Thing 20: Google Docs

I first learned about Google Docs at the beginning of this class and I started using one right away! I blogged earlier about how I used spreadsheets to set up contact info for the cast and crew of a show I was working on. Here's the link to my Google Docs Rock!! blog post. Yeah, I thought I was being clever with that title, but of course the friendly folks at CommonCraft already coined that phrase. : ) I've also used the word processing docs back before I had my iPhone as a way to jot down info that I wanted to remember and look at later. Sure that can be done on a piece of paper, but I'd be sure to lose that.

I like to take the students to the computer lab to work on papers, presentations, research, etc, but really wanted them to save their work somewhere other than our school's share file. For the last couple of years I thought about adding a flash drive to my list of supplies that the students should have for my class, but there were issues there of course. The price has definitely come down, so it's more feasible to ask for that item, but then there is still the issue of losing it or breaking it, as one of my students did this year. Google Docs takes care of that issue, and it's free. I know some students do not have internet access at home, but the internet is available for students to use at the public library if they would like to work on an assignment outside of class. The monitoring function is great for both the students and me. They can see their work progress and grow just as I can.

I might check out the form/spreadsheet document as a way to do quizzes and tests. I think it would also be nice to embed a practice test on a class wiki and then link that to the spreadsheet of answers to show the students what they may still need to study. I don't know how to do that just yet, but I bet it can be done.