Working with Google Docs - Survey and Spreadsheet

There is no discipline in the world so severe as the discipline of experience subjected to the tests of intelligent development and direction - John Dewey

I had never really worked with Google Docs before in a classroom setting but I was intrigued at the possibilities of applying them to my Advanced Placement U.S. History (APUSH) classes.  I was looking for a way to maximize my time and energy and speed up my feedback time for my students, which if you ask them, can be glacial at times. 

I first tried blogs as a replacement for writing journals in 2005 and 2006 and have students email their homework to lessen the paper load probably as early as 2000.  I feel the proudest of the blogs because they have continually evolved over the years from me asking questions to the students asking questions about what we were studying at the time.  As the blogs capabilities grew, I was able to embed links and videos that the students could use to extend their learning beyond the classroom (the blog?).    I liked that I could give the students quick feedback on their blogs instead of grading their writing journals once or twice a semester.  As an added bonus, I didn't have to cart 40-60 notebooks home (and snag the dangling spiral spool on various clothing items). 

So, it is in this same spirit (less paperwork + quicker feedback) that I decided to try out a few Google doc assignments.  I was lucky enough to attend the Building Learning Communities 2011 Conference in Boston last month, and on the 2nd day, I tried out a Google survey while working in Lisa Thumann's session, "Using Google Apps for Global Connections."  I wanted to see how far my APUSH students were in their summer reading and what they thought of the book, Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, so far.  Lisa had just walked us through how to do this kind of survey, so I put one together, sent them a Tweet that there was a survey (more on Twitter a later post) and asked them to complete it.  As students checked the blog for Mayflower study questions, they saw the survey and I got some really interesting responses:

Students ahead of where they were supposed to be: 6
Students at the assigned place: 13
Students who admitted to being behind: 8
Students who hadn't answered yet: 26 (sad, I know)

Pros: "[Reading] it kills time when there's nothing to do."
 "It's written almost like a novel."
"It's informative and not totally dull as dirt."
 "The author connects places, people and situations to more modern and well known examples."
"It's a good deal more interesting than a textbook and helps me learn more than just names and dates."
 "It's not a textbook."
"It actually keeps me interested when I'm reading it.  The problem is, they use huge words that I don't understand and I have to use the dictionary. Pain in the butt."

 * This last statement solidified my desire to use a Google Spreadhseet for part of their summer homework assignment where they would find seven difficult words, define them as they were used in the book, and cite the page number where the word was found (see screen shot below). 

Cons: "It's a book."
 "It's summer and I have to do homework for this book in a few days."
"The book seems to drag on for me.  It feels like it's never going to end.  No offense." 
 "A good portion of this book was dreadfully boring.  I enjoyed it from an educational standpoint, but that didn't make it any easier to read."
"At the beginning I had 50 different characters being thrown at me."
  "Because I have to read it for school it is instantly 17.2% less fun than it would have been if i read it on my own time and of my own free will."

Reflections: I love these comments b/c they will force me to eventually rethink what I am doing with summer reading (and, if I continue to survey them in a similar fashion, I can use their feedback to adjust other assignments throughout the year).  However, since these guys are honors sophomores turning juniors this September  (I've already had them for 2 trimesters, so they feel comfortable sharing their opinions with me), and their reading is relatively unguided (except by some study questions that I have written for them), I hope that they will see the value of reading the book after we go over the settlement of New England within the first couple weeks of class. 

I have told my students that the vocab list that they are creating will help next year's APUSH students more than it will help themselves.  I knew going into this assignment that the vocabulary would be difficult, but I think the spreadsheet is just a start for my class. 

Please leave some feedback.  It is much appreciated.