You probably use many tools in the standard Google Suite, like Docs, Sheets, Slides, Email and Calendar. If you’ve overlooked Google Sites, check it out. You might find that it’s a great tool for collaboration that allows you to make existing resources available in a single location. It is also one of the easiest ways to create a new website, because no intervention from IT or administration is required. Anyone who can create a new Google Doc can also create a new Google Site. This means that it can be used for a long-term project or to meet a short-term need. It can also be a public site available to everyone, or a private site, limited to collaborators or students in a class.
Here are a couple of examples of public Google Sites:
This post will not go over all the details about how to create and manage a Google Site. Google has a Learning Center available with training and a cheat sheet that walks you through the basics of creating a new site. If you’re creating a public site that may require university branding, see the Google Site Brand page.
You may hear Google Sites referred to as the “New Google Sites.” That is because the product was significantly revamped in recent years, and the older, Classic version was recently retired at the university. If you tried the Classic version of Google Sites, and were underwhelmed, give the current version a chance.
Google Sites is designed to integrate with other Google products, like Docs and Slides. This means that you can use it essentially as a window for existing documents. For example, I maintain a private Google site that manages all materials for a long-standing committee. I write the minutes from each meeting as individual Google Docs, and display them via a single Google Site. This means that instead of sharing a folder full of documents with committee members, I can share one web address that provides a portal to all materials. In addition, the individual Google docs are the “master” documents, so when I update a Doc, the newest version is automatically available on the Google Site.
Google Sites is also a convenient tool for collaboration, as students or other collaborators can work on their own files, and use a Google Site as a way to display a unified final product.
How can you use Google Sites in language education? One way is to assign students to create a portfolio of work that they will retain ownership of after the class is finished. Stay tuned for an upcoming tip with more information on that idea.
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