Barker College y St Alban`s College de Lomas de Zamora, usuarios de figaronline.com,  implementaron para toda su institución la Edición para Educación de Google Apps ,disponible para las escuelas de educación básica y media sin ánimo de lucro, centros universitarios y universidades acreditados y para las empresas estadounidenses sin ánimo de lucro registradas según se describe en las Condiciones del servicio de Google Apps edición educación.

La integración de Google Apps con Figaro permite que los todos en la escuela,  con un solo nombre de usuario y contraseña propios  puedan trabajar en una plataforma colaborativa compartiendo sus documentos online, agenda, sitios, chat , dar cuentas de correo a todos sus usuarios (Estudiantes, profesores, personal)   y seguir minuciosamente  la gestión escolar con una herramienta en constante crecimiento como es figaronline.com que gestiona presentismo, conducta, notas, generación e impresión de boletines , informes pedagógicos, blog interno y externo , noticias , administración de padres, exalumnos y mucho más.

A su vez figaronline.com  utiliza muchas de las funciones de la API de Google como Google Maps, Google Talk ,Google AdSense , Google Analytics , entre otras.

Estas escuelas se olvidarán de invertir en mantenimiento de estos servicios, dado que Google proporciona el servicio en forma gratuita para este tipo de instituciones. Siendo las prestaciones sólo del servicio de correo electrónico superiores a las brindadas por empresas que cobran por este servicio (Espacio de almacenamiento, integración de aplicaciones, estabilidad del servicio y otros)

También es una inversión en tranquilidad y seguridad teniendo toda su información accesible en tiempo real en la nube con la seguridad de google.

Figaro Consulting colabora en forma gratuita en la gestión de los dominios .edu.ar en caso de no tenerlos, alojamiento de las paginas web institucionales de las escuelas en caso de requerirlo, capacitación a docentes y personal sobre el uso de la herramienta y creación de cuentas, de forma que la implementación se transforma en un proyecto “lleva en mano” totalmente gratis.

La implementación y migración de datos de ambos sistemas es muy simple y rápida.

Dejamos un video introductorio de Google Apps para aquellas escuelas que todavía no están al tanto.

Bajo este vínculo se encuentran los listados de instituciones que usan google Apps y sus casos de éxito.

Algunas instituciones alrededor del mundo que usan Google Apps

• Abilene Christian University
• Aquinas College
• Cambria-Rowe Business College
• Concordia University - Saint Paul (pilot program)
• Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University, India
• Hofstra University
• Kenyan & Rawandan universities
• Lakehead University
• Manhattan Christian College
• Northwestern University
• Politecnico Grancolombiano, Columbia
• San Jose City College
• South East European University, Macedonia
• St. Louis University
• Swarthmore College
• Thunderbird School of Global Management
• Trinity College
• Victoria Junior College, Singapore
• Wyzsza Szkola Biznesu - National Louis University, Poland

Nota: figaronline.com no tiene una asosiación con google.com

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. George Daniels’ introduction to journalism class at The University of Alabama sounds a lot like a radio newscast. Maybe it’s his professional broadcasting voice. Maybe it’s the interviews. Or maybe it’s the intro music.

While a number of professors recently have been recording their lectures and making them available for download, Daniels is experimenting with a different kind of educational podcast. He lets students forgo one class period each week to listen to his podcast.

“Students in that class listen to a podcast in lieu of one of the three 50-minute class sessions each week,” Daniels said.

And it’s not just a recording of a lecture. “JN 100 On the Go” includes clips from radio newscasts, interviews he has conducted with journalists and typical lecture-type components where he defines terms and explains the context. Daniels also asks questions that the student must research and answer as part of an assignment.

“The value of the podcasts is the ability to integrate interview clips, comments or actualities that are related to the subject being taught,” Daniels said. “Most of these resources I would show or play in the classroom. The podcast allows me to package that contact in a portable format that requires active learning.”

The casts, or shows, as Daniels often calls them, last from 10 to 20 minutes. “Listener attention spans are not conducive to just hearing anyone talk continuously for a long period of time,” he said. While he may not be able to cover as much material as he would in a typical class, he’s more interested in the increased learning and retaining of information that he hopes will result.

“The class is an experiment in itself,” Daniels said.

In addition to the material covered in the podcasts, he wants students to learn multi-tasking, setting their own deadlines, planning and taking responsibility – all qualities that journalists must have.

Daniels received an active and collaborative learning grant from the University to purchase six iPods for this innovative teaching experiment. Students can check out the iPods for up to 48 hours to listen to the casts. The new iPods have video capabilities, which Daniels hopes to include in future classes.

The students cannot download the podcasts from their Internet connection at home. Since Daniels uses copyrighted clips, he cannot upload them to the Web on a page anyone can access. The content management system the University uses cannot be used as a password-protected site, therefore, students must go to the Sanford Media Resource and Design Center on campus to download them or check out one of the iPods. Daniels expects that in the near future, he will be able to use RSS feed of news media so that students can access the podcasts from home. 

The journalism department is housed in the College of Communication & Information Sciences at The University of Alabama, which is among the largest and most prestigious communication colleges in the nation. C&IS consistently is ranked among the top 10 in number of doctoral degrees awarded and in many of its research programs. C&IS graduates have won four of the six Pulitzer Prizes awarded to UA alumni, and the forensics and debate squad, housed within the College, has garnered 14 national championships.

FUENTE : Unievrsidad de Alabama