Grade 11s and Google Docs

We are always told that we should not reinvent the wheel; why exhaust ourselves when it is already laid out for us? Most teachers receive resources and think: 'Why spruce up whatever hits curriculum necessities already?' But @ballantynedj must disagree with the statement "Why reinvent the wheel?" because he is doing just that with his introduction of modern technology in the classroom.

I am not talking about just using educational computer software or educational ipad/ipod apps (which are beneficial in their own sense), I mean real-world programs like Google Docs where documents can be shared, edited, discussed and commented on by all members of the party it is shared with.

What was my role in this? Well, @yomsdunn, @yatesV and myself (@darthclaudiaa) have been given permission to access these documents and are encouraged to comment and give feedback on what part of their project needs improvement and where their strengths lie (for more information on the project, visit @yomsDunn's blog, here: http://msdunnonline.net/tech-edu/). @ballantynedj's grade eleven students dove into it like flies to honey; they were using this adult program that they will likely use in their future endeavours in a student-oriented manner and were so eager and excited to learn from it. Eager and excited about a teacher telling them how to improve their work? You heard correctly! @ballantynedj has used their medium for their age - zee intranetz - and shown them that teacher evaluation doesn't have to be tedious, cruel or frightening. Evaluation can be modern, beneficial, a learning experience and even exciting when it comes time to evaluate the evaluation you received! In the weeks following this, students will give us teacher-candidates feedback on our feedback via Skype; another modern approach to communication for teachers and their students and one that hits home for this day and age. Students also learn, if not consciously than subconsciously through this experience, the many benefits of sharing their work online with others around the province, country or even world, because the variety of suggestions simply grows as you network, and thus the work can do nothing but improve.

After explaining this project to my significant other, he told me how much more he would have enjoyed school if teachers would take advantage of real-world technological teaching opportunities with something as simple as Google Docs and how lucky students are to have these programs today. True kudos for @ballantynedj who's colleague put it right when they said, "Here is the cutting edge, you just stepped over it,” and a big thank you to @zbpipe who has given me the opportunity to be a part of it all.

Google Docs in action