Using Facebook and Google Docs for Teaching and Sharing Information

Using Facebook and Google
Docs for Teaching and Sharing
Information
Asst. Prof. Dr. Kanda Runapongsa Saikaew
Affiliations: 1) Department of Computer Engineering
2) Associate Director at Computer Center
Khon Khon University
A. Muang, Khon Kaen, Thailand

The Asian Conference on Education (ACE 2011)
http://ace.iafor.org

Agenda

•  Educating the Net Generation
•  The Need for Using Facebook
•  The Need for Using Google Docs
•  How to Use Facebook for Teaching
•  How to Use Google Docs for Sharing and Collaborating
•  Experiences and Results
•  Conclusion

Oct 30, 2011 2

Educating the Net Generation

•  "The Net Gen has been exposed to multiple media types
from a young age. Prensky estimates that by the time
individuals reach age 21, they will have spent twice as many
hours playing video games as reading (10,000 versus
5,000)" [1]
•  "They get bored if not challenged properly, but when
challenged, they excel in creative and innovative ways. They
learn by doing, not by reading the instruction manual or
listening to lectures. These are the learners that faculty must
reach" [1]

Oct 30, 2011 3

The Net Generation as College Students [1]

•  "Ability to read visual images—they are intuitive visual
communicators"
•  "Visual-spatial skills—perhaps because of their expertise
with games they can integrate the virtual and physical"
•  "Inductive discovery—they learn better through discovery
than by being told"
•  "Attentional deployment—they are able to shift their
attention rapidly from one task to another, and may choose
not to pay attention to things that don’t interest them"
•  "Fast response time—they are able to respond quickly and
expect rapid responses in return 18"

Oct 30, 2011 4

Understanding the Net Generation [1]

•  "Digitally Literate
o  Students are more likely to use the Internet for research
than the library (73 percent)"
•  "Connected
o  They are constantly connected and always on"
•  "Immediate
o  They have fast response times, whether playing a game
or responding to an IM. In fact, more value may be placed
on speed than on accuracy"
•  "Experimental
o  Most Net Gen learners prefer to learn by doing rather by
being told what to do"

Oct 30, 2011 5

Understanding the Net Generation [1]

•  "Social
o  The Net Gen has developed a mechanism of
inclusiveness that does not necessarily involve personally
knowing someone admitted to their group
o  Being a friend of a friend is acceptable"
•  "Teams
o  The Net Gen often prefers to learn and work in teams.
o  A peer-to-peer approach is common, as well, where
students help each other
o  Net Geners ﬁnd peers more credible than teachers when
it comes to determining what is worth paying attention to"

Oct 30, 2011 6

The Net Generation and the Technology in Learning [1]

•  "The Net Gen views the Internet as an access tool—
a medium for distribution of resources rather than a resource
with limitations"
•  "Net Geners use technology extensively to network and
socialize. In their personal lives, buddy lists, virtual
communities, and social networks such as Flickr or Orkut
are heavily used"
•  "They thrive on immediate gratiﬁcation. The expectation of
immediacy holds true for access to friends, services, and
responses to questions.

Oct 30, 2011 7

Agenda

•  Conclusion

Oct 30, 2011 8

What is Facebook?
Home: Posts and Status Updates of Friends and Pages

Oct 30, 2011 9

What is Facebook?

Our Profile: Posts and Status Updates of Each Individual

Oct 30, 2011 10

Worldwide Facebook Usage Statistics [2]
•  773.77M Facebook Users Worldwide (As of Oct 29, 2011)

Oct 30, 2011 11

Thailand Facebook Usage Statistics [3]
•  Statistics from Socialbakers.com (As of Oct 29, 2011)
o  Facebook penetration in Thailand is19.40% compared to the country's
population and 73.67% in relation to number of Internet users
o  The total number of FB users in Thailand is reaching 12 881 800 and
grew by more than 3 754 860 in the last 6 months

Oct 30, 2011 12

User age distribution on Facebook in Thailand [3]

•  The largest age group is currently 18 - 24 with total of 4 250 994 users (about 34%),
followed by the users in the age of 25 - 34 (about 29%)

Oct 30, 2011 13

Agenda

•  Conclusion

Oct 30, 2011 14

The Need for Using Google Docs

Oct 30, 2011 15

Collaborating via Google Docs

•  Can set the permissions for everyone or specific people
•  Can set the right to view, comment or edit

Oct 30, 2011 16

Real Time Sharing Collaboration

If multiple people are editing or viewing your spreadsheet at the
same time, you'll see their names listed at the top

Oct 30, 2011 17

Google Docs Supports Real-Time Collaboration [4]

•  Documents
o  Fifty people can edit a document at the same time. You
can share a document with up to 200 people
•  Spreadsheets
o  A total of 50 people can edit a spreadsheet
simultaneously. You can share a spreadsheet with 200
collaborators and/or viewers
•  Presentations
o  10 people can edit a presentation at the same time.
However, you can share a presentation with up to 200
people (whether you add collaborators or viewers, the
total cannot exceed 200 people)
•  Drawing
o  Up to 50 people can edit and view a drawing at the same
time.
Oct 30, 2011 18

Agenda

•  Conclusion

Oct 30, 2011 19

How to Use Facebook for Teaching

•  Creating Facebook Group with Type Closed/Secret
o  Closed: Anyone can see the group and who's in it. Only
members see posts
o  Secret: Only members see the group, who's in it, and
what members post.
•  Writing Post
o  Suitable for real time information
o  Unsuitable for information to be kept and referenced
•  Adding Photo/Video
o  Suitable for visual information
•  Asking Question
•  Using Facebook Docs
o  Suitable for a document with a single editor
o  Unsuitable for a document with multiple editors 20
Oct 30, 2011

Facebook Group for Teaching

Oct 30, 2011 21

Information and Interface of Activities

•  Important information described above the group name
•  Users can choose to perform a given activity

Oct 30, 2011 22

A Post

•  In the post, we can add a link of another web resource

Oct 30, 2011 23

A Photo

•  Best for describing what viewers/readers need to perceive
visually

Oct 30, 2011 24

A Question/Poll
•  Best for asking opinions or getting the most favorited choice
for the majority of people in the group

Oct 30, 2011 25

A Facebook Doc Status

•  After finishing saving a document edited, the status has
been posted in the group

Oct 30, 2011 26

A Facebook Doc Interface

Oct 30, 2011 27

Agenda

•  Conclusion

Oct 30, 2011 28

Using Google Docs for Teaching

•  Collection
o  Organize related files
•  Spreadsheet
o  Students' names and their information
o  Students' scores
•  Documents
o  Lecture notes
o  Group projects links
•  Forms
o  Students’ information or survey
•  Sharing documents with others
o  Can edit
o  Can view
o  Can comment
Oct 30, 2011 29

Organizing Information in Collection

•  Use a collection to store related documents such as
documents that are used in the same semester

Oct 30, 2011 30

Using Google Docs in Teaching

Oct 30, 2011 31

Using Spreadsheet to Share Scores

Oct 30, 2011 32

Using Document as Lecture Note

Oct 30, 2011 33

Using Form to Get Info or Survey

Oct 30, 2011 34

Sharing Documents with Others

Oct 30, 2011 35

Sharing Docs for Teaching Team
•  Teaching assistants create and edit the lab scores via
Google Docs
•  Students can only view the lab scores

Oct 30, 2011 36

Sharing Docs for Students
•  Students post their project proposal links, report links, and
slide presentation links

Oct 30, 2011 37

Sharing Comments in the Docs

Oct 30, 2011 38

Agenda

•  Conclusion

Oct 30, 2011 39

Experiences using Facebook for Teaching

•  Have used Facebook group for formal courses
o  188230 Advanced Computer Programming
o  188371 XML and Web Services
o  188372 Wireless Devices Programming
o  188746 Programming for Android
•  Have used Facebook group for advising students
o  Groups of senior projects and co-op projects
o  Groups of graduate students
o  Groups of students who are interested in
software competitions

Oct 30, 2011 40

Sample Facebook Groups for Teaching

Oct 30, 2011 41

Results

Oct 30, 2011 42

Conclusion

•  Teachers and educators should embrace social media for
interacting and sharing information with students or learners
(the net generation)
•  Facebook is appropriate for
o  Informing about announcements and assignments
o  Exchanging opinions and comments
•  Google Docs is appropriate for
o  Sharing information for students to view and edit
o  Having students see our comments in their documents

Oct 30, 2011 43

References

•  [1] Diana G. Oblinger and James L. Oblinger, Editors,
"Educating the Net Generation", http://net.educause.edu/ir/
library/pdf/pub7101.pdf
•  [2] SocialBakers, "Facebook Statistics by Country", http://
www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/
•  [3] SocialBakers, "Thailand Facebook Statistics" , http://
www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/thailand
•  [4] Google, "Google Docs: About real-time
collaboration", https://docs.google.com/support/bin/
answer.py?answer=44680

Oct 30, 2011 44

Thank You

•  Slides
•  http://www.slideshare.net/krunapon
•  Social Network
•  http://www.twitter.com/krunapon
•  http://www.facebook.com/tom.kanda
•  http://gplus.to/tom.kanda
•  Official web site
•  http://gear.kku.ac.th/~krunapon
•  IT blog
•  http://gotoknow.org/blog/krunapon
Oct 30, 2011 45

Using Facebook and Google Docs for Teaching and Sharing Information

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