Google Docs in the Classroom
Note to self: always copy your entry before hitting publish. Blogger just ate my beautiful post because of an error.
I will paraphrase. I am a huge geek. Lately I have been using Google Docs to play a D&D game with some friends. All of our character sheets are on it as well as our back stories, and the Dungeon Master has put up maps of the world and dungeons to help immerse us more into the world. It really works, and helps. We can play anywhere and not worry about bringing anything but a computer and having the internet. We don't necessarily need books and tons of paper maps and sheets. It's been an overall great experience.
Now, putting that into the classroom, imagine if you will a history class learning about the Battle of Gettysburg. On Google Docs the teacher can post pictures of the location and of people reenacting the battle itself. It can really immerse the kids into what they are learning without actually going there. In addition any projects or papers they work on can be through Google Docs. The teacher can monitor their progress and make comments as well as answer questions outside of school. This can make kids feel as if they have all the help they need. Their peers are right there, giving them more time to work on it without having to deal with travel.
I do love the internet. Google has really created some wonderful things. The only thing I feel I must touch on now is my bad experience with the internet. Google Docs is great, but always caution your kids to save a copy of their work onto their computers or they may end up having to do it again, rushed and not as good, as I had to today!
I will paraphrase. I am a huge geek. Lately I have been using Google Docs to play a D&D game with some friends. All of our character sheets are on it as well as our back stories, and the Dungeon Master has put up maps of the world and dungeons to help immerse us more into the world. It really works, and helps. We can play anywhere and not worry about bringing anything but a computer and having the internet. We don't necessarily need books and tons of paper maps and sheets. It's been an overall great experience.
Now, putting that into the classroom, imagine if you will a history class learning about the Battle of Gettysburg. On Google Docs the teacher can post pictures of the location and of people reenacting the battle itself. It can really immerse the kids into what they are learning without actually going there. In addition any projects or papers they work on can be through Google Docs. The teacher can monitor their progress and make comments as well as answer questions outside of school. This can make kids feel as if they have all the help they need. Their peers are right there, giving them more time to work on it without having to deal with travel.
I do love the internet. Google has really created some wonderful things. The only thing I feel I must touch on now is my bad experience with the internet. Google Docs is great, but always caution your kids to save a copy of their work onto their computers or they may end up having to do it again, rushed and not as good, as I had to today!
2 comments:
Yes, that's frustrating and you're not alone.
The D & D game with Google Docs enhancement was a good analogy for what can be done in a school project to increase student immersion.
It seems kind of like a no-win situation when choosing between the cloud and local storage. The cloud is convenient and accessible everywhere and easy to transfer to a new computer, but you don't have personal control over your data. Local storage is easier to back up but less accessible and convenient. I think the only real solution is redundancy.
-Sharona
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