Topic 15. Google Docs

Teaching students to write essays for the AP exam is always a challenge. It takes forever and the students get bored. Each year I try a new approach. Most of the time, they flop. This year I want to try using Google Docs for editing essays. I've heard of the site, but never really checked it out.

Google Docs is basically an online storage for documents. You can compose documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. The documents can be saved online. Once you have created documents, you can invite people to view and/or edit your documents. Up to 200 people can be invited. Only 10 can actively edit at one time. Editors can highlight and comment on the document. If you give them permission, editors can also invite other people to edit.

I like the idea of using Google Docs to edit essays in my classroom. I can bring the COWs in the room and the students can edit on the laptops. We can use the Promethean Board to pull up the documents and discuss edits as a class. I will be able to access edits without file transfer or using a document camera. Using Google Docs will also prevent making copies. Once we have edited the documents in class, students can go back into Google Docs to view the documents when preparing for an essay.

Because only 10 students can edit a document at a time, multiple documents will have to be created in Google Docs. One way would be to save the same document with numbers after it. This way, groups of students could work on each document. My plan is to publish essays of different quality. One good, two okay, and one weak. I will invite all students to view the documents, but only give certain students editing privileges on each document. The students will have 20 minutes to edit the essay and then they will present their ideas to the class. Since all students have viewing privileges, all students can see the document for later review.

Another issue with Google Docs is logging in. To login to the site, students must have a Google account. Students will either have to create an account or use a dummy account created by the teacher. There is an option to allow people to view and edit your document without logging in. The problem with this would be you don't know who is making edits.