GAIN

GAIN

Google Docs as a Word Processor:

• Strengths:  There are many strengths that come with using Google Docs as opposed to a traditional word-processing program, such as Microsoft Word.
• Easy access from multiple devices:  Documents that are created or saved on Google Docs are easily accessible from any device that has internet capability.  When using Microsoft Word, a user must save the document on the device.  To access the document form a different device, the user must download the file from an email that they previously attached the document to, or they must download it from a portable drive like a USB.  With Google Docs, the user can easily access and edit the document from any device that has internet capability-- even an iPhone!
• Collaboration Capability:  With Google Docs, a user can share their document with other users so that each user may edit the document from any device, anywhere, at any time.  Up to 50 different users may be editing a document at the same time.  This is perfect for students who are completing group projects, limiting the time that is necessary to set aside for in-person meetings.
• Commenting Tool:  Users can make comments on the text of a document by highlighting the text, right clicking, and choosing comment.  This is convenient for the peer-editing part of the writing process, and it also gives teachers the option to leave immediate feedback on the work of a student.
• Quick Save and Revision History:  Google Docs will save your document every two seconds, as well as saving a history of your past revisions.  Because of this feature, students can access many of their previous drafts so that they may see the progress that they have made.
• Online Sharing:  Users of Google Docs have the option to share their work with a broader audience by sharing it on the web.  It can be shared with specific people, groups of people, on social media, or it can simply be published on the web so that anyone can have access.  Users can post to and receive feedback from as many or as little viewers as they like.
• Spell Check:  Instead of a spell-check button, like that of Microsoft Word, Google Docs has the automatic red line that will appear if the word is spelled incorrectly.  Right click on the word, and you can see spelling suggestions.  The difference between the spell-check on Google Docs and Microsoft Word is that if a user is signed in to their Google account, Google will remember a list of the user's troubled words.  They can use the always correct to feature to automatically correct their common misspellings.  There is also the familiar add to dictionary option, but with Google Docs, the user's personal dictionary will follow them wherever they log in.
• Basic Editing Tools:  Google Docs comes with several formatting options for creating tables, symbols for equations, and images.
• Add-Ons:  Though the initial set-up of Google Docs seems quite simple, there is a vast database of add-ons that users can download to accomplish different tasks.  These add-ons range from practical bibliography generators to a rhyme finder that will help you find rhymes with any word that you type. 
• Weaknesses:
• Required Internet Connection:  Though it is easier for a user to access their documents through internet connection, this also means that the user must have an internet connection to be able to access and edit their work.  This can be an inconvenience.
• Missing Editing Tools:  There are a lot of editing tools that Google Docs does not include.  There are a lot of things that Word users may be used to-- things such as word art, formatting options such as pagination and headers, and SmartArt-- that may be missed when first beginning to work with Google Docs.  Luckily, the add-ons feature can make up for some of these (for example, the Styles add-on that allows you to create various types of headers).

Google Apps as Related to the Common Core:

• There are three specific standards for writing that go hand-in-hand with Google Apps.  
• Standard 5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
• Students can easily revise old drafts by accessing their save history on Google Docs.  They can share their documents with peers for peer editing, and teachers can help them to revise or share comments for them to try new approaches.
• Standard 6:  Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
• Google Docs fits in with this standard perfectly.  Collaboration is a natural part of the tool, users have the option to publish using both technology and internet.
• Standard 10:  Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
• Students can come back to their work at any time, with any device that has internet capability.  This allows them to write routinely over both short and extended time frames.

Collaboration in Action:

• My own first extensive experiences with Google Docs happened in my Senior Capstone course at Johnson.  Because capstone requires lots of group work, we needed to have an option to work together in a way that would work with our busy senior schedules.  Google Docs allowed us each to type out ideas and share resources in a single document, even when we were not sitting in the same room.  To create our littleBits task cards for the first half of this class, my group and I used Google Docs to all work on the project at the same time.  Google Docs is a great way to allow groups to work together without all of the hassle of having to meet in person every single time, or having to send countless emails with updated attachments.