What is Google Sites? - "e" is for Easy: e-Portfolios Using Google Sites
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“e” is for Easy:
e-Portfolios Using Google Sites
Chris Carman & Chris Knopick
Theodore Roosevelt High School, Kent, Ohio
1
What is Google Sites?
Easy-to-use, free web
page creation software
Editor is web-based
through Google Apps
WYSIWYG (What You
See Is What You Get)
Did we mention it’s
FREE?
2
Why use Google Sites in
the classroom?
Encourages writing, sharing
and collaboration
Use of technology engages
students
Similar to work in online
college courses
Alternative assessment
Research suggests “writing
across the curriculum”
improves test scores
3
Features of Google
Sites
Web-based, WYSIWYG Highly customizable
editing - no HTML! with themes
Accessible anywhere Collaboration tools
allow for multiple
Easy insertion of editors and reader
images and videos comments
Easy attachment and Hundreds of “gadgets”
embedding of add live interaction
documents, files and
calendars Free!
4
Our Chemistry Site
http://sites.google.com/site/rhscpchemistry/
5
How we use Google
Sites in Chemistry
4th quarter research project on a chemistry topic
of their choice is done using Google Sites
Students create their site over several weeks
within defined parameters (min. # pages, images,
etc.) with weekly computer lab visits
On the due date, students look at several other
students’ sites and complete a short summary of
each
Sites are graded based on a rubric
6
Examples of student work
7
Possible uses of Google Sites
All: research projects, group assignments, current events, field
trips, peer review, multimedia/video collections, presentations,
podcasts
School-wide: meetings & events calendar, photos of past events,
member list, important documents/forms
English/Language Arts: peer review, online newspaper, journaling*
Foreign Language: translations, virtual field trips, collaboration
with foreign partner school
Math: spreadsheets, graphs, word problems, survey of architecture
Science: lab reports, spreadsheets, graphs, videos of experiments
Social Studies: opinion papers, mock elections
* Google Sites can be set to “Private”
8
How do I sign up?
Go to http://sites.google.com/
Log in with your existing Google account or create a
new one - you do NOT need to create a Gmail account!
Click the button
Enter a site name & web address (URL) - the URL must be
unique!
Choose privacy settings and a theme (optional)
Type in the scrambled security code (i.e. )
Click , and you’re done!
9
Things to consider
when creating a Site
Site URLs cannot be changed - to get a new address, you
must delete your site and create a new one
Many Site URLs have already been taken - YMMV!
Have your students use a consistent URL prefix
- i.e. “rhschem1flast” for 1st period Chemistry, flast is first initial + last name
Many school web filters block Google Sites by
default - your technology coordinator may be able to lift this for you,
especially if you use a consistent URL prefix, e.g. “rhschem”
Free Sites have a maximum space of 100MB,
20MB per attachment, unlimited pages
10
Creating & editing
pages
To create a page, click and choose a
template:
To edit an existing page, click
Make your edits just like you would in a word
processor and click
It’s that simple!
11
Adding other content to
pages
While editing a page,
click the Insert menu
to add:
Calendars
Documents & Spreadsheets
Images
Links
Maps
Photos
Slideshows
Videos
Gadgets - interactive plug-ins
12
Some useful tips...
Before you even start planning, make sure Google Sites
isn’t filtered by your district; using the same URL prefix can
make it easier for your tech coordinator to ‘whitelist’
Make your own Google Site with pages for directions, due
date(s), scoring rubric, handout attachments, and a list of
links to all student Sites (if applicable)
Have students set up their Site during class in a computer
lab or media center so you can help them and record their
Site URLs
Set aside additional class time for larger assignments or
regular journaling
Break larger assignments into smaller progress
‘checkpoints’ to make sure no one gets lost
Encourage collaboration through page comments or by
establishing multiple Site editors for group projects
13
Useful links for Google
Sites
http://sites.google.com/ - Google Sites home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD-4FRTzxkI -
intro to Google Sites
https://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/
answer.py?hl=en&answer=153055 - Google Sites
for Teachers
http://www.google.com/support/sites/ - Google
Sites Help
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/09/
electronic-portfolios-with-google-apps.html -
Electronic Portfolios with Google Apps
14
References
Croxton, C. & Berger, R. (n.d.). Journal Writing: Does it Promote
Long Term Retention of Course Concepts?. The National Teaching &
Learning Forum. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from http://
www.ntlf.com/html/sf/journal.htm
Google. (2009). Google Sites Help. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from
http://sites.google.com/support/
Miller, A. (2008). Maine’s Laptop Initiative Improves Student Writing.
Retrieved August 21, 2009, from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/
resource/2531
Papert, S. (2002). Hard Fun. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from http://
www.papert.org/articles/HardFun.html
Quitadamo, I. & Kurtz, M. (2007). Learning to Improve: Using Writing
to Increase Critical Thinking Performance in General Education
Biology. CBE Life Sciences Education: 6(2). Retrieved August 21,
2009, from http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/content/full/6/2/140
15
Questions? Comments?
ke_ccarman@kentschools.net
ke_cknopick@kentschools.net
This presentation is available at:
http://www.kentschools.net/ccarman/etech/
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