Once again, I had very little exposure to Google Drive
before this assignment. There was a time
last year when I was exploring my Gmail and I accidentally came across Google
Docs and its sharing and collaborating capabilities. I invited a coworker to explore with me and
we were amazed that we were able to collaborate on an existing document and
actually saw the progress happen right in front of our eyes. Since then, I haven’t been back to explore it’s
capabilities until this week.
The possibilities seem endless with Google Drive and its
many tools make me wonder why we pay such a high price for Microsoft Office
when we have the same tools for free at the click of the mouse. The collaboration component of Google Docs is
probably my favorite tool in Google Drive because it can be widely utilized in
a high school journalism classroom.
Students can collaborate with other students to write an article without
keeping track of multiple drafts.
Students and teachers can also edit potential news stories and add
comments in order to help enhance the article.
Students can also research within the application to find statistics,
quotes, etc. to supplement their article.
The research component also allows students to directly add this
information to their Google document with proper citation. Not only will this
benefit my future students but it will greatly benefit me in my current
profession. Using a shared Google
Spreadsheet will also help to keep students on track by recording and revising
deadlines, listing editing that has occurred, and collaborating with students
responsible for supplying photos. Students will use a shared Google Spreadsheet
to record their article development in order to meet deadlines. This will help me keep track of students’
progress to ensure they meet deadlines.
Google Forms is also an amazing tool! Students can use
Google Forms to create a survey for students, faculty, and staff in order to
determine what types of articles and pictures they would like to see in the
campus newspaper and yearbooks (digital and hardcopy). A newspaper and yearbook tailor-made to
reflect campus requests will increase distribution making it more successful.
I've been telling everyone I know the same things about paying for office!!! The research component on google docs was probably one of the best add-ons I have ever come across. It seems much more inviting than the one Microsoft office has. I really wish I had access to something like docs when I was going to college because it would have ease the stress brought upon a little period or a coma. Some things should just be worry free!
ReplyDeleteHi, Renee, the Google picture that you used in your post is very cute. Like you, I also love Google. I use Google search, Google maps, Gmail, Blogger, Google Drive, Google Scholar … almost everyday. It is amazing one company produces so many great products for free. I am glad you see endless possibilities of using Google Drive for classroom use, which I think indeed is a great tool that has so much to offer.
ReplyDelete