The sharing and collaboration features are better than in any other word processor we've seen. We also use it to create wikis, web pages, templates and much more.

Here are some situations where Google Docs could be a perfect fit:

• A group brainstorming document
• multiple people recording their thoughts and impressions of something
• you want to be able to easily update your content without going through Blackboard
• collaboration and/or peer review is key
• templates to guide and structure student responses
• you're worried about recovering lost work and tracking changes
• you want to avoid multiple versions of the same document during editing

PRO 310: Interviewing

(Created by Mary Francis Casper with assistance from Kim Barker)

We like the way this assignment uses Google Docs and the Blackboard Discussion Board together to organize and separate different kinds of peer feedback on interview questions. To avoid clutter, suggestions to improve the wording of the interview questions is done in Google Docs via comments, while deeper conversations about strategies and approaches for that particular interview are held in Blackboard.

• PRO 310 Activity description and instructions

SOC 230: Introduction to Ethnic Studies

(Created by Kristina Jensen with assistance from Greg Snow)

In the first example, you can see a group activity with roles, akin to a literature circle. In the second, students show their understanding and progress on a final paper in order to get feedback.

• A group writing template that can be used synchronously or asynchronously
• Project proposal document

ACAD 107: Introduction to Online Learning

(Created by Anthony Saba)

Look at the rainbow of collaboration! This course is an Academic Student Success course, and the module objective is teaching students how to collaborate online for written work. In this week-long assignment, a members of a group work together to gather, create, organize, and share information about a topic, splitting up the work.

• Example: Finished Wiki in Google Docs
• Rubric for this ACAD 107 Wiki Assignment
• Full Module Explanation and Directions for the ACAD 107 Wiki Assignment

ENGL 515: Visual Rhetoric

(Created by Roger Munger & Greg Snow)

Sometimes shared docs work better than discussion boards, allowing side-by-side comparisons of different students' input. Here, a big analysis task is broken up and allocated to groups. This is to prepare students to design their own videos later in the course.

• Students use Google Docs (and Sheets) to focus on key points of multimedia design

Some nice features

• Docs can function as a website with embedded video, links, etc.
• If you replace "/edit" with "/copy" at the end of a URL, students will get prompted to create their own copy of the document
• Up to 100 people can edit and comment at the same time (according to a post on this forum).
• More than 100 people can view a file, though it’s easier to publish the file to the web and create a link.
• You can cancel changes and restore older versions. It's hard to lose work in a Google Doc.
• Add-ons give even more functionality (e.g. bibliography tools, accessibility checkers, etc.)
• you can allow people to edit the document without signing into Google
• revision history allows faculty to see exactly how much work a student did

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

• To paste in information without the ugly formatting, press ⌘ + Shift + v (Mac) or Ctrl + Shift + v (Windows)
• To quickly insert a link, press ⌘ + Shift + k (Mac) or Ctrl + k (Windows)

Support & How to

• Workers at the Boise State Help Desk will aid students with any technical problems students have related to this tool
• There is so much help available online related to this tool students can easily find out how to do whatever they are trying to do

Zoom Video Conferencing at Boise State University

Should you need to upgrade a pro Zoom account, email Learning Technology Solutions at lts@boisestate.edu