Google Documents

Google Document

    

Thanks to our professor, I have started to explore Google Document recently, and it turns out to be such an amazing tool. I had used Microsoft Office Suite and Apple Pages before. The first difference I have experience is the Google document is online and in the cloud, while other two are offline and isolated. Because this bright idea, I can access to all my documents in anywhere without worry about forgetting my USB flash drive. Because it is in the cloud, I can share the document with anyone. My partner Jeff and I explored a little bit in the class about how to share document in the Google Drive. And Jeff shared with me the group project on Saturday evening and I edited a little bit. This is the way to go! With sharing, I can work collaboratively with my partner without emailing him any attachment. All I need to do is to click the share button.

Even though Microsoft Word and Apple Pages save automatically what you type in in intervals, the Google document save all the change almost in every second. That’s why there is no save button on the Google document! Another difference is to rename the document, all I need to do is to click the untitled document and type in the title I want to use, of course I can click File to choose rename button to rename a document. But Google document just provides an easier way to do it!

However, Google Documents does have its drawbacks. It has to rely on Internet connection in order to access to my files. This is obviously difficult for a user who doesn’t have Internet access. In addition, the security of Google Documents is still needed to be concerned. Google allows document sharing by the document owners, which is a powerful collaboration and productivity feature, while the security and control around sharing are very weak. The way Google allows owners of document to share their document are too broad and undefined, which might cause security problem, especially for our students who might not be as cautious as adults.

At last, I want to briefly comment on how Google document can help students achieve Common Core State Standards. For instance, one of the Common Core State Standards for writing in the 3rd grade is to use technology to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others. Google document provides an ideal place for achieving this goal, because of its easy sharing, collaborating and publication of writing. In the writing class, students can go to their shared Google document and add information to the same page. The whole process involves students interacting and collaborating with each other. While students doing collaborative writing, the teacher can see the whole process to tell who really contribute to the group projects. With Google document, students cannot only learn how to write individually, but also learn how to collaborate with each other, which exactly addresses what the Common Core State Standards require.