Some rights reserved by Andrew Scott
 Some rights reserved by nilsmengedoht
 Some rights reserved by evan_carroll
 Some rights reserved by eyebeam

20. Additional Resources:
 http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/google-in-the-
enterprise/quick-tip-set-up-a-google-
community/2394?tag=content;siu-container
 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/certop/imp
_ssi.htm
 https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2905678?hl=
en&ref_topic=2888488