Course Requirements
EDUC 439/639: Google Workspace
Google is changing the world by making it possible for every school, company, and non-profit organization to create their own Internet presence. Anyone can get a free Google account and learn how to do this. Many schools and companies are adopting Google Workspace for their email, calendaring, document sharing, instant messaging, and web authoring. There is no charge for schools or the general public. Making this free for schools is part of Google's business plan whereby Google eventually makes its money when students are hired by companies that pay for these services, and Google also profits considerably from the ads that users can choose to put on their pages if the site's author chooses to monetize the site. In this course, you learn how to harness these powerful tools to improve education in four important ways. First, you learn how to obtain, configure, and administer a Google Workspace domain. Second, you work through tutorials teaching you how to use dashboards for configuring Google Email, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Sites, and the Google Start Page. Third, you create a framework for deploying Google Workspace in your targeted school or workplace. Fourth, you create a Google Site in which you present your framework and explain how your school or workplace will benefit from the use of Google Workspace including email, calendaring, document sharing, instant messaging, and Google Sites tools and embeds.
Participants will be expected to spend at least twelve hours per week studying articles and tutorials, practicing Google Workspace configuration and authoring techniques, and working on projects.
In the sidebar is a list of the specific assignments and how much they count toward your grade in the course. You can think of these assignments as consisting of three major parts, each of which counts for a third of your grade. The design and submission of your Google Workspace project will constitute one-third of the final grade; online class participation will count another third; and your checkpoint logs will constitute the final third. All students must make effective use of the course discussion forum to communicate with your fellow classmates and your professor. Students will keep track of their projects by logging their progress in checkpoints that the instructor will visit periodically to review and comment.
Assignment #1: Goal Statement
Your first assignment is to state the reasons why you enrolled in this course and what you hope to accomplish by taking it. If you have only a general idea of why you chose to enroll in this course, go ahead and describe your goals in general terms. If you have more specific goals in mind, please enumerate them. I will use this information to help advise you and guide you through the appropriate course materials.
Assignment #2: E-mail Registration
In response to the e-mail registration assignment in your online course environment, you tell your course instructor what is your e-mail address. Yes, there is an e-mail address on file for you here at the University of Delaware, but just in case I need to contact you about something related to this course, I want to make sure I have a good working e-mail address. Being able to reach you when I need to is so important that I am giving you 5 points for telling me: What is your e-mail address?
Assignment #3: Weekly Discussion Forum
Every student in this class is required to participate actively in the course discussion forum. To enter the discussion forum, log on to the course and click the Discussions option. One of the first messages you write in the forum should inform your fellow classmates about the nature of the project you are hoping to create. The forum is an excellent place to network with your fellow students and help each other learn to use Google Workspace effectively and understand its impact on education, the workplace, and society at large. To earn all your discussion points, write a thoughtful message at least once per week during the course. Creating a new discussion post counts the same as responding thoughtfully to an existing post. Use the discussions to share knowledge with each other during the course. You can write about the various Google Apps, other kinds of emerging technologies, societal issues, web design, Google Workspace administration, accessibility, cybersecurity, or any topic related to helping your fellow classmates make effective use of Google Workspace.
Assignment #4: Cool Tool Wiki
This course has a wiki that you can enter by following the link to Wiki after logging on to your online course. In this wiki, we want you to write a message in which you share with your fellow classmates the coolest tool you discovered while taking this course. On your page in the wiki, tell us the Web address of your cool tool, and describe the reasons why you think this tool is cool. In addition to creating new pages, the wiki also enables you to modify or add to submissions made by your classmates. If you have more information about a tool submitted by one of your classmates, for example, you can select the option to edit that page and add your own thoughts. Through this process of having every member of this course contributing to the wiki, we develop a shared knowledge base of cool tools and best practices for using them.
Assignment #5: Checkpoint #1
This is your first checkpoint for submitting project logs to be reviewed by your instructor. In your log, please write about the contributions you made so far toward accomplishing your project's goals. You may also write about problems your project encountered and tell how you plan to solve them. The deadline for submitting this log is flexible, but in general, you should try to submit it about one third of the way through the course.
Assignment #6: Checkpoint #2
This is your second checkpoint for submitting project logs to be reviewed by your instructor. In your log, write about the contributions you made toward accomplishing your project's goals, and describe any problems your project encountered and tell how you plan to solve them. The deadline for submitting this log is flexible, but in general, you should try to submit it about two thirds of the way through the course.
Assignment #7: Checkpoint #3
This is your third and final checkpoint for submitting project logs to be reviewed by your instructor. In your log, write about the contributions you made toward accomplishing your project's goals, and describe any problems your project encountered and tell how you plan to solve them. The deadline for submitting this log is flexible, but in general, you should try to submit it during the final third of the course.
Assignment #8: Google Workspace Project
Final versions of Google Workspace projects must be mounted on the Web for Dr. Hofstetter to review and grade. In response to this assignment, you submit the HTTP web address of the Google Site containing your project. At your site, you should identify which parts of Google Workspace you have decided to deploy, and explain the purposes for which you are adopting them. As you plan your deployment strategy, be sure to visit the Google Workspace Marketplace to see if there are any apps that can enhance the attainment of your mission. List these apps in your implementation plan and explain what role they will play in achieving your project's goals. You are permitted to form teams that work on this project together. If you form such a team, a page at your site should identify the members of your team and the role(s) they played in developing your implementation plan. In your three checkpoint assignments, you should log the contributions you personally made toward achieving the team project's goals.
Note: All students in this course have the option of earning Google Educator Certification. If you do so, all you need to submit for your final project is a copy of your Google Educator Certificate.
Assignment #9: Course Evaluation
Your final assignment in this course is to evaluate it. During the last couple weeks of the course, you will receive email at your udel.edu email address instructing you when the evaluation period begins and ends. This email tells you when the course evaluation window is open. You must log on to the course evaluation system within this window of time. The Web address of the course evaluation system is www.udel.edu/course-evals. After you complete the course evaluation, your instructor will give you credit for completing it. The responses you give are completely anonymous. While your instructor will be able to see the ratings and comments, it is impossible for your instructor to identify the person who gave a certain rating or made a given comment. Once you complete the evaluation, your grade on this assignment will be an automatic A.
