In my school district they are really pushing us to use Google Docs to create and share educational ideas or lesson plans. I had logged in and messed with it when they first told us of this, but I did not see how it would work with my students. I left it and did not mess with it till now again. I really love Google Docs! You can create documents, save them, share with co-workers, and get their feed back. The feature I loved the most was the Forms maker. I thought of so many things to do with my students that I started doing them there in then.
With the Forms maker on Google Docs I am already planning on using it after every lesson. After presenting my students with a given material I will make a online quiz with Forms. You can create a quiz and send out the link to students by email. The neat thing about Forms is that after students have taking the quiz, it makes it into a spread sheet. It separates every question so that you are able to see what your students understood from your lecture, and what things they did not by their answers. That way I can go back to explain a question in a different way in which they will understand better.
With Forms on Google Docs, I think I will use it to make surveys about the materials, homework, and every other aspect of the classroom so that I can get feed back from my students as well. There is a way to make forms anonymous, that way my students do not feel pressure to just write good reviews.
I think that with so much technology out in the world we have learned that teaching styles like drilling in information to students is not effective because it is a very closed minded way of teaching. If students do not understand the whole picture you are trying to paint they will lose interest because they will think "what's the point", but if we teach students with real life tools they will have a better understanding of the world and know how to navigate through it. Drills will discourage students curiosity to learn, or to even be open minded. And it just makes me think more, and more that everything we do for our students will affect them in the future.
