Thing 13: Google Docs

Playing with Google Docs:

I heard about Google Docs for the first time last school year. My technology coordinator was giving a training on another topic, but somehow we began talking about “the cloud.” He went on to talk about how amazing this “cloud” was, and the explained what a cloud had to do with computers. He presented a little about Google Docs and the collaboration abilities. Until this summer though, I hadn’t used it. So far in my graduate classes, I have shared a paper through Google docs to be edited by a partner, and for this class, uploaded a PowerPoint web quest for our midterm. As I play with the program and become familiar with it, I can also picture how Google Docs can be helpful in my classroom. Group projects can be edited all at the same time (no one having to compile changes at the last minute), and everyone has access to presentations and papers. I plan on introducing this technology to my kids next year.

I don't think that Google Docs will replace the traditional Microsoft Office programs; however, I do think that it has collaboration features that go beyond emailing a document as an attachment. Businesses and schools can use Google Docs whenever there is a need for multiple people to be working on one project at once--which happens quite often. 

 The Cloud

Here is a link to my Google Doc Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18SM7Oblzi39YZCxifEmaciC9oQZ8ulqnh4WyCY1GXmg/edit?hl=en_US