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Running Head: GOOGLE DOCS

The Google Docs Web 2.0 Tool

Jurelle Nairn

Salisbury University

Dr. Diallo Sessoms

EDUC 571

May 12th, 2010

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Abstract

The use of Google Docs has increased tremendously over the past

decade. It is important to learn about this Web 2.0 tool and its

many uses (Thompson, 2008). This paper will examine the

background, functionality and applications of Google Docs and

how this tool can enhance learning and productivity in education

as well as related to my personal career. In addition, this

paper focuses on the Google Form application of Google Docs and

some of its specific uses for my career.

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The Google Docs Web 2.0 Tool

Background

Google Docs is a component of the Google Apps platform

which contains three main segments: messaging, collaboration,

and security and compliance. The main components of the

messaging segment are Google Mail, Google Talk, and Google

Calendar and the main components of the collaboration segment

are Google Sites, Google Docs, and Google Video

(http://googledocs.blogspot.com). The collaboration applications

provide its users with continuous innovation, smooth information

sharing, increased worker mobility, enterprise-class service,

information access control, and secure infrastructure

(http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/collaboration.html#

). Google Docs is a fairly new addition to the Web 2.0 field,

having been released in closed beta format to a limited amount

of users on June 6th, 2006, as Google Lab Spreadsheets and

finally made open beta and available to all Google Apps users in

2007(Rochelle, 2009). This final product came about after two

separate products, Writely, a web-based word processor, and

Google Spreadsheets merged. Because this application is fairly

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new, a limited amount of research has been conducted on this

tool and its usefulness.

Despite the lack of research on Google Docs, it has made

extraordinary advancements since its inception. Less than a year

ago, on July 6, 2009, the product was fully released- meaning

that is was thoroughly tested, coded, and bug-free (Rochelle,

2009). No later than this year, on January 13th, Google announced

that Google Docs would allow any type of file under 1GB to be

uploaded and shared free of cost (Harbison, 2010). Google Docs

is continuing to move in the right direction and improve its

functionality with the acquisition of companies such as

Docverse, which produced tools that allow multiple users to

collaborate online and are compatible with formats such as

spreadsheets, word processors, and power point (Rochelle, 2010).

Functionality

Google Docs is best described by Wikipedia as a “„software

as a service‟ version of an office suite”. A variety of

documents can be produced with this application such as

spreadsheets, presentations and forms (Seale, 2010). These can

be created within the application, imported from other programs,

and even emailed through Google Docs itself. Documents produced

in Google docs can also be saved in various formats such as PDF,

HTML, TEXT, RTF and ODF to the user‟s choice of location (Seale,

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2010). By default, the documents are automatically saved to

limit data loss to Google‟s servers and are accessible wherever

there is an internet connection.

Google Docs has a mobile application, Mobile Google Docs,

which allows users to view and edit their documents and

spreadsheets. Presently, this application does not allow the

viewing and editing of PDF documents and presentations

(Harbison, 2010).

The highlight of Google Docs is its collaboration ability.

A document can be produced and several users can be provided

with access to manipulate and edit the document without having

to duplicate it (Chandler, 2009). The host of the document does

not have to worry about security measures because Google Docs

has controls in place that allows the host to determine how

accessible they want the document to be (Chandler, 2009).

Applications

There are three main applications associated with Google

Docs: Google Documents, Google Spreadsheets, and Google

Presentations (Rochelle, 2010).

Google Documents

Google Documents facilitates the ease of creating, sharing,

and editing documents online (Chandler, 2009). It allows you to

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upload Microsoft Word, Open Office, RTF, HTML, or plain text

documents, create your own documents from scratch, or download

ones that you already have online. Users can edit documents

online at the same time with their person of choice and invite

others to view these changes. With Google Documents, users can

also keep track of the changes made and resort to previous

versions if they so choose (Chandler, 2009). Other key features

include its ability to publish documents online, such as web

pages, and its ability to attach documents created to emails for

distribution.

The Google Document editor has a familiar word processing

interface which resembles that of Microsoft Word (Rochelle,

2010). It includes key features such as real time collaboration,

improved formatting, and import, export fidelity.

Google Spreadsheets

Similar to Google Documents, Google Spreadsheets allows users to

create share and edit spreadsheets online. It allows the

importation and exportation of .xls, .cvs, .txt, and .ods files

and also allows users to export their work to PDF or HTML files

upon completion (Harbison, 2010). Similar to other spreadsheet

software, Google Spreadsheets enables users to format cells and

edit formulas to make their data look the way they want it to.

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Google is constantly finding and implementing ways to

enhance their products. Some recent improvements made to Google

Spreadsheet to make it more familiar to its users are the

additions of the formula bar which lets you view long formulas

in single line and edit them; auto-fill which eases the process

of duplicating an entry; and the ability to move and sort

columns (Harbison, 2010).

A branch of Google Spreadsheets that is a personal favorite

of mine is its ability to create forms through Google Forms.

These forms can be sent out to anyone you choose and can be used

for limitless purposes. The greatest asset of these forms is

that all the responses are returned to the host in one

spreadsheet which eases the ability to interpret and assess the

responses (Harbison, 2010).

Google Presentations

Google Presentations allows its users to create, share and edit

online presentations, and allows users to import and export .ppt

and .pps file types, insert pictures and videos, and format

slides as they so choose. The highlight of this application is

its ability to allow viewers in remote locations to view

presentations at the same time (Seale, 2010).

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Enhancement of Learning and Productivity

In today‟s world, there is a great demand for increasing

productivity (Barba, 1995). Many businesses have implemented

systems that are designed specifically for ensuring the

maximization of their resources‟ potential and education is

certainly not exempt from this sector. With the economy in a

slump, the need for higher productivity within Education is

crucial (Barba, 1995). Google Docs provides solutions to the

productivity problems of both the business and educational

worlds, but my focus is primarily on the educational realm

(Bonk, 2010). With maximized productivity, learning enhancement

will follow.

The first solution that comes to mind when thinking of how

Google Docs increases productivity in education is through the

reduction of costs associated with paper trail and

communication. Google Docs allows professors to share documents

with students and colleagues without having to print several

copies, saving the educational systems thousands of dollars

(Young, 2008). Another example of increased productivity is

Google Docs collaboration feature which allows professors to

access students‟ papers and make digital corrections (Bonk,

2010). With this feature professors can correct errors while the

student is completing the assignment and students can receive

feedback instantly. Once again, this eliminates the cost of

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paper trail and learning is enhanced through the rapid feedback.

Students can also view their document while it is being assessed

and can immediately ask questions while their assignment is the

priority to the professor, rather than two weeks later when the

entire class‟ assignments have been evaluated.

Google Docs is available twenty-four hours a day, seven

days a week, making learning readily available at all times

(http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html). Professors can

post presentations and notes to their Google Docs account and

students can access it whenever they want to. No longer are

there boundaries to learning (Bonk, 2010). While watching the

posted presentation on Google Docs, students can take advantage

of Google Chat and discuss what they are viewing with other

students that may be online simultaneously. This feature ensures

that students can still learn regardless of weather or other

restrictions that may inhibit them from learning in the physical

classroom (Bonk, 2010).

Lastly, Google Docs helps to promote group work and peer

editing skills which helps fulfill one of The National Council

of Teachers of English‟s stated goals that advocates for writing

as a process and supports multiple revisions and peer editing

(http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html). When writing is

viewed as a process and not a product, students tend to learn

more (Melo, 2008). If a paper is graded and handed back to a

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student, they make corrections mechanically instead of

intelligently (Melo, 2008). They make the changes, but never

really have a grasp of what they did wrong and how to prevent

the same mistakes from occurring again (Melo, 2008). Google Docs

allows these mistakes to be prevented, capturing them as soon as

they leave the student‟s fingertips.

Google Docs and My Career

I have been using Google Docs in ways similar to the

ones presented in this paper. I am a basketball coach and this

tool has proven to be extremely useful. I am currently using

several Google Docs tools to assist with a basketball clinic

that I will be hosting in the Bahamas. Right now, my resources

are very limited and the need to collaborate with partners in

the Bahamas is essential for my project to be a success.

With Google Docs being a free application, I am able to

communicate, distribute and collect information with ease. One

capacity that this application helps me in is camp registration.

With Google Docs, I was able to construct an online registration

form free of charge allowing me to forgo the expense of paper

applications.

Prior to that, I was able to post my ideas for the clinic‟s

flyer to Google Docs and receive input from several key contacts

which helped tremendously is creating the final product. Most

recently, I discovered a way to use a mail merge feature in the

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Google Spreadsheet application which allows me to personalize

emails sent to my target market as well as individuals that

already registered.

Google Docs is an outstanding tool. It is cost effective,

user friendly, and contains applications that can be use in

limitless arenas.

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References

Barba, W. (1995). Higher education in crisis: new york in

national perspective. garland studies in higher

education, vol. 3. New York, NY: Garland Publishing.

Bonk, C. (2010). How Technology is changing school. Educational

Leadership, 67(7), 60-65.

Young, J. (2008). Three ways that web-based computing will

change colleges-- and challenge them. Chronicle of Higher

Education, 55(10), 11-11.

Melo, G. (2008). Writing as a process: rewarding the slipshod?

Education Week, 27(3), 26-26.

Rochelle, J. (2009, July 7). Removing the beta label.

Retrieved from http://googledocs.blogspot.com

Chandler, A. (2009, October 28). Taking charge of your

document sharing. Retrieved from

http://googledocs.blogspot.com

Harbison, P. (2010, January 5). Google docs and sites:

2009 in review. Retrieved from

http://googledocs.blogspot.com

Seale, T. (2010, February 17). Google docs: the tool for

the 21st century classroom. Retrieved from

http://googledocs.blogspot.com

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Rochelle, J. (2010, March 5). Google docs welcomes doc

verse. Retrieved from http://googledocs.blogspot.com

Rochelle, J. (2010, April 12). A new google docs.

Retrieved from http://googledocs.blogspot.com

Thompson, J. (2008). Don't be afraid to explore web 2.0.

Education Digest, 74(4), 19-22.