AN ANALYSIS OF THE VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES SUPPORTING THE "GOOGLE FOR EDUCATION" PROGRAMME IN ROMANIA
Authors: Gabureanu Simona , Botnariuc Petre 
Published: February 2023

Authors:
Petre Botnariuc
Institutul de ?tiin?e ale Educa?iei
Stirbei Vod?, 37, 010102, Bucure?ti.
Email: bpetre[at]ise.ro
Simona G?bureanu
Universitatea Politehnica Bucure?ti
Splaiul Independen?ei Str. No 313, Bucharest 060042, Romania
E-mail: simona.gabureanu[at]upb.ro

This article aims to complement through an content analysis endeavour the quantitative approach adopted by a programme evaluation, research that was conducted in 2015 by a team of researchers. The evaluation has addressed the training programme ,,Google for education" which aimed to develop teachers skills in employing in ones own activity of the different Google applications (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, sheets, forms, sites, Google+). The investigation aimed to reveal the added value of the training programme. The quantitative data set was collected through a questionnaire distributed through the ,,Google for education" communities and through the iTeach platform addressed to the professional development of teachers in preuniversitary education. For the analysis 159 answers were validated as attendants to the formal training session in using the Google apps in education from the total of 161 teachers who have actually filled in the questionnaire. The content for the qualitative analysis consists in the discussions taking place in 13 counties from Romania, which could be identified online. In this paper we will explore the trainees preferences and difficulties encountered in applying the Google tools in the process of resources and learning management, with a focus on the way in which the google groups are used as a mean of communication and collaboration in the professional communities of teachers from din 13 counties (Arge?, Bistri?a-N?s?ud, Boto?ani, Bra?ov, Br?ila, Bucure?ti, Constan?a, D?mbovi?a, Giurgiu, Hunedoara, Mehedin?i, Mure?, Timi?). We have used a mixed methodology of analysis with quantitative and qualitative treatment of the collected data (questionnaire applied to the trainees of the training programme and content analysis of the online discussions forums). The focus of analysis was on the effectiveness of the training programme and on building a teachers learning community as well as to provide a set of suggestions for improving the future training activities. The quantitative results are analysed and further explained against the qualitative results taking into account different factors: type of training provider type, trainees preferences for training, opportunities, difficulties and factors of success in application in preparation activity and actual classes, areas, extent and frequency of application, participants estimated training impact on educational design and classes, teaching experiences. The analysed effects of training include: use of Google apps for management and school-family collaboration, better integration of google apps in the teaching, integration of google apps in the learning tasks, use of state of the art teaching methodologies (pupil and competence centeredness), introducing creative methods and strategies in the learning situations, relevance and practicality of the learning activities, opportunities for collaborative learning and team work, personalised and individualised learning, as well as interactive and participative learning, adequate, varied evaluation methods and tools, exploitation of received feedback for ones own improvement and professional development. In what the outcome of the training is concerned the following topics will be analysed: increased learning performance for pupils, attractiveness of learning activities, facilitation of retention, comprehension and higher order thinking skills, encouragement of both demanding students and high performing students, facilitation of creative approaches in learning, better and increased use of google apps for individual study, better communication with the students, increased individual involvement in collaborative projects, more effective resource management.