Google Mad
Another innovation to add to the Google family… and a large one it is at that! I like the idea of being able to use Google Groups with fellow staff members to create a place where information and ideas can be shared based on a common interest or topic. It was suggested in the tutorial that it could be used to communicate with parents such as sending important information or letters home. I think this would be useful if your students are very young and it ensures parents receive the information that they need. However, I think there has to be a line drawn and I’m not sure how I would feel about having a group specifically for parents.
After seeing how Google docs works I really wish I had known about it earlier especially for group assignments! Emailing documents back and forth and having everyone add their own “parts” could have been so much easier. I like that more than one person can edit one document at the same time. As far as using it in the classroom is concerned I think there may be better programs to use for young children if you wanted them to edit a document for example. However I think it would be very useful to use with staff members on things like letters to parents, newsletters etc.
