3:25 pm Uncategorized
I am also using the macbooks with my French 3 st. class to do their Francophone country project. After many agonizing usb-losing dramas int he past, I said everyone has to use google docs this time. Except for one very responsible girl who I am letting make a movie instead, everyone is using google docs. It is so amazing to actually sit back and check their work as they go in real time! Trying to use google docs in the old Newell labs was an exercise is torture, but now that we have the macs it is working like we always suspected it could!
Hi Delsie,
My ability to monitor their work and the not having excuses for not doing their work are two of the best things about google docs. There were a lot of shenanigans with passwords earlier in the semester, but it died down by the end of the year. I will say that if a student is very responsible and wants to use a different platform, I tend to let him/her to this. I had one girl learn to use windows movie maker for a different project earlier this year (which she resisted), but then she wanted to use that skill again for a project instead of google docs, so I let her. But no more Powerpoints in lieu of google docs presentations!
I like your idea of the important looking paper with the password, but it seems like the problem for some kids is they’ve already changed the default password to a personalized one, and then they forget it. I will make a bigger push to have them remember passwords next year too.
Posted by Kendra Paupst, on June 5th, 2011, at 6:45 am. #.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Some comments on using Google Docs: I have been using Google Docs for several years now for several things:
1. I post class notes daily. This should be useful for kids who are absent and to make sure they have the correct spelling for words, etc. I wish I could get a report on who is actually using this resource. My guess is that the kids who really need it don’t use it.
2. The kids do all projects using Google Docs. It was torture using the PC labs and I thought that once the new Macs came along resistance to GD would end but I still got a surprising amount of resistance. Some kids have preferred programs they want to use (the presentation programs is not as good as PowerPoint for instance), some kids resent my ability to monitor their work (many more are happy to have me check it and make suggestions and helpful comments), a surprising number feel bereft of excuses for not doing their work and they don’t like it (the dog can’t eat their homework, there is no flash drive to loose, the printer can’t malfunction, etc.). All that is music to my ears.
3. Next semester I’m thinking of having the kids keep a weekly blog instead of a notebook journal.
The biggest problem is that they forget their passwords. I suspect that in some cases it is the last excuse left for the ones who don’t want to use GD. It may be a stalling tactic or it may be real, but it puts a tremendous strain on Josh because I have to keep nagging him about resetting passwords (sorry Josh!). Next semester I’ll give each one of them an important looking paper with their loging information and make a big fuss about keeping it in a safe place. I already spend one class period showing them how to use GD but there are always problems with the passwords later on.
There is a tradeoff between the bells and whistles of a dedicated program and the great capability for collaborative work that GD affords. However, I really like using GD in the classroom and can’t imagine going back to the old way of doing projects. I think that it does improve the final papers and presentations and they learn more when they are monitored during their creative process, not just graded on their final product. Furthermore, the ones who embrace the technology seem to use it to collaborate with each other in projects for other classes as well. I think that teaching the kids to use GD is well worth the effort.
Posted by Delsie, on June 5th, 2011, at 5:44 am. #.