Google Wave
Barbara Rockenbach kicked off the first regular-format session of the new year by introducing Jason Eiseman,
from the Law Library, Themba Flowers, of StatLab, and the topic of Google Wave. In May 2009 Google announced that they would be releasing a new communications and collaboration tool called Google Wave. By the time the beta product was released in September Google Wave had become the hottest ticket on the internet. Invites to the service were auctioned on eBay, offered from shady web sites, information and misinformation was prevalent. Now that the initial fervor has settled down we’re asking the more important question: how can I use Google Wave for teaching and research? Jason Eiseman started his presentation by asking how many attendees currently have a Google Wave? More provocatively he asked, how many are actually truly comfortable using it? The consensus was – not many!
There seems to be something elusive and mysterious about Google Wave for many users. Though Google Wave is in many ways a completely new concept, it is regardless similar to other things we have used. It sports some similarities to email – it can send messages to other people on Wave, but then again, it’s not really email. It’s kind of like IM or chat, but it’s not really a chat room. It also has wiki-like capabilities, but it’s not really a wiki. Google calls it a collaboration tool, but that is a rather vague designation. The official Google description states, “A Wave is a conversation with multiple participants.” While still vague, the description is nonetheless accurate, especially when considering that Google Wave’s functionality is still being tweaked by Google itself. Hence, potential users can’t yet know all of the possible applications of a Wave. Google Wave is also open source, you can download the code freely. There is also the possibility that it could be used for internal collaborations. A locked-down local instance of Google Wave could conceivably be used at Yale for internal business. The API is also open to developers so they may create “Robots” and “Gadgets.” Robots or bots extend the capabilities of the Wave. Gadgets also do something similar, but are technically different. It is possible to embed a Wave in a website, too. Jason has embedded a Wave on his blog JasonEiseman.com.
Jason then showed everyone a Wave – the Yale Staff Wave. An individual piece of a Wave is called a blip. An
individual conversation or thread is called a wavelet. The command bar at the top of the screen allows you to reply or edit. When one clicks reply or edit, one will only be replying to or editing an individual blip. Contributors are listed on the top of the page. A navigation bar is located on left. Contacts are listed in the lower left. The wave is viewable on the right side of screen. In the middle you will find an inbox that shows all Wave invitations. The left-hand navigation bar is very similar to that in Gmail – it includes inbox, all (like “all mail” in gmail), by me – waves you have contributed to, requests, settings – which are global (Google may develop wave-by-wave settings in future), saved searches – can send saved waves to individual folders. Contacts shows your Google Wave contacts. You can add participants by searching @googlewave or @gmail.com addresses. When undertaking a Wave search, results will include wave contributors, titles, and previews of waves, plus icons that indicate that gadgets, images, documents that have been added. There is a toolbar at the top of any wave. Click “follow” if there is a Wave you want to show up in your inbox each time you access GoogleWave, “unfollow” moves a Wave to “All” – but doesn’t trash it, Trash – trashes it for you but doesn’t delete the wave.
Create a new Wave by clicking, “Create New Wave.” You can give participants you add to a Wave read only or full-access privileges. Once you give added status – this Wave will now show up in that person’s inbox. To add to a Wave, you can click on a blip or click reply. If you hover over a message, you will open a reply box directly in that message. You have the ability to edit any individual blips in a Wave if you have been granted full-access privileges in that Wave. A nice feature is that you can author private replies to specific authors. Private replies can be placed anywhere in the Wave. Google Wave thereby allows blip-specific privacy controls. One can drag and drop files directly into a wave – especially if you use Google Chrome or “Google Gears” (an addon for Firefox). Images, videos, etc. can be inserted directly into a blip. Google Wave also works with YouTube – add a link or the video itself.
Jason then demoed how one can search and add robots and gadgets to a Google Wave. He also pointed out, in conclusion, that Google Wave can be used on smart phones – it has an iPhone app with a nice interface.
Themba Flowers opened by saying, with a hint of sarcasm, that he hoped Google Wave was as intuitive to us
as it is to him. While Jason focused on WHAT Google Wave is, Themba said he planned to try to answer the Why? and When? questions associated with using Google Wave.
In terms of education and teaching – Google Wave can be used for collaborations, both synchronously and asynchronously. Google Wave will actually playback what has happened in a particular sequence when you press the “playback” button. The fact that you can collaborate remotely is brilliant for distance learning. Community Colleges have really incorporated Google Wave due to distance learning needs. Yale already has a number of collaboration tools available – Classes v2, Sharepoint, WordPress, Etherpad, SmartSync, Teamspot, Drupal, and Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro. Google Wave could be an addition to the repertoire. Yale, however, doesn’t really want people using externally controlled servers for Yale business. So, using Wave is potentially tricky, until it can be made into an internal instance.
Themba then pointed out Google Wave’s potential educational uses. He noted a Wave’s ability to function as
a perfect application for an in-class back channel. Also, professors could put weekly reading up in a Wave and ask for student feedback. Or, they could cite and include direct quotes from any document (book, article, etc.) found online – this is distinct from attaching a Word doc living on your computer. Wave supports Google Groups – you could set up a class roster or research team as a group. Students could use a Wave to ask for help on homework. Librarians could post meting notes. A professor could host a number of image files like a gallery. Wave can also be used as a discussion forum, chat room, or aggregator. Themba then showed how he embedded a Google Wave in a StatLab page, http://statlab.stat.yale.edu/googleWave.jsp
The advantages of Google Wave are many: lots of flexibility due to open API, the ability to create and use bots and gadgets for enhanced functionality, the playback feature, and robust multi-media support. The disadvantages are also many – the learning curve, the fact that everyone needs a Google ID, and privacy concerns (HIPAA, FERPA) as the contents of a Wave presently reside on Google’s servers. There is also another privacy concern – you have to be careful about which Gmail account you associate with a Wave. Otherwise, other contributors could gain access to your photos, personal email account, etc.
For access to the presentations given at the Google Wave Tw/TT, please click below:
Jason Eiseman’s presentation:
Themba Flower’s presentation: