In elementary school, my assignments were all completed by pen and paper due to the lack of technology in the classrooms. There was a small computer lab on the first floor which was equipped with no more than thirty bulky computers. There were approximately three computers in most classrooms, but several of them did not function. The computers in the classrooms were hardly ever touched because it was impossible to have a class of approximately twenty-five students hovered over one computer screen. My high school, however, had twenty-four computers in each classroom. There was also a spacious media center and library filled with computers. Several of my assignments were posted on the school Eboard and required to be typed.
This week my younger brother, who is a freshman in the same high school, introduced me to a new method of communicating and collaborating on an assignment without being face-to-face with other people. He introduced me to the website, Docs.google.com. Through this website, you are able to create a file among you and a group of friends. Whenever something is written in the file, everyone in the group has access to it as it is being typed. Each member is able to alter the file, including what other members have written. The file can be altered without everyone in the group being logged in at the same time. However, when more than one person is logged in, on the top right corner, there is an option for creating a live group chat by clicking “Chat”. The chat box will appear on the bottom right corner, as it would on Facebook.
Since I attended a magnet school, my classmates consisted of students from all throughout the city, many of them who lived several miles away from the school. Working in groups and meeting up outside of school was a constant struggle. For this reason, I would like to use this website, or one similar to it, in my classroom.
As a future English teacher, I find this website to be an excellent way for students to collaborate on a project or essay from home. Students are able to communicate with one another through the live group chat and see each other’s edits. The document resembles a Microsoft Word document. The tool bars are fairly similar; therefore, students should not have a difficult time working with the program.
This program can also be used for teachers; teachers can create a folder where students electronically submit their work. This file is referred to as the “turn-in folder”. If granted permission by the student, the teacher can comment and edit the assignment that the student submitted.
An excellent homework assignment would be peer-editing essays. Students could upload their essays, and then grant access to a peer to comment and edit. Students could also use the chat box to clarify any confusion and discuss the changes that could be made. As a teacher, I would have the students submit their peer editing documents to me. This would be an efficient way of going paperless.
Interested in creating your very own page or using it in your classroom? Great!
This website is fairly easy to access and use through a Google account. (Since you already have an account set up for this blog, why not give it a shot?) Once you have logged into Docs.google.com, simply click “Create” to initiate a new session. You then have the option of creating a document, presentation, spreadsheet, etc, depending on your preference. Once you have created your file, simply copy and paste the URL link and send it to your friends; once they click on the link, they will have access to your file!
This week my younger brother, who is a freshman in the same high school, introduced me to a new method of communicating and collaborating on an assignment without being face-to-face with other people. He introduced me to the website, Docs.google.com. Through this website, you are able to create a file among you and a group of friends. Whenever something is written in the file, everyone in the group has access to it as it is being typed. Each member is able to alter the file, including what other members have written. The file can be altered without everyone in the group being logged in at the same time. However, when more than one person is logged in, on the top right corner, there is an option for creating a live group chat by clicking “Chat”. The chat box will appear on the bottom right corner, as it would on Facebook.
Since I attended a magnet school, my classmates consisted of students from all throughout the city, many of them who lived several miles away from the school. Working in groups and meeting up outside of school was a constant struggle. For this reason, I would like to use this website, or one similar to it, in my classroom.
As a future English teacher, I find this website to be an excellent way for students to collaborate on a project or essay from home. Students are able to communicate with one another through the live group chat and see each other’s edits. The document resembles a Microsoft Word document. The tool bars are fairly similar; therefore, students should not have a difficult time working with the program.
This program can also be used for teachers; teachers can create a folder where students electronically submit their work. This file is referred to as the “turn-in folder”. If granted permission by the student, the teacher can comment and edit the assignment that the student submitted.
An excellent homework assignment would be peer-editing essays. Students could upload their essays, and then grant access to a peer to comment and edit. Students could also use the chat box to clarify any confusion and discuss the changes that could be made. As a teacher, I would have the students submit their peer editing documents to me. This would be an efficient way of going paperless.
Interested in creating your very own page or using it in your classroom? Great!
This website is fairly easy to access and use through a Google account. (Since you already have an account set up for this blog, why not give it a shot?) Once you have logged into Docs.google.com, simply click “Create” to initiate a new session. You then have the option of creating a document, presentation, spreadsheet, etc, depending on your preference. Once you have created your file, simply copy and paste the URL link and send it to your friends; once they click on the link, they will have access to your file!
Michelle-
ReplyDeleteI very much like your idea of using Google docs in the classroom. The school I am currently doing my student teaching at implemented Google docs school wide, and it has been a great success. My cooperating teacher has made a folder specific to each student, all of which are contained in another class folder, which is very handy when trying to locate a specific students work-especially if you are not the most organized of people. It's great to go paperless, as well as not having to deal with computer/printer dilemmas- especially for an English teacher!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI feel that GoogleDocs is something that could truly change the face of education. In my online computer class I had to take for my General Education requirement, we had to compose a Google Doc for one of our units and we each had to contribute something to the overall paper. This assignment forced us to critically collaborate in order to complete the assignment. I truly enjoy the spirit of collaboration that GoogleDocs seems to promote. I think that it is also a tool that can use to help keep people organized. I manage a band and they constantly have to sell tickets in order to play shows. They have to ask many people if they are able to go to the show, and they may wind up forgetting if they asked somebody and what their answer was or they may ask the same person twice. By using this GoogleDoc, each band member can make a list of who they need to ask and then add an answer when they respond. By doing this, it keeps them organized. I am able to see who they asked. Thinking about this pedagogically, students can use GoogleDocs as an organizer.
ReplyDeleteThere was another use for GoogleDocs that you did some seem to touch on. Teachers can use that in order to put comments on their students' essays as they are going through the writing process. When students hand in papers, they usually have to wait a while for their teachers to hand back papers to them. GoogleDocs is an instantaneous collaboration tool that allows teachers to quickly respond to student writing as they are drafting. Students typically benefit from feedback that is not vague and helps them to critically think about what they need to do their writing. We can even be radical and hold virtual conferencing with students through the chat
function. Students would not have to wait for their papers to come back, which would allow them to immediately get to the writing process. I particularly liked that you said teachers can employ GoogleDocs to be a place where students can peer edit each other's papers. Peer editing is an important part of the writing process. At the same time, if we force all our peer editing into the cyber realm, are we losing a fundamental human element? I think that we communicate best in-person when it comes to talking to somebody else about their writing, so I think that there is a possibility that GoogleDocs could wind up eventually severing the human connection. Is it a bad thing?
Obviously, the trend is now that we are moving toward a paperless classroom. However, we have to anticipate that if we keep everything on the cloud, there is the
possibility that prolonged internet outages and hacking can cause a direct threat to accessing the information. Just like any technology, we need to be aware that there
are downfalls. I think that the great thing about GoogleDocs is that collaboration needs a form of critical thinking that involves navigating around ideas, critiquing
them, and trying to simultaneously add onto the ideas and try to create your own new insights. Technology, as I always see time and time again, manages to facilitate a higher order thinking. However, it is through the ways that teachers use technology that makes all the difference in how it can facilitate the higher order thinking. GoogleDocs I think is a window into the possibilities of technology creating a new 21st century environment of collaboration. I think that we really need to think about what kind of activities are appropriate for GoogleDocs and which ones just do not seem to work and may be a waste of time.
I always hear about GoogleDocs but am not really sure it is. The teachers in my Fieldwork school use it all the time, and the students understand how to use it as well. I am so glad you wrote this blog and could clarify for me what it is and how it works. Thank you for also including instructions so we can all figure out how to use it. This program is definitely very beneficial to all students and teachers.
ReplyDelete