Google Docs
From LIS 460 Summer 2007
Contents |
Google Docs and Spreadsheets: What are they?
Google Docs and Spreadsheets are web based word processing and spreadsheet applications. This means that they can be accessed on any computer that has an Internet connection. The applications are extremely similar to Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.
How to Use Them
Users may select to use the doc or spreadsheet format for their project. Google Docs include features, such as changing the font of the text, inserting graphics or cutting and pasting text, which is exactly what a user can do with Microsoft Word. The major innovation with Google Docs is that multiple users can edit the document at the same time. Once the document has been created, the individual that created the doc invites other people via e-mail, so that the editing process and collaboration can begin. The doc can be published as a web page, uploaded to a blog or exported as another file. Google automatically saves the text throughout the writing and editing process, so that the text is not lost. Similarly, Google Spreadsheets are exactly like Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. There are columns and users can create formulas. Again, an individual can invite others via e-mail to edit and collaborate on the spreadsheet.
Google Docs and Spreadsheet can not only be published or exported, but they can be printed as well. As users edit the text of their document or spreadsheet, they can also discuss the changes in one of the chat windows. Another neat feature of Google Docs and Spreadsheets is that the user or users can organize their files with folders just like they would on their desktop.
History
Google Docs and Spreadsheets is a very recent application that has been made available to the public since February of 2007.
How to Use Them in the Library and Classroom
Google Docs and Spreadsheets can be used in a variety of situations amongst students, teachers and librarians. The main reason why it will be used often by a school community is because the docs and spreadsheets allow for collaboration amongst multiple individuals. For example, students may have to work on a science project in pairs of three. The students can take turns working on the proposal or they can schedule a time to work on it as a group while they are online. They can also publish their work when they are done so that their teacher can see it. Students can also discuss their project in one of the chat rooms as they edit or write the document or spreadsheet. These applications are able to help people collaborate from any computer. Students do not have to worry about losing their work since Google backs it up throughout their use of the application.
Librarians and teachers can also use Google Docs and Spreadsheets to collaborate on projects. For instance, a librarian can post a list of books that she is going to order and then invite teachers to add books to the list or make adjustments to it. The librarian could also send out a Google Doc or Spreadsheet to volunteers in order to organize a working schedule for a book fair. Teachers can use the application to communicate with the librarian and with other teachers. For example, the history teacher, English teacher and librarian, may come up with an American Studies project, where students have to explore the 1920s and write a paper on the that era's society and it's popular literature. In order to come up with the project, the teachers and the librarian can write out a lesson plan via Google Docs and contribute a variety of ideas and thoughts from their own computer terminals. It is evident that Google Docs and Spreadsheets will continue to grow as more people use it in the field of education.
