Thing 16

Google Docs...

I have used Google Docs before. I have needed to work on my resume in different places and this was an easy way to rather than e-mail it back and forth. I do wish I had know about Google Docs about 4 years ago when I was finishing my Masters Degree and I was working on my final project. I kept everything on my flash drive, but I carried it around like it was priceless. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost it. Had I known about (was it invented yet?) online storage of documents as easy as Google Docs it would have been SO much easier, and safer.

I think this would be great tool for my students to use for their work in my science classes. They are always asking me if they can type their vocabulary lists, and section reviews (I like it because I can read their writing). The problem comes when they say they didn't save it or they forget to print it off until the last minute. I could have them make them in Google Docs and check them as they go along. It would also be easier for me to provide feedback for them so they can fix mistakes. I would also think this could cut down on the large amount of paper used in schools.

The only concern I have about sharing documents is students coping each other's work. Is there a way to see who all a document is shared with? Copying is a real problem I have in my Alternative Ed classes.

I am interested to learn more about the different tools in Google Docs like the spreadsheet. This last spring my math department was e-mailing a spreadsheet back and forth to fill in failing students and their grades. It would have been so much easier to to this online, and we could all just go and update the spreadsheet. I will have to share these ideas with the department for next year.