Within your group, you may be asked to work on a collaborative presentation, paper or project that includes certain deliverables. Google Drive offers common technology used in classrooms—a Google Docs word processor (like MS Word) and Google Slides slide presenter (like MS PowerPoint)—in a format that allows seamless and recorded collaboration among multiple users. for example:
- Google Docs for group planning, brainstorming, and drafting formal writing.
- Google Slides for group presentations.
- Google Forms for group evaluations. Forms allows you to use a variety of question types, from rating scales to open-answer comments.
Use Google Drive to...
Keep track of work. Each group member has access to the document (along with me). The program highlights and tracks edits made to the document. If a group member hasn't done any work or poor quality work, the the instructor can tell.
Share documents. Google Docs can be used with any Gmail account. People without Gmail accounts can be invited to view documents. Anyone with a Google-powered email account (such as those with @uwf.edu email addresses) are automatically tied into Google Drive, which is where Google Docs, Slides, and other programs are available. Collaborators are added to Google Docs at the creator’s discretion. Creators can choose whether collaborators view, edit, or manage the document (share with others).
Work collaboratively during a group meeting. Any number of people can work in a Google Doc simultaneously. You can actually see others typing in the document at the same time you are.
Keep track of changes and document who made what change. Google Docs save automatically. People use them for collaborative work because everyone has the same most recent version. You can revert changes in the case of accidental edits. Revision history allows anyone to see the history of changes, which are color-coded per user.