Review: Google Docs

Google Documents: 


This is a great tool for schools to use as it is FREE.  It has so many capabilities that are very similar to the Microsoft Office Suite, but also some extra features that are very attractive as well.  Besides the fact that it doesn't cost anything to use, it is available to multiple users (and at the same time if needed).  When creating a google document, the author can allow others to view and access the document too.  This reminds me a lot of the Wiki pages that we had created before and has a lot of the same capabilities that I wrote about with the Wiki pages.  What I like though about the google documents as opposed to the Wiki pages is that the educator is able to see who did what if the students are working in a group project.  This means a lot to the students who do their part in the projects because they will get a fair grade for what they completed.  For the students to did not do their parts, their grade will reflect that because the teacher can see what effort each student put in.  I also like that it is accessible from any computer with internet access.  When a student saves his or her work on a school computer, laptop, or personal/home computer, there will be times when they cannot access it or didn't print it out.  This may eliminate the use of paper in some situations, making it better for the environment too.  This is not only just for a "Word" document (text) but you can use it for the other parts of Microsoft Office Suite too.  There are similar "PowerPoint" presentations and spreadsheets like Excel.  The cost of buying the Suite is so much.  For a school that does not have the budget to provide this on each computer and in each classroom, google documents is a great option.  


Picnik: 


The program Picnik would be useful in a classroom for projects, especially for culture-related topics.  Students could use this program to edit and enhance photos that were taken of different countries or hispanic cultural items.  The ability to put text into the picture would be useful for both the teacher and the student to label and point to certain items.  The creative abilities of Picnik would make the lessons more appealing to the students if the teacher used them as a project cover or as part of a presentation of a project.  The students and teachers could also make bulletin boards using the creative things created with Picnik.  It is also free, which is a bonus.  There are enough features on the free version of this program for anything that a teacher or student would need.  You are able to purchase a more extended program for more options, but I cannot imagine that any basic classroom use would require the upgraded version of this.