Enriching Classroom Learning with Technology - Part II (with an emphasis on Google Docs)

     My last post featured technology initiatives in the Lower School and Upper school.  In the LS, kindergarten and third grade students were learning about penguins, and the project was facilitated by SMARTBoards, Google Earth and Google Maps.  In the Upper School, students in science class were writing about Astronomy topics using a blog platform, and this approach enabled interactive learning with other students. 
     In the Middle School, Brett Mershon's Language Arts students use Google Docs (short for Google documents) as they refine their writing skills.  One project this year asked students to create a story with dialogue built on a visual prompt provided by Brett.  The learning goals included 1) the creation of short fiction and 2)  improving grammar and punctuation skills.  Students wrote their stories using the word processing feature of Google Docs.  Brett was easily able to access their writing and comment on areas of strength and weakness.  Students looked over the comments and revised stories as needed.
     Nothing very new, right?  Well, using an online, collaborative tool like Google Docs offers a few improvements over a more traditional approach, according to Brett.  With Google Docs, writing can be shared with many individuals.  So if an assignment is built around peer-to-peer critique, Google Docs works especially well.  And if the writing is a joint effort (an earlier assignment had students pair up to write stories together), Google Docs is invaluable.  As Brett said, "Google docs offers some of the advantages of a face to face writing conference without the constraints of having to figure out a meeting time that works."
     Google Docs is more than just online word processing.  Also included are capabilities to create a spreadsheet, a form, a drawing and a table.  Each of these applications is fairly full featured so that, for instance, with word processing, you can change fonts and formatting much as you can in MS Word.  But with Google Docs, your document will be saved on a remote server (in the cloud), always accessible with internet access. And importantly, you can decide who else can access the document and you can control access (e.g.: read-only or full editing rights).
     A feature of the Forms application allows responses to be downloaded into a spreadsheet for easy manipulation.  In one assignment using Google Docs, Brett used a combination of word processing and a form to help students learn more about the Great Depression prior to reading a book on the topic.  She created a review sheet of terms in the word processor and a form using a multiple choice format to help students get oriented to the topic.  Using the review sheet, students completed and submitted the form.  results were easily tabulated for each student because they appeared in an easy to read spreadsheet.
     When the Upper School wanted to solicit student preferences for Unit registration, a Google Form was created.  The graphic below shows the form as it's being readied for publication.

 

     Students get a link to the form, complete it and click the submit button.  Results are immediately available in a fully editable spreadsheet which allows information to organized and tallied.  For the Unit registration, the spreadsheet looks like this:

     Interested? Want to get started? You'll need a Google account if you don't have one. After signing up, just go to docs.google.com, log in, and select the type of document you'd prefer.  As mentioned, you can decide whether or not to share your document.  
     This brief video will provide an overview:

     As you accumulate a library of files, you'll be able to manage them in Google's easy to use interface:

     Our Middle School Language Arts program is using Google Docs to facilitate instruction and learning.  If you're interested in exploring the possibilities of Google Docs for your classes, feel free to get in touch.