Online Collaboration with Google Drive

Google Drive 

Google offers a lot of awesome tools for educators and businesses.  Google Drive is one of them.  By opening up a GMail account, users can access many unique features.  When using Google Drive, users can create and share Documents, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Forms, or Pictures offering a paperless classroom.  There is a variety of apps that can connect to Drive as well. 
Here are some ideas for using Google Drive in the classroom:

•  Creating a Document: 
• Students can brainstorm, draft, edit, and publish a story together for a creative writing activity. 
• Students can research and write a collaborative research essay. 
• Students can create an online, ongoing journal that can be shared with the teacher to respond to and provide feedback.
• Teachers can write collaborative lesson plans and share them with anyone, i.e. administrators, students, parents.
• Teachers and students can take and share notes from meetings or lectures.
• Creating a Presentation:
• Students can collaborate while creating a presentation about a given topic.
• Students can make a creative presentation about books that they've read.
• Anytime that you are thinking about using PowerPoint or other presentation tools, utilize Google Presentation...sharing has never been easier!
• Creating a Spreadsheet:
• Track grades and keep students informed.
• When scheduling students, do it collaboratively using Google Spreadsheet!
• Make graphs, charts, and more for math classes.
• Creating a Form:
• Create and administer assessments.Great for pre and post tests!
• Create surveys for students to participate in or students can create surveys.
• Use for classroom/student observations.
• Students can submit their reading records, band practice sheets, or other logs paperless!
• Keep track of behavior referrals by creating a behavior form.
• Other Features:
• Keep documents in folders for personal use or share them with others.
• Access Google calendar and synchronize schedules.
• Create groups to allow for collaboration.
• Access IM (instant messaging) or Video message.
• GMAIL offers translation--communication with parents in their native language!
• OR use the translation option to communicate with pen pals across the world.

Google Drive is a wonderful Web 2.0 tool that educators across the world can bring into their classrooms!  For more information about Google Drive go to: www.google.com/drive.  The best news...it's FREE! 

 

Try it out today and let me know your thoughts!! 

Courtesy of drive.google.com