Use of Google Classroom as Postgraduate Educational Platform
Introduction
One of the most important results of the rapid advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is the modification of the form of elaboration, acquisition and transmission of knowledge. In the educational field, an opportunity opens to take advantage of students learning technologies. One of these advantages is that the ICTs will progressively disappear space and time restrictions in teaching adopting a student -centered learning model.
In this context, distance education or the e-learning system is presented as an alternative or a complement to the face-to-face training and allows us to respond to the training and training needs posed by an increasingly diversified society and in constant progress. Thus, there is talk of virtual training as a new learning culture that promotes intuitive, constructive, creative and critical knowledge.
According to Cerviño, every e-learning system is made up of at least three components: a virtual platform that sponsors materials and allows the interaction of the participants;The didactic material that guides students learning, and interactive tools that allow discussion and knowledge exchange. There are multiple technological platforms whose use has been adapted to teaching, Classroom created in 2014 by Google, it is an example of this.
The objective of this document is to reflect on the functionalities of Google Classroom, its objectives and its use in the classroom for the political theory of the Master’s Program in Communication for the Public and Social Action of the Simón Bolívar University. The document is divided into four short sections, plus the introduction. In the first one a review of the objective and design of the tool is made, in the second the experience of use in the classroom is narrated, in the third the level of acceptance of the tool in the students is analyzed and in the last one theConclusions.
Google Classroom: Blended Learning
Google Classroom is an educational platform based on Blended Learning. Unlike e-learning, Classroom is based on a semi-cancer learning strategy that combines e-learning (asynchronous encounters) with face-to-face (synchronous) encounters taking the advantages of both types of learning. According to Google, this mixed paradigm tool attracts digital natives and also seeks to simplify communication between students and teachers, as well as facilitate the distribution and qualification of tasks. Therefore, the main objective is simplification, not to become a virtual teaching platform.
In this sense, Classroom does not compete with platforms such as Moodle or Blackboard that are platforms specifically designed for e-learning systems, because their functionalities are designed for less ambitious objectives. However, it can easily adapt and meet the needs that the other platforms do cover input, as it is a virtual platform that allows the load of didactic materials and has functions that allow the interaction between the participants.
Although Classroom has all the elements that Ceviño points out, its design does not allow a complete change of roles of a traditional teaching system to a virtual one. An e-learning system requires a change of roles within the traditional methodology of teaching learning, that is, that the teacher becomes a facilitator of learning and not the central actor of the process, that all activity and expression within the platform is feedbackWith support and rigor, that both facilitator and students have digital skills and the intention of immersing themselves in the world of virtual teaching, that didactic strategies and disciplinary content are rigorous enough, and finally that you have the ability to learn in a self-taught way.
Technological acceptance model: Google Classroom
There are few research studies that show classroom impact on learning (and perhaps it is because this is not the objective for which it was created), however, there are two studies that reviewed the acceptance of the tool by thestudents;as a first approach to understand the effectiveness of Google Classroom in students.
The first of these is a study that reviews a technological acceptance model (TAM) composed of two belief factors, through which 1) the usefulness of the tool (Perceced Usefulness-PU) and 2 and 2 are evaluated.) The ease of use (Perceced Ease of Use Peaou). The hypothesis that is tested is that if the student perceives that the tool improves his work (perceived utility) and reduces his workload (ease of use), then the acceptance of the technological tool will be higher will be.
This hypothesis was tested in a study conducted at Buraimi University College in Omar, through an online questionnaire to 337 bachelor’s students. Some of the questions asked to students in this study were the following:
In a merely exploratory exercise and only to investigate the responses of the TAM model in the political theory class of the Master in Communication for Public and Social Action, the next section shows the results of these dimensions for the eight students who make up thecluster.
The classroom experience: Simón Bolívar University
The results of the small survey applied to the eight students of the McApys political theory class show that the perception of use and ease of Google Classroom are associated with the acceptance of the tool. However, there are external factors that demotivate the total immersion of the student with the platform, within the most important: integral use in all subjects. Next, some of the most important findings are highlighted.
Utility
As for utility, students considered that, although Classroom saves time for the realization of their academic activities, it does not influence their performance. Which is in accordance with the principle of the tool that is to facilitate communication between teacher and student and improve the organization of materials.
Ease
Most students are young people, who are immersed daily in the technological world. Therefore, it is very likely that they have considered easy to use Google Classroom. Despite its ease 33 percent of the group considers that the use of this platform does not avoid academic difficulties, even if the materials and content of the class are available even when they are absent.
Current usage
Finally, two questions that contrast the current use of the platform are those that refer to the frequency of use in class and participation. On the one hand, and motivated mainly by the teacher, students constantly use classroom for class, however, they are not yet involved enough to participate and comment and make space a space for discussion and online learning.
Conclusions
The initiative to incorporate the use of Classroom as a learning tool in the subjects of the Master in Communication for Public and Social Action is recent. However, the institutional educational model of the Simón Bolívar University considers within its didactic paradigm that the teacher incorporates technology in the teaching and learning process.
It is also pointed out that the student is expected to adopt the information and communication technologies necessary to successfully complete their academic activities;He has skills to navigate cyberspace and is open to the adoption of new applications and work methods to include them in their training and professionalization process.
In this context, the challenge was to incorporate the classroom tool. In particular, in the Google Classroom political theory class it was well received by the students because it made it possibleof the classes.
The work for the teacher increased, because in addition to preparing the face -to -face class, the class had to be prepared in the Classroom, sharing extra materials for extra class virtual discussion.
As a means of communication between students and teachers in my opinion it is not very effective. The students are mostly organized and communicated through groups created in Whats App. They even organized to commission a student to be aware of the Classroom and notify, by the WhatsApp, the novelties that were shared there.
Side mention deserves the fact of the low participation of students to extracurricular materials that climbed to the platform. Counted are the cases that even commented on a “received” in the publication. Those who read the material preferred to wait for the face -to -face class to comment.
The problem with the mixed system adopted by Classroom is that it does not allow to completely dedicate the space to virtual formation because the weight of the face -to -face system is still capitalized. Student resistance, who chose a face -to -face mastery still makes it greater.
In addition to the above, to make classroom use more efficient. The students of my class came to comment that not all teachers put together or planned the class using the tool. The above allows me to conclude that the challenge in the incorporation of ICTs in the classroom is more in the teacher than in the student. In the case that was reviewed, the acceptance of Google Classroom by the students is clear, however, the motivation to use it is largely mediated by little use or the proper use by the teachers. Thus, a joint work is required for this tool to be an isolated exercise, it is recognized as an institutional education strategy.
References
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- Saeed, Rana and Mostafa Al-Emran (2018) Students Acceptance of Google Classroom: An Exploratory Study Using PLS-SEEM APPROACH, in International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (IJet), 13 (06);112-123, doi: 10.3991/ijet.V13I06.8275
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- Wijaya, Andri (2016) Analysis of Factors Affecting The Use of Google Classroom To Support Lectures, The 5th Iciba, International Conference on Infromation Technology and Engineering Application Palemban-Indonesia, 19-20 February.
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