Recently I signed my grade 8 technology class to be a Sounding Board for the Flat Classroom Project Wikis on Uploading, Workflow Software and Wireless Connectivity. We were assigned the task of reading through these three wikis and providing feedback on: Content (clarity, quantity); Communication (between the students as collaborators) and Wiki Presentation (design, use of graphics, layout).
I have a class of 15 students so I assigned 5 students to each wiki. I wanted them to assess the wiki individually before they decided on what their group feedback would be, so I used our school`s Google Apps account and it worked really well.
First I shared the assignment with them as a viewable Google Document. This way I could include the links they would follow to get to all the wiki pages. Then I had them start a new document of their own with the headings:
List 3 things that are very good about this wiki project.
List 2 suggestions for improving the wiki page.
List 1 piece of new knowledge our group has obtained thanks to this wiki page.
They filled in their individual documents while looking through their assigned wiki page and then shared their answers with the rest of their team using the share feature in Google Docs.
Next they created a new team document with the same headings as their individual one but shared between all members of the team. They then read through each other`s answers and cut and pasted the ones they thought were the best ones into the shared group document. I showed them how to use comments and they edited their final document as a team using comments and the chat feature in Google Apps.
For the final piece I put each of their team responses up on the screen at the front of the class and we did the final edits as a class. I was then able to turn their work into a webpage and put the link on the Sounding Board wikis.
The process was really smooth. It provided me with both individual and group work I could assess (although this wasn`t for marks) and they managed to produce some really great work in a short period of time.
What a great use of Google Docs; a wonderful way to collaborate. I’m considering using Google Apps at my school; what has your experience with it been?
Hi Claire,
Now that we have started using Google Docs there is no going back, and I feel like we have only just started to tap into it’s potential. I know that one of our English teachers uses it so that he can give his student more timely feedback, and we are also using it in Science and Social Studies now. Thanks for your comment.