1st Blog - Google Docs

Week 1

Tell me your thoughts on using Google docs for your lesson plan project – very pleasantly surprised.  I have to admit that I was skeptical about using Google docs for this project.  What was the big deal?  I knew Google docs was a free application to create documents such as Word and Excel on the Internet.  It is a way to create these documents without buying Microsoft Office.  In a classroom setting, a free application is great for students who cannot afford to purchase the software. 

It was easy for me to use Google docs for this project.  It was very similar to creating a Word document.  I noticed that the document I created in class on Wednesday night regarding the last movie I watched was available when I logged in.  Cloud computing at its best – very helpful for students.  The thing that I found really wonderful was how easy it was to share my technology lesson plans project with the instructor.  Just one click of the button, enter her email address, and hit send.  I did not have to open my email application and then attach the document to an email message.  So fast.  In our reading, Learning Amonst the Riches:  Students in the Cloud, it states, “The cloud is where new learning conversations and related innovations are happening.”  Perhaps this is why we were asked to use Google docs.

The other part of our homework I found interesting was the vocabulary worksheet.  I started my degree in Information Technology in 1998 and had to memorize many technology vocabulary worksheets.  Some of the words on the current worksheet were the same as the worksheets in 1998, but there were many new words on the list, such as blog, smartphone, and social bookmarking.  In our reading Connectivism:  A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, it states that “Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago.”  This really came home for me when examining my career, my knowledge of IT, and working on the vocabulary list.  It is just amazing how quickly things change.