Today I got a chance to participate in the Google Wave that was taking place as part of the Community Project. Many of the different schools involved in the Community Project contributed to this wave. It was interesting to hear about the similarities and differences between these communities.
Since we're off on March Break this week, I knew that my students couldn't participate, but I wanted to give them the "live" experience. I used the SMART Recorder to record part of the Google Wave (see the video above or click on this link to view it in a bigger window). Once we get back to school next week, I'll go into the Google Wave with my class, and we can read what the other schools said and contribute some more ideas too. I'm interested in hearing what my class thinks about this tool when they're not "waving" in real time. Will the students like it as much? Why do they feel this way? I will definitely be sharing their thoughts with you!
After watching this recording though, please let me know what you think about this Google Wave experience. What do you like about it? Is there anything that you wish was or was not a component of Google Wave? I would love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks to @mcarls and @jgriffith2 for making this Community Project Google Wave such a success today! I'm glad that I could take part in it!
Aviva
2 comments:
#1 element that was missing = VIDEO! It was neat how all the classes were able to participate in a conversation in real-time, but video would have been more engaging for my students. Plus, ours wasn't showing the names next to the area where each class was typing. You've got to love BETA!Yet, it was nice that classes who couldn't be there to experience it then, were able to still add to the conversation later. I'm still reflecting on the benefits and drawbacks of Google Wave, but I'm glad we all tried it out! As of right now, it's not my favorite way for my class to communicate with others, but it has potential. So, we'll keep on waving!
Thanks for the comment! I agree with you. While my students enjoyed our last Google Wave experience, without the video component, it makes it more difficult for them to stay engaged. My class did enjoy trying to read the comments as they appeared, so from a meaningful reading activity perspective, I did enjoy it. I guess that I wish it could have a little bit of everything!
After yesterday's Google Wave, I downloaded the Video Chat extra, so I'm interested in seeing if it works. Has anybody else tried this yet? If we could somehow combine Skype and Google Wave (with the colour-coding and name component added too), I think that it would make the perfect program!
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