Google Groups
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Google Groups allow you to have discussions and share resources in the context of groups (e.g. courses, teams, etc.). | Google Groups allow you to have discussions and share resources in the context of groups (e.g. courses, teams, etc.). | ||
=General Information= | =General Information= | ||
| − | [[Image:Google Groups 1.png|thumb | + | [[Image:Google Groups 1.png|thumb|Example group]] |
Google Groups are useful for having discussions and sharing resources with other users. As such, most use of Google Groups will revolve around: | Google Groups are useful for having discussions and sharing resources with other users. As such, most use of Google Groups will revolve around: | ||
| − | *Creating and commenting on discussion posts and | + | *[[#Creating and Commenting on Discussion Posts|Creating and commenting on discussion posts]] and |
| − | *Sharing documents. | + | *[[#Sharing Documents with a Group|Sharing documents]]. |
=Technical Use= | =Technical Use= | ||
| − | After [[Logging in to Your University Google Account|logging in to your university Google account]], use the top menu bar to navigate to ''Groups'', located under the ''more'' tab. | + | After [[Logging in to Your University Google Account|logging in to your university Google account]], use the top menu bar to navigate to '''Groups''', located under the '''more''' tab. |
==Creating a Group== | ==Creating a Group== | ||
| + | On your main groups page, you will see an area titled '''My Groups'''. To begin creating a new group, click the '''Create...''' button. | ||
| + | |||
| + | You will need to begin by giving your group a name. This name should be unique and should correspond to the context of the group. When creating a group for a course, for instance, you should, whenever possible, include the course name, semester, year, and instructor in the group name so as to prevent confusion (e.g. '''Guiding Young Children - Kimmons Fall 2010'''). It is important for your group to have a unique name so that users who should find it can do so without confusion and so that other users (who, for instance, might be taking a different section of the same course) will know not to select it. | ||
| + | |||
| + | As you type in the name of the group, the form will automatically generate an email address for the group. This address can be used for posting discussions and for sharing documents. If you would like, you can shorten this perhaps unwieldy email address by typing in whatever you would like, but you should attempt to make the address unique, like the group name (e.g. '''KimmonsGYCF10'''). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Group descriptions are especially useful if you plan for users to find and join your group on their own and should contain essential information about the group (limited to 300 characters). However, a description is not necessary. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Additionally, you will need to choose an access level for your group. Most groups created for school use (e.g. courses, team projects, etc.), and any group, for that matter, which may have student work posted to it (e.g. reflections, assignments, projects, etc.), should be set to '''Restricted''' so as to meet [[:Template:FERPA|FERPA requirements]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Once finished filling out this form, click the '''Create my group''' button. | ||
==Adding Users to a Group== | ==Adding Users to a Group== | ||
| + | If you have just [[#Creating a Group|created a group]], you should be confronted with a form for inviting members to the group. Otherwise, you may also access this form by [[#Finding a Group|navigating to your group]] and clicking the '''Invite members''' link in the right sidebar. If you are accessing a group created by someone else, you may not have access to invite members, in which case the link will not be available to you. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Once you have the form available, type (or copy and paste) the email addresses of users you would like to add to the group with one address per line. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Google will automatically generate a generic email to send as part of the invitation, but you can add to the content of this email by typing your own message in the '''Write an invitation message''' box. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Click the '''Invite members''' button to send the email invitations. | ||
| + | |||
| + | You can review invitations sent by clicking on the '''Management tasks''' link in the right sidebar of the group (if you have access to do so in the group) and clicking on '''Manage members'''. All members who have accepted your invitation will be listed in the '''All members''' tab, while users to whom invitations were sent (but who have not yet accepted membership in the group) will be listed under the '''Open Invitations''' tab. | ||
| + | |||
==Finding a Group== | ==Finding a Group== | ||
| + | If not already on the Groups main page, use the top menu bar to navigate to '''Groups''', located under the '''more''' tab. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Here you will see a sidebar on the right entitled '''My groups''' and a main content area on the left entitled '''Find a group'''. Any groups you have previously created or accessed should be listed in the right sidebar for easy access. | ||
| + | |||
| + | If you do not have a group listed in your right sidebar, you can search for the group in the main content area by typing in key words and clicking the '''Search for a group''' button. Additionally, you may also click the '''Browse all groups...''' link to see all available groups in the university. However, restricted groups will not show up in any searches or through browsing; the only way to find a restricted group is for the group manager to send you an email invitation to view the group. If you have not received an invitation, but need access to a group that is restricted, you will need to contact the manager of the group directly and ask for an invitation. | ||
| + | |||
==Creating and Commenting on Discussion Posts== | ==Creating and Commenting on Discussion Posts== | ||
| + | The major activities conducted within groups revolve around posting and replying to messages. | ||
| + | |||
| + | To create a new post, simply [[#Finding a group|navigate to the group]] and click on the '''+ New post''' button. The supplied form should seem familiar, because it resembles an email form (complete with '''[[CC|Cc]]''', '''Subject''', and '''Message''' areas). Notice that the '''To''' and '''From''' fields are already populated with your name and the name of your group (so that you are essentially sending an email to the group). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Once you have given the post a subject and message, click the '''Post message''' button. Once posted, users in the group may receive notifications of the new content (depending upon their settings) and will have the opportunity to respond. Additionally, the post will now be shown in the main page of the group. | ||
| + | |||
| + | To respond to a post, click on a post's title to open it and then click on the '''Reply''' link. Enter a message and click '''Send'''. This reply will then be visible to all members of the group. If you would rather reply directly to the author, you may alternatively click the '''Reply to author''' link, which will compose an email directly to the author (which will not show up in the group). | ||
| + | |||
| + | You will then need to refresh the page, or navigate to it again, in order to see any new replies to the post (including your own). | ||
==Sharing Documents with a Group== | ==Sharing Documents with a Group== | ||
| + | Once you have created a [[Docs|Google Doc]], you can share it with members of a given group. To do this, you will first need to know the email address of the group you would like to share the document with. To find this, [[#Finding a Group|navigate to the group]] and look at the bottom of the main page. You should see an email address that ends with ''utexas.edu''. Select and copy this email address. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Now, navigate to the document you would like to share, and, once it is open, click the '''Share''' button at the top right. In the resulting pop-up box, place your cursor in the '''Add people''' field and paste the group email address. Adjust the setting to the right as desired (e.g. '''Can edit''', '''Can view''') and click '''Share'''. | ||
| + | |||
| + | A message will then appear in the group main page with a link to the document. | ||
=Pedagogical Use= | =Pedagogical Use= | ||
| − | + | Pedagogically, the affordances of Google Groups are similar to the affordances of any forum-type application (e.g. Blackboard, SMF, etc.), and Google Groups are useful for supporting asynchronous discussion and on-going reflection in an online environment. | |
| + | |||
| + | The limitations of Google Groups revolve largely around its limited, text-based medium of communication. When [[#Sharing Documents with a Group|coupled with Google Docs]], however, Google Groups can serve as a container for facilitating collaborative authoring of both text and media-rich documents (e.g. presentations, drawings, etc.). | ||
| + | |||
| + | =Security Concerns= | ||
| + | In line with [[:Template:FERPA|FERPA]] regulations, any system which houses student coursework (including reflections, discussions, and so forth) should be carefully protected and should not be made available to others outside of the course, and even within courses, some student information (including grades) should not be made visible to others within the course. As such, all Google Groups which have any student course-related information in them should have access restricted to the members of the course, and instructors should take care in determining what is posted and shared between class members. | ||
| + | |||
[[Category: Applications]][[Category:Google Applications]] | [[Category: Applications]][[Category:Google Applications]] | ||
Latest revision as of 13:10, 4 April 2011
| Application Info | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Groups |
| Icon: | 
|
| URL: | http://groups.google.com |
| Type: | Groupware service |
| |
Google Groups allow you to have discussions and share resources in the context of groups (e.g. courses, teams, etc.).
Contents |
[edit] General Information
Google Groups are useful for having discussions and sharing resources with other users. As such, most use of Google Groups will revolve around:
[edit] Technical Use
After logging in to your university Google account, use the top menu bar to navigate to Groups, located under the more tab.
[edit] Creating a Group
On your main groups page, you will see an area titled My Groups. To begin creating a new group, click the Create... button.
You will need to begin by giving your group a name. This name should be unique and should correspond to the context of the group. When creating a group for a course, for instance, you should, whenever possible, include the course name, semester, year, and instructor in the group name so as to prevent confusion (e.g. Guiding Young Children - Kimmons Fall 2010). It is important for your group to have a unique name so that users who should find it can do so without confusion and so that other users (who, for instance, might be taking a different section of the same course) will know not to select it.
As you type in the name of the group, the form will automatically generate an email address for the group. This address can be used for posting discussions and for sharing documents. If you would like, you can shorten this perhaps unwieldy email address by typing in whatever you would like, but you should attempt to make the address unique, like the group name (e.g. KimmonsGYCF10).
Group descriptions are especially useful if you plan for users to find and join your group on their own and should contain essential information about the group (limited to 300 characters). However, a description is not necessary.
Additionally, you will need to choose an access level for your group. Most groups created for school use (e.g. courses, team projects, etc.), and any group, for that matter, which may have student work posted to it (e.g. reflections, assignments, projects, etc.), should be set to Restricted so as to meet FERPA requirements.
Once finished filling out this form, click the Create my group button.
[edit] Adding Users to a Group
If you have just created a group, you should be confronted with a form for inviting members to the group. Otherwise, you may also access this form by navigating to your group and clicking the Invite members link in the right sidebar. If you are accessing a group created by someone else, you may not have access to invite members, in which case the link will not be available to you.
Once you have the form available, type (or copy and paste) the email addresses of users you would like to add to the group with one address per line.
Google will automatically generate a generic email to send as part of the invitation, but you can add to the content of this email by typing your own message in the Write an invitation message box.
Click the Invite members button to send the email invitations.
You can review invitations sent by clicking on the Management tasks link in the right sidebar of the group (if you have access to do so in the group) and clicking on Manage members. All members who have accepted your invitation will be listed in the All members tab, while users to whom invitations were sent (but who have not yet accepted membership in the group) will be listed under the Open Invitations tab.
[edit] Finding a Group
If not already on the Groups main page, use the top menu bar to navigate to Groups, located under the more tab.
Here you will see a sidebar on the right entitled My groups and a main content area on the left entitled Find a group. Any groups you have previously created or accessed should be listed in the right sidebar for easy access.
If you do not have a group listed in your right sidebar, you can search for the group in the main content area by typing in key words and clicking the Search for a group button. Additionally, you may also click the Browse all groups... link to see all available groups in the university. However, restricted groups will not show up in any searches or through browsing; the only way to find a restricted group is for the group manager to send you an email invitation to view the group. If you have not received an invitation, but need access to a group that is restricted, you will need to contact the manager of the group directly and ask for an invitation.
[edit] Creating and Commenting on Discussion Posts
The major activities conducted within groups revolve around posting and replying to messages.
To create a new post, simply navigate to the group and click on the + New post button. The supplied form should seem familiar, because it resembles an email form (complete with Cc, Subject, and Message areas). Notice that the To and From fields are already populated with your name and the name of your group (so that you are essentially sending an email to the group).
Once you have given the post a subject and message, click the Post message button. Once posted, users in the group may receive notifications of the new content (depending upon their settings) and will have the opportunity to respond. Additionally, the post will now be shown in the main page of the group.
To respond to a post, click on a post's title to open it and then click on the Reply link. Enter a message and click Send. This reply will then be visible to all members of the group. If you would rather reply directly to the author, you may alternatively click the Reply to author link, which will compose an email directly to the author (which will not show up in the group).
You will then need to refresh the page, or navigate to it again, in order to see any new replies to the post (including your own).
[edit] Sharing Documents with a Group
Once you have created a Google Doc, you can share it with members of a given group. To do this, you will first need to know the email address of the group you would like to share the document with. To find this, navigate to the group and look at the bottom of the main page. You should see an email address that ends with utexas.edu. Select and copy this email address.
Now, navigate to the document you would like to share, and, once it is open, click the Share button at the top right. In the resulting pop-up box, place your cursor in the Add people field and paste the group email address. Adjust the setting to the right as desired (e.g. Can edit, Can view) and click Share.
A message will then appear in the group main page with a link to the document.
[edit] Pedagogical Use
Pedagogically, the affordances of Google Groups are similar to the affordances of any forum-type application (e.g. Blackboard, SMF, etc.), and Google Groups are useful for supporting asynchronous discussion and on-going reflection in an online environment.
The limitations of Google Groups revolve largely around its limited, text-based medium of communication. When coupled with Google Docs, however, Google Groups can serve as a container for facilitating collaborative authoring of both text and media-rich documents (e.g. presentations, drawings, etc.).
[edit] Security Concerns
In line with FERPA regulations, any system which houses student coursework (including reflections, discussions, and so forth) should be carefully protected and should not be made available to others outside of the course, and even within courses, some student information (including grades) should not be made visible to others within the course. As such, all Google Groups which have any student course-related information in them should have access restricted to the members of the course, and instructors should take care in determining what is posted and shared between class members.
