Editing Google Docs in the Classroom

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Google Docs gives you the ability to see revision history and add comments, allows you to truly edit documents with others, all while keeping old revision data handy, and with access to all comments from the beginning of the document.

Let’s take a closer look at each one.

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● Remember that Google Docs saves you work automatically. No need to press save or worry about losing your work.

● Since Google saves your work constantly, the revision history has a record and can display your work step-by-step.

● This allows you to go back and access and/or revert to previous versions of your work. If you’re looking for a paragraph you deleted last week, you can easily retrieve it.

● To access the history: 1. Click ‘File’, 2. Click ‘See Revision History’.3. History pane opens up on the right side of your

document and you can select which version of the document you want to see and revert to if necessary.

1) Revision History

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● If there is more than one person working on a document, it allows you to see who adds, deletes and edits the document - all color coded, time stamped and easy to work with.

● How do you use this in a classroom setting:o This makes it easy to track what students did in a document.o Did they do the edits you suggested?o Did they share the work evenly?o Did they do all their work last night?

● How do you use this in the real world?o You can easily track revisions from start to finish.o Clients and writers can watch the document come togethero You’re always looking at the latest version of a document anytime you enter and use a Google Doc.

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2) Comments● Comments are available in Google Docs, Presentation and Spreadsheet.

● They allow you to leave semi-permanent comments and feedback regarding the work being done.

● There are 4 ways to insert comments:1. Keyboard shortcut

a. PC & Chromebook - CTRL + Mb. Mac - ⌘+M

2. Go to ‘Insert’ and then ‘Comment’.3. Using the comment icon on the toolbar.4. Right-clicking and then ‘Comment’.

● Advantages of using comments:o They stay within the document as opposed to a chat window conversation that disappears when you

leave the document. o Once comments are resolved, they can be accessed by clicking the grey ‘Comments’ button next to

the ‘Share’ button in the top right hand corner. All comments can be viewed from there, re-opened if they were closed, and responded to.

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● How do you use this in a classroom setting:o Steer the student in the right direction within the first 20

minutes.o Instead of waiting for a whole paper, whether draft or final

copy, and then assessing or grading it, a teacher can give immediate feedback on an intro paragraph, which will yield a much better final product.

o You can go from produce-turn-in-get-graded to edit, edit, edit. And that workflow matches the real world!

● How do you use this in the real world?

o Use them like sticky notes

o Once all the comments have been dealt with, you know you’re done.

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● Summary:

o To keep total control over the entire editing process, combine revision history and comments in the classroom and the real world.

o With the power of having access to all the edits required and feedback regarding the document, it’s easy to check what has been done, and what’s left out.

o When teachers give formative feedback on an intro paragraph, they can now verify whether or not the student actually took their advice and made changes.

o In the real world, it’s easy to move back and forward in the document while referencing clients needs and wishes in the comment stream.

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