Documents-Chapter 4
1) Comparison of Word and Docs.
Google Docs has many features that Microsoft Word does not. The creators of Google Docs have upgraded the software to enable it's users to be more mobile. Google Docs is a word-processing software that is free and has practically unlimited storage for the Docs. Google Docs is used through the internet, which enables the document that is being created to be saved in Google Drive. This is something that is accessible to device that has internet. Computer, tablet, phone, etc. can be used to access these documents, as well as edit them. Microsoft Word does not have the capability of using the internet for access. Google Docs has also enabled it's settings to have multiple users on at a time. Up to 50 people can have access to a document and be working on the document at the same time. This enables groups to work on their own computers, but all have access to working on the assignment. Sharing with different people can also enable to teacher to get onto the site and monitor the progress of the assignment. Microsoft Office has to be emailed or downloaded onto a hard drive in order to share the information with others. It also has made it where combining work between multiple people is difficult because of the changes that are made to the document without the others knowing. Immediate feedback is available with Google Docs because the teacher can comment on the post as the students are working, however because Office must be emailed to the teacher they have to wait for the feedback. Google Docs also has templates for the students to create different things with the documents. For example, they can put together an electronic portfolio that displays what they learned throughout the year. They can include pictures, documents, and other things to help display their knowledge. One of Google Docs weakness in its software is the fact that internet is required in order to use the software. If a device does not have internet, the user can not get onto the website to find the document.
Throughout my time at Johnson, I have used Google Docs many times in my classes or in group projects. For one class, my group had a Google Docs note pages where we all took notes on the lecture and could share them with one another. This enabled me to read other people's notes and to understand what importance they got out of the lecture. I also used this site for my Capstone group presentation. A group of us were required to research a topic and then to present our arguments and our theological views on the subject. We utilized Google Docs to share the information and research that we had accomplished. This made researching the topic on my own better because I went to see what my cohorts had researched and what websites and books they used. Google Docs is a great tool to utilize in the classroom.
2) Common Core and Google Docs
Common Core has specific Anchor Standards for Writing which ask the students to develop and strengthen their writing. They are required to use planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach to develop their writing. These are easy to practice with the use of Google Docs for many reasons. Google Docs saves the work every two seconds, and then keeps a record of what was done to the document. This is a great tool for the teacher to use to read and see the progress of the students. It is also a great way to save the work and to work on each of these steps. Having to rewrite out the whole document can be a challenge, but it is important to have the original first copy. Using Google Docs, you have the ability to go back and see what the first draft was but yet make edits to the draft in order to perfect it.
Common Core also gives the standard to use the internet to produce and publish writing. Using Google Docs enables students to use the internet through the software to write and then to share the document with whomever needs to see it. One of the last steps to writing is publishing the materials. Google Docs can be a way to publish the materials because they share the documents with others. Peer editing and review can be easily done through Google Docs, when shared with the students in the class. They can make comments about their thoughts, or suggestions to what the author has said without having to write all over a printed out copy. The teacher can also give easy feedback to the student as well.
Common Core also wants students to be using information from print and digital sources, then to summarize the information by using a note form. Then the students should prepare a list of sources. Using Google Docs is a great way to enable students to have their work on front of them. They can use different tabs on the computers to do research and then create the Google Doc with the information that they found.
3) As I said earlier, I had the opportunity to use Google Docs in a real classroom setting. I loved the easy access to collaborating with my teammates on the material that we were researching. Having the capability to comment in the document and have the changes immediate to the document made the assignments easier. We spent less time worrying about the actual document, and more time researching. It was much more convenient for each of us to work on it whenever we had time. We used the chat capability to meet together as a group and talk about the research that we had accomplished for that week. This lead to less travel times and things like that, making our group time be from our own homes. The comments capability was very helpful because we would make comments to each other as we found more information on our topic, or the specific idea that each of us were studying. I have really enjoyed using Google Docs for all types of projects and situations. It has helped make group projects much easier.
Excellent!
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