Team+3

** Introduction **

Technology has been a large part of many universities and school districts since the turn of the 21st century. Some of those technologies have become popular and in some cases, labeled as indispensable. How do school districts determine which bandwagon to jump on and which to watch roll on by without them? The first step is to examine the origins of a new technology, then evaluate how it has been used, and finally see where it could potentially go. That process will be used to first examine the popular Google Apps which play a prominent role in both Ripon’s and Berlin’s school districts. Secondly, we will examine Voicethreads which has taken off at the university level, but has yet to become popular with K-12 teachers. Both technologies have been integrated at varying degrees into the Ripon and Berlin school districts.

Voicethreads

GoogleApps

**Conclusion**

VoiceThread holds promise for K-12 applications, but it seems likely that it is just cumbersome enough to use for large groups of students that its use will remain more limited than some other tools. It appears to work best as a tool used not in the classroom by whole classes simultaneously but outside of it or by individual students. Because most K-12 teachers cannot assign out-of-class work that requires internet access and hardware that many students do not have, its use is likely to remain somewhat more limited.

Google Apps, more specifically Google Docs, allow numerous users to do things they need and want to do already, at no cost. That is a hard combination to beat, and despite the oft-noted formatting and editing limitations of Google Docs, its use will likely grow as more and more school districts feel the financial pinch. The technologies which catch on quickly often seem to be those which permit people to perform an existing, familiar task more easily. Overall, Google Apps allow teachers to do many familiar tasks somewhat more easily. Convenience for collaboration and assessment seem to be the most appreciated features of Google Docs. No one has claimed that learning outcomes are greatly enhanced or that Google Docs will encourage radical departures from existing practice. While new, unanticipated uses of the applications are likely to be found over time, in the short and medium term Google Docs are likely to facilitate and simplify a variety of communicative and collaborative needs.

**References**

Berman D., Holsing C., Meyer M., Stubbs C., & Wink K. (2009). 7 things you need to know about voicethread: A white paper from teaching and learning with technology at Penn State. [] Burt, D. (10-5-2010). Google apps for education. []

Educause. (March, 2008). 7 things you should know about Google Apps. []

Educause. (June, 2009). 7 things you should know about VoiceThread. []

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2010). //Web 2.0: How-to for educators// (pp. 221-223). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.