Software+6+-+Google+Analytics

= Software #6 – Google Analytics =

@http://www.google.com/analytics/

__Use in Educational Setting –__

Managing a website in an educational environment is a very difficult thing to do. Sure you can have an awesome website with all the bells and whistles in the classroom but what about when student’s leave and go home to use their personal computers? Google Analytics allows you to monitor the usage of a personal website and track important things like network speed, Internet browser, location and frequency of visits. Teachers can use Google Analytics to build a universally accessible website for all students regardless of their Internet connection speed.

__Cost, Registration Issues –__

Google Analytics is 100% free as long as you have a gmail account set-up. Don’t worry though a gmail account is also free. The one catch to using Google Analytics is that you must have access to the HTML code and be able to edit the code. Once you’ve set up your account you will be given an HTML code that you must insert just below the first  tag. Once you’ve laid in the Google Analytics code you will have full tracking capabilities within 24 hours.

__Useful in what content and value to classroom –__

Just the nature of the program should show that this would be a useful asset in a technology class or any class that incorporates website development. The general usage of the program could provide a valuable asset to any teacher that has a personal website or plans on building a site for the students. The program provides many critical tools to help develop the most successful and useful website for teachers and students a like.

__Meta-cognition and Google Analytics –__

Google Analytics provides a unique situation for meta-cognition. It doesn’t fit the traditional idea of meta-cognition in regards to student’s gain in knowledge. It does however provide a learning situation to the teacher to help shed light on topics that could be more difficult. Google Analytics can show a user information that visitors have visited frequently, a high number of visits could show a difficult topic that will need more attention that a teacher may not have noticed otherwise.

__Google Analytics Product -__