By now, most of us are familiar with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and are aware of all the different options available to us in terms of creating groups and sharing ideas within those sites. However, for me at least, Google+ communities are a new frontier. I am well aware of the vast amounts of Facebook groups, but had no idea Google+ had such a wide range of communities involving almost any subject you are interested in. In this review, I will explain what I have discovered using Google+ communities and how I will attempt to incorporate them in my future classroom.
The first thing I wanted to check out was what type of communities existed for science teachers, specifically biology. I wanted to find a community that had a large member base so there were always plenty of ideas, so I narrowed my search to simply "science teachers." This community is an amazing resource for ALL science teachers. The best part, if you're looking for a specific discipline such as biology, physics, or chemistry, they have filters on the side that let you choose the subject.
One of the posts that caught my eye was a link to an article on the national geographic site about a rare shark birth. Link to the original post I honestly had no idea sharks could switch between sexual and asexual reproduction. The community is full of articles about scientific discoveries and new ways to teach certain topics to kids, especially those really difficult topics like genetics and the inner workings of cells. If you're looking for something specific, you can also search within the community.
For example, I typed in "genetics" and came across this article about a gene that was left in our bodies due to adaptation to the plague - yes, the plague that wiped out almost a third of Europe's population in the middle ages. In the article, the author talks about how those who happened to survive the plague most likely had copies of this gene, and since they survived, their copies of the gene was passed down onto their offspring. Which is why we can still see the gene in living humans today. Link to the original post
While I was browsing several education related community pages, I saw a lot of people talking about a "google school" and transferring things on their google drives, particularly in the Google Education Group Kansas. Apparently, entire schools can run through google, teachers can share resources, and students can turn in assignments through various google programs. Google Hangouts can also be used, a service similar to Skype, for small group discussion, distance learning, or even group collaborations from remote areas. This would be a great tool for a rural school to have, so they could have access to resources and ideas from other educators around the nation.
I like the fact that Google has so many different communities and interests, there is something for everyone! Apart from finding project ideas for my students, I could easily find new articles (such as the ones I mentioned above) to keep them updated on current scientific findings. It is very important to stay informed about everything going on in the scientific community, and instead of having a thousand various sites to visit, joining a community could provide great resources for new discoveries. Students could even do projects or research papers over new findings for a grade, or extra credit.
Using Google Hangouts would be great to share their findings with other students or teachers. The students could share their research paper/projects with other students on different teams, in different schools, and perhaps different districts! Students could also easily create a study group without having to even leave their house, which is something I know high school kids would love!