Google+Docs

=Google Docs =

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From a fellow Google Certified teacher:
 The first assignment I did with my students was a story. You could either assign them a partner to "share" with,  or they can pick their own. After they were each logged in to their Google Docs, they opened a new doc and we named it together "Story  1" (original).  I project an image (I used a castle {another original idea) on my smartboard and the kids start writing a story that incorporated that image in  some way. After five minutes, I changed the picture (mysterious pirate ship), and the kids shared their doc with their partner. The first  time, there is, of course, a bit of a ruckus, but after that, it went very smoothly.

 After "sharing" their stories with their partner, they each went into their docs and picked up their partner's story. They chose a different  font and color and continued the tale. A few minutes later, another picture and another "share" back to the original partner. We did this  for six rounds in one 50 minute period. At the end, besides the basic Google word processing, they all understood how the collaborative  piece works. They were also giggling and having a great time while learning how Google Docs works. When they were done, I showed them how to insert pics into their stories...they loved the direct option to Google images.  I have used this assignment a number of times, and it has always beena great ice breaker into the wonderful world of Google Docs! <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> I also used it with high school kids and grown ups; they all enjoyed it.

=<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Introducing Google Docs to the Class = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Via Tom Barrett <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Day one of introducing Google Docs to a class is always an exciting one, I have been fortunate to be able to see three cohorts experience the fun ways to use it. Today we made a start with our Year 5s and had a great afternoon. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The first thing that you need to have ready is a document that the children can work on – a task to kickstart their use of Docs and one that may illustrate some of the features. Spreadsheets can have 50 simultaneous editors, the highest number in the Docs suite of tools, as we were all working at the same time this was ideal. Documents and Presentations have a limit of only 10 simultaneous editors – after that anyone opening them will only be able to view – not edit. (Check out this [|Google Docs Help section] for more.) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> This makes Spreadsheets an ideal first choice for your first collaborative writing experience. Not only is the simultaneous editor limit high but the cell, column and row structure of spreadsheets provides a lovely clear scaffold to shared work. I would always go on to use the Documents in smaller groups later on. (Of course Presentations are also clearly structured, perhaps make something with a slide for each person to edit – either way make it easy for the children to be successful.) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> (We used some little sheets for the children’s password and usernames. [|Feel free to grab a copy.]) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> I created a spreadsheet called “My Favourite” and shared it with everyone. There is a screenshot below and it basically had, in the header row, lots of different subjects: My Favourite…Band / Fruit / Sealife Creature etc. In the first 2 columns, which you cannot see, are the children’s names. This clear structure works very well. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|Preview a blank copy of this document and grab a copy of your own from the Templates Gallery.] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> This first foray into the use of Google Docs was all about logging in, opening and editing this document and you can see from the picture that they added all of their information. There was a great buzz around the year group as they realised they could see everyone editing in real time, I wandered next door and the same was taking place in the other Year 5 class. The children enjoyed sharing their work together and, often contrary to what some people might think, they were chatting away with each other – speaking to those who had written something elsewhere in the Doc.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> Children were working in pairs on laptops and I asked them to Sign Out from their session and then repeat with the other person. In this way the children are supporting each other on their first attempts at logging in.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> I decided to push them on and we went through the procedure of creating a new document and then sharing that with me. We talked about the idea of “handing-in” your work and the kids were quick to catch on and they spent the rest of the afternoon creating and sharing something.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">I think it is really useful to be in the same place as the kids when they share their first document. I put my own Docs home page on the SMARTBoard and tell kids when they have completed the sharing successfully. They wouldn’t get this sort of confirmation when away from class. It just helps them to know they have done it correctly and reinforces the process.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> As I speak – a couple of hours after school has finished – some of my class have been busy creating documents and sharing them with me from home. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">A quick checklist then for your first Google Docs session.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Get all of your passwords and usernames ready to hand – you will almost always have to refer to them. If you are using Ed Apps then you will have already made a CSV file for a bulk upload.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Use a simple sheet to share the username and passwords with the class – writing them out yourself might be time consuming but saves problems with children writing them incorrectly.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Do a quick login on the school computers using a child’s account – remind yourself of the process. Does it behave the same?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Remember that on the first login there is a security question in which children will have to enter a spam filtering word. We needed to support lots of children with this.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Have a document already shared with the class, so that when they open their Docs Home there is something there.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Use a shared Doc to begin with to demonstrate the collaborative nature of Docs – use Spreadsheets if you are expecting more then 10 simultaneous users.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Keep it simple and easy like the My Favourite idea I used today.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Before you get into the document show the children around the Docs Home screen.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Demonstrate how the different views or filters on your documents changes the view. This is often a problem when children think someone has hacked their account and deleted everything, but they haven’t clicked on ALL ITEMS. Good to take time to demo this.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Show children that there is a right click menu on the documents.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">When viewing a document talk about how it is automatically saved and how each change is logged and can be viewed.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Explain how important it is to SIGN OUT at the end of the session.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">SOURCE: http://edte.ch/blog/2009/10/21/introducing-google-docs-to-the-class/#more-426 (Tom Barrett - copied here because Wordpress is blocked in our district).

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 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|Google Docs and Spreadsheets]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|21 Ways to Use Google Docs in the Classroom]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|Recipes for Good Writing]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|GoogleDocs Templates]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|Google Apps Education]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|Google Docs for Educators]