Google Docs

From a productivity/activity standpoint, Google Docs significantly altered the fabric of my classroom this year (not quite as much as Blogger). For those of you who don't know, it is an online word processor that allows students, teachers, clergymen and vivisected animals to create "Word" documents and edit them anytime and from any computer. Students can also share their work with teachers by inviting them as collaborators (handing the work in) and even collaborate with other students. Better yet, it's free and there is significant support for educators.

For those of you already wading in the pristine waters of Google Docs, I happened upon a few useful sites today. The first is a blog post from ICT in My Classroom entitled "Making Work in Google Docs." The article outlines some practical ways that Tom Barrett, the author, has used Docs in his classroom. He focuses on such things as commenting, revisions, and organizing work. Very useful.

Google Docs also has a nice little article explaining it's usefulness in the classroom, titled Using Google Docs in the classroom: Simple as ABC.