Google Notes from CUE - Docs and Forms

This is Part 2 of my notes from the all-day Advanced Google Workshop for Educators at CUE 2010.  Part 1 covered Google Search.  This part is about using Google Docs Spreadsheets and Forms in your school.

Quote of the day: "I'm going to be less sage on the stage; more guide on the side." - Diane Main

Diane is having the group contribute ideas via shared Google Docs.  Each doc reveals the group's ideas for using Docs in subject areas and grade levels.  This will be a great activity to replicate in curriculum mapping and planning back at our school District.

How you can help improve Google's tools.  Join GWEN (Google Workshop for Educators Network) and participated in discussions!  You probably need to attend a Google Workshop (and these workshops seem to be one of the few things in Google land that cost money) to be admitted to GWEN, but you are guaranteed learn something in these workshops!  Discussions on GWEN might be able to trigger feature ideas.  Cristin Frodella (Classroom 2.0 link) is the lead education specialist at Google to get ideas to.

Examples of Docs with Students

• Grammar review
• Student surveys
• Take notes in spreadsheet during class on iPod Touch
• D.C. field trips - build agenda and projects, post pictures, then use Google Presentations

Organizing Docs in Folders for Your Students

• Create a folder one time to a section.  Then anytime you want to add an assignment, drag it in, and it's automatically shared to your students.
• Create a hand-in folder within your section's folder.
• Create a template (or ask your tech staff) and share it with your school or with your students (or use one of the built in templates). File > New > From Template...

Revisions and Comments

• In peer writing among students, show the shared document on the screen and discuss verbally in class. File > See Revision History.  Check boxes in Revision History and click Compare Checked to see color-coded comparison.
• Show students the Revision History once.  They will quickly understand the accountability issues involved!
• There's a commenting tool you can use to add comments to other's work or todo's in a shared document.
• You can take edit permissions away from students after the document is "finalized".
• You can also turn on and off email notifications (might be only a Spreadsheets features).

Docs Goodies

• Tools > Word Count has with readability indices.  Discuss what these statistics mean with your students, but be careful (in science papers, words like "photosynthesis" can skew the the statistics).
• "Mail Merge" with data from spreadsheets is not a Docs feature yet, but assuming that it will be some day. 

Google Forms

• Diane has her students create frequent quick surveys as classroom assignments.  Each students is responsible for making sure that the survey has enough responses. When complete the student sends the results URL to her, and the links get posted on a classroom Google Sites page.  
• Hint: Always have "First Name" and "Last Name" text question as the first two questions in a survey.  
• Hint: Make all questions required, but tell users they can just put a dot "." in the answer if they don't have time to answer.
• Hint: Use the automatic Timestamp (and show students that you see it) to make sure that students do work on time.
• Use graphing summary (Form > Show Summary of Responses) as a way to help analyze results, also has daily response graph.

The 13 and Under Problem (COPPA)

• With Google Apps it's "not a problem".  But I'm a little confused.  See this discussion on the Google Apps help site.  It implies that it's the school's problem, not Google's.
• Basically, in the school's agreement with Google, the school assumes the responsibility for complying with COPPA and the information that students submit. When offering online services to children under 13, schools must be cognizant of COPPA, which requires parental consent for the online collection of information about users under 13.
• Diane's school created an Acceptable Use Aggreement, with a separate Google AUA (where?) that parents sign and return.