In order for my students to use this site they would need to know the basics of using a spreadsheet. This includes what the different templates mean, and how to use each one. Simple functions such as formatting columns and rows, and addition and subtraction formulas would also be included in background knowledge I would want my students to know.
It is fairly simple to share documents created on this site. Students can create their spreadsheet on excel and upload the document to this site, or share a spreadsheet they create on Google spreadsheets. Their project then becomes available to their friends, family, classmates... Whoever they want to share it with. They just need to have a valid e-mail address in order to be invited to view the document.
Google Spreadsheet could be used in many subjects. There is a template featured on the site for reading logs. Students could record their reading progress on this document and then share it with their teacher through the site. Also, this site could be great for group projects in math or science. Students working on a science experiment could record their experiment results within a spreadsheet. They could then look for trends and even make corresponding graphs from their results. If each group member had an account, they could contribute to the assignment without being in a computer lab together. They could complete their portion of the task, upload it, then wait for the other group members to upload their data.
Teachers could help facilitate the use of this site. With the example given above on the science experiment, teachers could assign roles for each student in the group. Students would then have to complete their portion, and look for their group members responses in order to complete the assignment. Once that was complete, the teacher could assign the next step in the assignment and students would need to complete theirs and then look to their peers again. Doing so encourages students to collaborate on their ideas. It is similar to the jigsaw method we are using for our assignment. This method encourages communication within group members. The only difference is that this science fair project would be completed through the Google Spreadsheets website.
In order for this to all run smoothly, the teacher will need to keep an active role in the students' progress. They will need to facilitate communication if necessary. They will need to manage members of the group in order to make sure each student is doing their part. It is the teacher's role to step in and re-focus individuals that may fall off track, or are not participating enough. Also, depending on the grade level, the teacher will need to organize the project in a way that students can follow it and stay on task. Younger students may not be able to handle having all of the information presented to them at once. They will need more guidance and organizational help from the teacher in order to be successful.
I agree - it is necessary to keep your fingers on the heartbeat of the class with any technology project. I do round-robin verbal reports with my students. They have to tell me where they are with their project and where they need to go next, then I give then their task for the day based on what they shared with me. Some might need to go to the computer lab, some might need to read their research, etc. I liked the idea of sharing data for science project collaboration=8-)
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