I absolutely love Google Docs for several reasons.
First, It makes collaboration between busy members of a group much much easier. When I have been in group projects, Google Docs. has allowed me to work on the project with other members of my group at the same time, while communicating with them about the project. I have also used Google Docs to submit assignments for classes. Aside from saving paper, this makes it much easier to get feedback from instructors and edit my work to the corrections provided.
I do not, however, think that using googledocs for the sake of using cool technology is beneficial. I have also used googledocs in classes simply to use it. When no editing, revising, or collaboration will take place, I think it is just as easy to email the document.
Google Docs is great! I think that incorporating this aspect of Google in the classroom would be beneficial as well as engaging for students. I also think that Google Docs could be a good tool to utilize in an elementary-high school classroom. Having a group of students working together on their writing process is a nice way for them to work collaboratively in a digital context and for them to get instant feedback. I agree that Google Docs is really beneficial only when editing and revising occurs. Google Docs is a great tool and should definitely be used to its full potential!
ReplyDeleteGood point that technology or really anything should be used appropriately and not just for the sake of using it. The first thing that pops into my head is when teachers assign students to learn about a new technology but do not put it into a legitimate context. I always hated that because it lacked purpose and I had no goal driving my motivation to discover the features. For the example given in the post, it sounds different than my example because the teacher was not using google docs for the students to learn about it. However, it was unnecessary when no one is learning or using the features of the program anyway. At that point, whether you used google docs or just emailed it all comes down to comfort and preference rather than purpose. The teacher might have been more comfortable using google docs than attaching it to an email.
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