My Analysis of Google Documents

I am part of a jigsaw activity in my educational technology course. Our group decided to explore the components of Google Applications. It was my task to investigate Google Documents to determine my opinion on its educational merit. To distinguish things a bit more: I was looking at the word processing aspect of Google Documents as opposed to the Form, Presenter, or Spreadsheet (which are all contained under the document page).

The Good: The word processor (Document) software that is available via Google immediately interested me. I bought a new computer right before my senior year of college. I did not purchase Microsoft Office once my trial expired. I had to make sure that I had to modify my document by saving it as an .rtf file in Microsoft Works in order for my professors to be able to access the file. The students at my district do not all have Microsoft Office active on their home computers. Google documents helps solve this dilemma by housing this software free of charge.The word processing software reminds me of the Microsoft Word version circa 2000. Most of the basic word processing features can be found such as formatting, tables, ability to insert images and links, and the ability to add comments. I did enjoy ability to insert mathematical equations using insert Equation. The school computer that I have has the ability locked out for some particular reason, and I am glad to see it contained in this software.

In addition, students can access these files from any computer in the world that has access to the internet. The students in my district save their files on their personal share drive that is eventually wiped at the end of the year. Students only have access to the files at school unless they transfer the files using Flash Drives, email, or another online site. With Google Documents the file is stored online; therefore, students can easily access the file from home or school. The text that you are currently reading was typed using two different computers in two different locations. There are limitations to the file size you can have saved, but you can have a limit of 5000 documents and spreadsheets combined and 5000 images stored. For the average high school student, I do not see this as being too limiting in nature.

I was impressed by the instant save feature included with the product. The document saves every 20 seconds and saves all of the different revisions that you have done on the document. You can pull up older revisions if you want to compare different drafts of the same document. A student can easily share access to the teacher or other peers by clicking a share button. Teachers or other students can leave comments on the text. The ability to see the different revisions offers the teacher the chance to see the progress of the document. Teachers would no longer have to have the students print off multiple drafts to make comments. You could eliminate the majority of paper included in an English classroom.

Google Documents has the ability to translate your document into another language by simply clicking the Tools button on the toolbar, clicking translate, and then picking the language. I was thrilled by this feature that I do not remember being included in Word 2007. We are becoming a global learning community, and I could see students engaging in meaningful communication with students across the globe due to this particular feature. I cannot comment on the effectiveness of the translation due to my inability to speak any language other than English fluently.

The Bad: I did find some of the aspects of Microsoft Word that I wish Google Documents had. I realize that a free source can not have everything, and I imagine that some of these features could be included in future versions; however, I do want to highlight some of the shortcomings. I do miss the Smart Art, inserting sound, and other advanced features of Word. Several of the shortcuts you may be used to such as CTRL+Enter to start a new page are gone. Students will have to become accustomed to the small changes in order to take full advantage of this software. You can still highlight a word and check the definition and thesaurus. In fact, you are inundated with definitions from across the web; however, it is not as simple as highlighting the word, and right clicking to find synonyms or definitions. Instead, you have to highlight the word, select Tools,
and then look up the word. It is just a step backward in regards to a thesaurus in my mind.

Integrating Google Documents into the classroom: I believe that most high school students already have the skills needed to use Google Documents as a word processor. They would be able to tell you the differences between the software and Microsoft Word fairly easily. The ability to use the software to collaborate would take some scaffolding on the teacher's end. Students can share their documents and work together to create a piece of writing together. Students can also peer edit fairly easily as well. Peer editing is a part of my writing process, and now I feel that input can be returned to me very easily. My friends in other states and countries could easily access my document to make comments and/or changes. The teacher would then be able to see who made revisions and when they were made. You would still have to talk about ethics surrounding collaborative work.

Every subject could use this free product to help create a paperless environment in which students and teachers collaborate to produce an easily accessible document. I discussed earlier on how the application could be integrated into an English classroom to showcase the progress through the revision history, but this feature could be used throughout all of the subjects. I can imagine the old idea of a pen pal being used more effectively in today's Social Studies class due to the translate feature. You could have students communicate with students from a foreign classroom about real global issues. The imagination of the teacher is really the limit at this juncture.

The teacher would have to ensure that the students all have Google accounts, and would have to show the students how to use the functions of this particular application. They would have to monitor the students' documents and make sure that they have shared the document with them. It could be very easy to have someone else write a document for a student (there has always been the ethical issue). If a teacher is tracking the revisions of a document, they would be able to see who was accessing the document to make changes.