Happy December!
Last week I tried using Google docs with my Journalism students. Some background: When students have a story due, they usually print out a copy, I make 12 copies (one for each student), then each student reads his/hers aloud while the rest of us notate corrections and offer suggestions.
This time (last Wednesday), I asked each student to copy and paste his/her story to a page on Googledocs I had created. During class each student read his article while the rest of us followed on Googledoc. It was distracting to have students reading while everyone was trying to type comments because the text itself kept changing (because of other students' comments). The bell rang before we were finished reading all the stories and I was ready to give up on this newfangled technology. The next day, students came in with some revelations and suggestions.
REALIZATIONS: (1) only 10 people can edit a document at a time; (2) it is distracting to be reading while others are correcting the same text from which one is reading; (3) it is hard to focus on the story being read/student reading the story when you are busy trying to figure out how/where to comment.
REVISIONS: (1) Next time students will upload their own stories and share them with students in class. (2) Students will have one day/night to read and comment on each story. (3) The next day we will open Googledocs together: (3a) Each student will read corrections and responses for his/her story. (3b) Classmates will have time to clarify their comments and ask for elaboration.
Yay! It's true, I'm "learning" with my students.
It's kind of scary.
I have control issues.
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I really like the way they have to go do some of this work outside the classroom. That means that they will have to own some of the responsibility of the activity. In this sort of Elective, I think that makes for a more solidifying learning experience. Have you found that they are better at the revision process because of this?
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