Farmer_Sharing+with+Google+Docs

//**Sharing With GOOGLE DOCS by JaiCynthia Farmer**//

 * Welcome to my Wiki Page. I am a graduate student at The University of Akron pursuing my Master's in Education with Licensure option. I will be certified to teach grades 7-12 and I will offer a 21st learning environment that supports student engagement and student access, while incorporating technology, too. Sharing with //Google Docs// is one avenue of achieving this goal.**



//**__Project Description__**// Below I have embedded a Pre-Reading activity to a unit lesson I teach on Poetry. I created this document via Google Docs and students answer these multiple choice questions right before I begin my unit lesson, so I can pre-assess what my students all ready know. The great thing about Google Docs is that once my students submit this pre-reading assessment, Google Docs tabulates the answers submitted by my students in the form of a summary and graph. I am able to view a spreadsheet of every students answers and the graph breaks down each question by percentage, so I know where to begin teaching on my unit.

media type="custom" key="12383630" align="center"

The following link is of a a video tutorial I created using //Jing//on how to create a Google Doc: **[] **. I find this tutorial useful for teaching instruction because many teachers still are unfamiliar with Google Docs and don't know where to start.

//__**Additional Resources**__//
 * [] - //Google Tools for Schools//
 * [|http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html]- //For Educators//
 * [] - //For creating forms and online surveys//
 * [] - //Using Google Docs by Tom Barrett//
 * [] - //Using Google Docs Simple as ABC//
 * [] - Google Docs Tutorial

//__**Content Uses of This Technology**__// Google Docs is great for Teachers who want to create, or edit spreadsheets, presentations and word processing documents in real-time. The fact that this online storage device allows me to work in real-time, mean I can work with other Language Arts Teachers (or with other content area Teachers) in my field at the same time and be in separate locations, too. Google Docs is also great for students as well, especially when teachers want to facilitate a collaborative learning environment. Again, since this device is in real-time, students can work with other students in different classes, or in different schools on a collaborative project. For example, I would create collaborative learning projects like: writing a collaborative story, brainstorming as a class, creating a class newsletter every month, class notes and even photo sharing; school related of course! For tips on how to use this great online storage device, click on the following link:[| How To Use Google Docs]. Try using Google Docs in you classroom, it is a great way to incorporate technology as well.

//**__Pedagogical Considerations__**// Through the use of Google Docs in the classroom, students will never be able to loose their work ever again and is designed for students who have little to no experience with using computers. Google Docs is simple and a great way for teachers to facilitate collaborative group writing and research projects, while using technology all at the same time. As a Language Arts teacher, one of the pedagogical advantages of such a program like Google Docs is being able to edit documents on the Web. Teachers are able to view student documents online and Google Docs has a comment feature that is easy to use and is displayed alongside each paragraph, just as it would be on paper. The comment feature is available to students and teachers alike. Also, Google Docs allow students to peer edit their peers paper during the revision process of composing a paper. The best part of this whole idea is that a document can be edited by more than one person at a time because Google automatically tracks changes and updates them. The disadvantages to incorporating technology in the classroom through the use of Google Docs is the fact that a computer in the classroom is a necessity. At the same time, there must be a reliable Internet connection in order that data is not lost.



__**Where to Purchase or Acquire**__ Google Docs is a free online storage device, designed by Google and using it is simple! You can create an account for your students as well as for yourself. In fact, you can sign up and add all of your student's names to one account by using [|Google Apps Team Addition]. Google Apps Team Addition makes using Google Docs to incorporate technology fast and easy. With Google Docs all you need is a Google account, access to the Internet and you have access to the software as well as to the documents. All you have to do is decide how you want to engage your students in authentic learning experiences by using Google Docs.