Using Google Documents to Communicate with Your Group

You've got one more piece of technology to learn how to use. Don't panic. I assure you, this new tech, google documents, will make your work with your group easier. It is no more difficult to use than the class discussionl list or google mail, which you are now using successfully. More important, you will find google documents one of the most useful writing tools available today.

Just as google mail allows you to access email from any Internet connected computer, google documents allows you to edit documents on any Internet connected computer. Not only does this greatly expand the number of machines and places from which you can do productive writing, having your work stored online creates a number of opportunities traditional word processors simply can't provide, especially in the realm of gruop collaboration and having easy access to your work from almost anywhere. Here's a video tutorial to explain:

http://www.teachertube.co/view_video.php?viewkey=0c1b9311cb8f40eb4f25

Because you already have a gmail account, all you have to do get access to the google word processor (google documents) is log into your gmail account. Now look in the top, left hand side of the page. There you will see a line of links which will read something like: "Gmail Calendar Documents ... More." Click on the link for Documents, and sign up for the new service. Notice the help link (top right hand line, next to your logon name). Following the help link will take you here:

http://docs.google.com/support/?hl=en

and allow you to read and explore your new, online word processor. Take some time this week to learn how to open a new documents and save it. Remember, with google documents your work is saved on the internet, not on your machince; so, to access it later, all you need to do is to log back onto google documents.

In the future, anytime you need to go to google documents you can get there through the method above or use the following link:

docs.google.com

Now, to do some useful work using google documents...

Choose someone in your group to set up a new, google document called "YourGroupName: Contact Information, Class and Section" If the author from your group needs help, they can contact me at 804-885-3727 or prof.brandon@gmail.com to step them through the process.

Once your group author sets up a document for your group's contact information, they are to add their name, telephone number, and email address as the first line of text. Then they they are to use the "share" menu to add everyone else in the group as a collaborator. They do this by clicking on the share tab and choosing the command, "share with others." A box will pop-up labeled "invite collaborators." To invite people as collaborators, all the original author needs to do is to type in every one's gmailaddress and hit the button "Invite Collaborators." SInce everyone has already been emailing their group, you've got everyone's gmail address in your notes or contacts. Google docs will send out email invitations to everyone invited to collaborate. Oh, whoever is the original author, make sure to invite me, prof.brandon@gmail.com, as a collaborator as well.

Once your author creates the document and adds the group, including you, and me as collaborators, each of us will receive an email inviting us to collaborate. If we accept this invitation by clicking on the link to the document in this invitation, we will be taken to the contact information document the original author created. Since we are now collaborators, we can make changes to the document, and these changes will be saved. Add your name, gmail address, and telephone number under that of the original author, and then look to right hand side of the page. There you will see "Save and Close." This will save your work and close the document. If you want to continue editing and playing around, just hit "Save."

If you now log back onto google documents, you will see the document your group is creating on your file managment page. Using google documents, creating a collaborative document is just this easy. Someone creates the document, and shares the newly created document with the other authors/commenters using email. The other authors accept the invitation to collaborate, and they can make changes or add and delete text, just like the person who created the document on which everyone is collaborating. Moreover, they can log into their google documents account from any internet collected computer, and have access to the collaborative document from most anywhere.

Notice that a whole new world of collaborative team work is now open up to you.

Don't panic over the new tech; explore it using the help page, and feel free to get in touch with the more tech savy folks in your group for help. If you find yourself still having trouble, get in touch with me sooner, rather than later, and I'll be happy to meet with you to step you through the baics of using google documents.

Over the course of the semester, you will be working with your group via google documents to practice some of the skills you'll be taught. For instance, this week you *could* use google documents to share your King revision with your group and to get comments back from them. This week you don't have to do this. In fact, until everyone gets through the step of feeling comfortable logging onto google docs, you shouldn't. This week, just get used to going to the service and--unless you are one in your group creating the document to collect group information--just keep an eye out for your invitation to collaborate, open your group's document, and share your contact information with your group on it.

Here's another video introduction to google documents:

http://services.google.com/apps/resources/overviews_breeze/DocsSpreadsheets/index.html

Don't worry about understanding every aspect of the introduction. Just as with most of technology, you'll pick up what you need to know as you use it. You did this with gmail, google documents is, if anything, as straightforward.

As always, if you have questions, write or call. Remember, I am here to help.