Most of the GWE will be about merely exposing you to exciting ways Google tools can be used in education. When you leave, we hope you will run with some of these ideas and implement them in your classroom—or in your role as a professional developer. Several of the activities you will participate in today will be interactive, but one in particular will require you to learn-by-doing as you create something new: the proof-of-concept project.

We would like you to put into practice something you've learned. You will choose a tool (or tools) that you're interested in and then work with a partner (or two) to create a project that illustrates how the tool might be used for a specific educational purpose. Each participant will create a Google Site to serve as the hub for your materials. This Site's purpose should be to address a curricular standard or fulfill some other professional development needs. The final product will serve as a model of something teachers and/or students would use. Ideally, it will also be something the participant will actually implement.

Reading the following steps will help you complete this challenging activity:

Wednesday,  July 15

1. As you participate in the GWE, consider which of the tools you might want to explore in more depth.
   

2. When we begin the proof-of-concept projects, select a partner (or two) from within your team. You will work with this person (or these two people) to create a "mock up" of something you might use in your role as an educator—or that students might create themselves.
   

3. Keep an open mind about collaborating with others who teach different grades or different subjects—or who have other roles as educators. You may be pleasantly surprised by the results of collaborating outside your own professional silo. Don't let little details (or big egos) bog you down.

4. With your partner(s), spend about 30 minutes creating a proof-of-concept that meets the following criteria:

• Utilizes at least one Google tool

• Is tailored for a specific educational purpose

• Illustrates how you or students would use the tool

• Demonstrates the concept sufficiently that other educators might implement it

• Is incomplete ;)

Thursday, July 16 - AM

1. Continue working on your projects with your partner(s) during the AM time allotted. This is an exercise in "rapid prototyping." You will need to exercise your creativity and put your innovative streak to work. We look forward to seeing what you produce.

Thursday, July 16 - PM

1. Each group of partners will have 15 minutes to share their project with others on your team.

2. Finally, your team will share one of the projects with the large group.

3. Each of your projects will also be mentioned to the large group so that others might contact you if they are interested in your project.

4. Ideally, we'll also get links to all the proof-of-concept projects to share with other educators! These links will be stored on the agenda page for this GWE.
   

5. Have fun!

Links to projects:

http://sites.google.com/site/profdev101gwe/

http://sites.google.com/site/davezirk/

http://sites.google.com/site/gwetutorial

http://sites.google.com/site/cavoportfolio

http://sites.google.com/site/cavoscollaborate

http://sites.google.com/site/theepicawesomeness

http://sites.google.com/site/popperspenguins

http://sites.google.com/site/sjsmiddleschool

http://sites.google.com/a/rutgersprep.org/rps-google-project

http://sites.google.com/site/knightsporfolios

http://sites.google.com/site/gwemrsfrancisco4thgrade

http://sites.google.com/site/memorialmiddledigitalportfolio

http://sites.google.com/site/school12tigersscience

http://sites.google.com/site/mobilelabsignup/

http://sites.google.com/site/usmathgroup/