Thing 15: Exploring Cloud Tools

I first learned about Google Docs from my Library Media Specialist. She was so excited about this tool, that I knew that I had to explore it further. I have been using and learning about Google Docs since the beginning of the summer. As a result of what I've learned, I plan to share my newly gained knowledge with my colleagues. I'd like my team to get to a point where we can create and share documents without having to constantly send emails and attachments. One specific example of how this might be useful is when creating our monthly 5th grade parent newsletter. Each month we write about what is going on in each of our classrooms. In the past, each person writes up a little blurb and sends it to the person responsible for writing up the article. Now that I know the capabilities of Google Docs, I can create a document and then share it out to my colleagues to add their portion of the newsletter, edit, proofread, and provide feedback.

Google Docs can also be a very beneficial tool to use with students. One example in which I might do this is by having students create their writing pieces on Google Docs and then I could provide feedback as they are going through the steps of the writing process. Not only that, their peers will be able to provide feedback, thus the peer edit. I think that this will help with my time-management as well, since I won't be getting 24 writing pieces at once to do a teacher edit. Not to mention the fact that since the students know that their peers will be reading their writing, they will be more likely to put forth an extra effort so that they could impress their classmates. It's a win-win situation!

One issue that comes to mind about using this tool is the fact that students need gmail addresses in order to access Google Docs. Since the school system does not provide email access to students and not all students have email access readily available, this can be a tricky obstacle to overcome. Another obstacle is that because it is a shared document, other students may write something that is considered inappropriate or offensive. This could easily be traced however, so it is important to inform the students of this beforehand, so that they won't be tempted.

One final thought! After watching the video about Googlewave, I'm excited for it to come out. Since it is a tool that helps things get done with a group and it is kept completely private, it seems like it'll be another beneficial tool to use in a classroom.