Ok Google: We Are Taking on Google Home in the Elementary Classroom

What can Google Home do for your classroom? This is the question my students and I will be seeking an answer to over the next few months.  I was originally against the idea of having a Google Home in the classroom, envisioning students running to it all day. Hearing a chorus of Ok Google while we were in the middle of a learning experience did not seem appealing.

However, thanks to the Ditchbook crew I was able to see the benefit to having a Google Home in the classroom. So I ordered one. This shift in my thinking took place over a Twitter DM this past week. Already I am modeling the processing and risk taking I want my students to embody.

The best part about this new addition is the process our class will go through to determine best practices for using a Google Home in the elementary classroom. How often have students asked questions that we know can be answered by Google. My rule is ask 2 and then Google before coming to seek my assistance. When I need help I look it up either through a Google search or watch a You Tube video. Students need to depend less on me and more on the tools around them and their own search skills.

When students go to Google something it takes a lot of time. Our computer pods take several minutes to boot up and we do not always have Chromebooks at our fingertips. I already hear students using the Google Assistant when they are using the Chromebooks we do have. This is their world. Learning how to talk with computers and understanding how they work are essential skills for students. It is a form of communication that is new to me but something our students have been doing for years.

Part of my decision making into the process of purchasing a Google Home was the efficiency in which students will get the answers to their questions. The bigger reason was that I truly believe Google Home will encourage students to seek answers and embrace the student centered model that already exists in our classroom.

I plan on capturing our journey, which will begin with developing a responsible use policy item for using this new tool and guidelines written by 5^th grade students. They will explore various uses of the Google Home. I hope to see the depths of knowledge being accessed and who knows, maybe one of these students will stump Google Home.

Thanks to Sarah FitzHenry and my pals at #ditchbook for the inspiration!