Teletherapy: Using Google Sites as a Speech Therapy Home Practice Tool

Since transitioning to telepractice almost 3 years ago, my concept of student home practice continues to evolve. Recently, I have been using a Google Calendar and a shared folder from Drive integrated into a Google Site to provide my students and their families with access to home practice ideas and activities. The pros of using Google Calendar are that it is easily updated, easily shared, viewable on a phones, tablets, and computers, and best of all—it is FREE. If parents do not have a Google account, a Google Site will need to be made public in order for them to access it. This of course, has some drawbacks. Making the site public means that special care must be taken not to share any potential student PHI (protected health information) or materials with a copy write. That means, posting a link to the cool activity that you purchased on TPT is most probably a big no-no. When using TPT materials, always check the author’s Terms of Use and if you are not sure, ask the author directly. That said, you can post links to any of your own original content, if you choose. 

Another great tool within the Google Site is the ability to embed a folder of activities that have been uploaded to your Drive. This concept can be expanded to providing designated folders according to goal areas or for your students. Again, DO NOT use student names or any other PHI. Label your folders with other labels such as fruit or animal names. To experiment with creating your own site, go to your Drive, click on NEW, then MORE, then scroll down to find Google Sites. As a website, it is very basic. To speed up the process of making a quick and usable site, make your homework Google Calendar and shared activity folders first. Add pages for your calendar and activities folder and they will appear as tabs on a ribbon at the top of the site. Customize with an image or simply use a title. The site does not need to be fancy to be effective. 

Below is a link for a sample site to give you an idea of how to use and modify Google Site contents. If you need more tips for using Google Calendar or Google Sites, below is a short list of instructional videos on You Tube. Also included is a link for a Draft Google Site with a Google Calendar and shared folder embedded. Links for documents, videos, and images can also be embedded into events in Google Calendar.

 

How to Make a Google Calendar

How to Make a Shared Folder in Drive

How to Make a Google Site

Sample Draft Google Site for Speech Home Practice Activities