About Google Wave

Title: Google Wave

Subject area: Online Collaboration Web Tool

Age level: Advanced Users (Teens & above)

Publisher: Google, http://wave.google.com

Cost: Free

Technical Information: Web Platform. Internet access required.

Description: Google Wave is a web tool where users can collaboratively edit documents known as "Waves" by adding text, graphics, media and various gadgets to facilitate rich discussions in real time or asynchronous formats where users can read, review and edit waves.

Introductory Video:

Evaluation Criteria 1: Simplicity of Purpose

Can the use of the program be easily explained?

Google Wave is a new way to collaborate; incorporating functions of e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, wikis, audio/video conferencing, document editing and multimedia. It can be difficult to explain this novel communication tool and all of its potential features.

(2/5)

Evaluation Criteria 2: Usability

Can a novice user easily understand the functions of the program? (Grabe & Grabe, p. 162)

With the complexity and variety of the features available, there can be a steep learning curve for new users.

(1/5)

Evaluation Criteria 3: Cost

Start up fees, Subscriptions, Annual Support Fees (Grabe & Grabe, p. 160), (Richardson, pg 48)

Google Wave is free!

(5/5)

Evaluation Criteria 4: Compatibility with Platforms ( Richardson, pg 48 )

In what degree the tool is compatible with the different platforms?

Google Wave is a browser-based tool which means it is platform-independent it can work in Windows, Mac, and Linux. However, its code is based in HTML5 Code which works the best with browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It also works in browsers like Internet Explorer or Opera but without the full functions. http://www.google.com/support/wave/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=162257 Google Wave also offers a friendly touch-screen browsing for Mobile smartphones.

(4/5)

Evaluation Criteria 5: Compatibility with Other Tools

Is the tool compatible with other web services? Can data be easily imported/exported with other software?

Google Wave is compatible with most of the Google web tools as well as many web tools. It can be integrated with Google Maps, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Voice, YouTube, and many other tools for video conferencing.

(4/5)

Evaluation Criteria 6: User Support

Are there training materials (i.e. user manuals, FAQs, training videos, etc.)

Google Wave has a library of "Help Articles" and videos posted to help users.http://www.google.com/support/wave/?hl=en

(4/5)

Evaluation Criteria 7: Accessibility

Are there accommodations for users with disabilities?

Some of the basic important accessibility standards' elements are not applied. For example, there is no alternative text text provided for images, there is no title or laple for some elements, and if the text size increased the page will became unusable.

http://webaim.org/blog/google-wave-preview-accessibility-review/

(3/5)

Evaluation Criteria 8: Usefulness

Can the tool be used to enhance authentic learning activities?

Google Wave provides a great collaboration tools for a small size group projects. It provides everything that a collaboration works requires like planner services, real-time collaboration services, video and sound conferencing services, file sharing services, and many other services. These services serve a real life needs.

(5/5)

Evaluation Criteria 9: Security

Does the tool provide the basic security precautions?

Like many social web tools the security issue is the user responsibility, however some tools can perform some tasks such as scanning files and the attachments for malicious software before passing it to the others. Such feature is an important feature and it is provided by Google Wave. http://www.google.com/support/wave/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=172695

(5/5)

Evaluation Criteria 10: Design/Layout

Layout is clear, logical, consistent, and intuitive; learners can always find what they need. It is easy to navigate through the information to find necessary features. (www.SASinSchool.com)

Google Wave has a complex series of window and steps in starting, managing, and participating in a Wave. The non-linear format of discussions can be difficult to keep up with for novice users; especially when participating in real-time collaborations.The novelty of this type of collaboration software may make it difficult to transfer skills from other known software packages.

(2/5)

Overall Evaluation

Google Wave is a powerful multi-media collaboration tool combining aspects of instant messaging, e-mail, blogging, wikis, social media, and other web tools. With all this functionality combined in a single web tool, it can be overwhelming for even advanced users to master; especially when trying to collaborate in real-time.
There is exciting potential for student collaboration in group learning projects and WebQuests. Imagine being able to develop a WebQuest "Wave" where you could invite your students, outline their task, provide links to resources as well as easily embed video and other media. Then students could post comments or questions, add links to resources or additional media, report findings, or comment on other students' posts...all in one document!
For educators, there is also tremendous potential for collaboration in curriculum and professional development. Consider the possibilities of developing a global education curriculum with another educator in another country. This media rich collaboration could be synchronous (in real-time) or asynchronous depending on the location of the educators. Rubrics could be developed within a single document rather than managing multiple versions e-mailed back and forth between contributors.
With the wiki features of Google Wave, Richardson's statement regarding wikis holds true:"The collaborative environment that wikis facilitate can teach students much about how to work with others, how to create community, and how to operate in a world where the creation of knowledge and information is more and more becoming a group effort." (Richardson, pg 69)

References:

Grabe, Mark, and Cindy Grabe, 2007. Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning. New York: HoughtonMifflin Co, 2007. Print.


"Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0." Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 1999. Web. http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html.


Richardson, Will. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. California: Corwin, 2010. Print.