Final Project

Final Project - Google Docs Place in Word Processor History

My video was inspired by the video lecture by Dr. Smith Rumsey, Digital Memory: What Can We Afford to Lose, where she discussed what can be lost in digital texts when we no longer have the manuscript versions. In a pdf or Word doc, we don't see the early ideas, the edits, the revisions and the progression to final product. Among a plethora of other reasons, Google Docs is my preferred word processor because you have that history saved. As a teacher, being able to see how the students is often just as important as what students wrote, specifically when examining their work formatively, looking for where they struggled and giving feedback on how to improve. With the revision history function and time stamps, I can see when students were working - its fairly frequent that I discuss with parents that essays written in the wee hours of the morning are usually poor quality, and many are 100% taken aback when they see the timestamps. I can see how long students paused in a section, how many edits they made, even if large sections were copy and pasted into the doc. Students may say they did editing, but when you can see type type type for an hour, then submitted without any going back and making edits, there is visual proof that no, they didn't actually edit. It really helps me focus feedback on areas or difficulty instead of guessing the quality may be low.

My video stuck to Google Doc's place in the development of word processors. I could have easily filled hours more with the features and benefits for education, both in the technical functions and in the pedagogy of collaborative writing tools in general. Hopefully I used the time well, and you enjoy!

Cheers,

Katherine

References

Harris, J. (2019, March 18). The dawn of the augmented writing era. Retrieved November 16, 2019, from Medium website: https://medium.com/textio/the-dawn-of-the-augmented-writing-era-a0bb4f4376ff

Liu, S. H.-J., & Yu-Ju, L. (2016). Social Constructivist Approach to Web-Based EFL Learning: Collaboration, Motivation, and Perception on the Use of Google Docs. Journal of Educational Technology & Society; Palmerston North, 19(1), 171–186.

Mackie, B. K., & April 23, 2013. (n.d.). Google Apps Making Inroads Against Microsoft Office, Gartner Says -. Retrieved November 16, 2019, from Redmond Channel Partner website: https://rcpmag.com/articles/2013/04/23/google-apps-vs-microsoft-office.aspx

Software & Languages | Timeline of Computer History | Computer History Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2019, from https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/software-languages/

The Computer Chronicles—Word Processing (1983). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt0OoXluC8g

The Enduring Popularity of Microsoft Word. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2019, from https://www.tmcnet.com/topics/articles/2018/11/26/440392-enduring-popularity-microsoft-word.htm

WinWorld: WordPerfect 6.x (DOS). (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2019, from https://winworldpc.com/product/wordperfect/6x-dos

Writely: Google’s Online Word Processor—Page 2 of 6—ExtremeTech. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2019, from https://www.extremetech.com/computing/50680-writely-googles-online-word-processor/2

Zheng, B., Lawrence, J., Warschauer, M., & Lin, C.-H. (2015). Middle School Students’ Writing and Feedback in a Cloud-Based Classroom Environment. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 20(2), 201–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-014-9239-z

Additional Related Reading

Al-Samarraie, H., & Saeed, N. (2018). A systematic review of cloud computing tools for collaborative learning: Opportunities and challenges to the blended-learning environment. Computers & Education, 124, 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.05.016

Mehlenbacher, B., Kelly, A. R., Kampe, C., & Kittle Autry, M. (2018). Instructional Design for Online Learning Environments and the Problem of Collaboration in the Cloud. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 48(2), 199–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047281616679112

Saadatdoost, R., Sim, A. T. H., Jafarkarimi, H., Hee, J. M., & Saadatdoost, L. (2014). Cloud Computing for Teaching Practice: A New Design? International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies, 9(4), 50–68. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijwltt.2014100104

Stevenson, M., & Hedberg, J. G. (2013). Learning and design with online real-time collaboration. Educational Media International, 50(2), 120–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2013.795352