I was talking to my parents this weekend about the Google Docs assignment and how it was designed to make group projects more unified in theme and structure. That got me thinking about how difficult it is to make the transition from the classic method of group projects: "You do this section, I'll do that." I like the idea of making the document creation as transparent a process as possible in that I can edit my partners work and he can edit mine. It also lets us see where the other person is in completing the assignment and to see if they're on the right path or have better ideas than yours.
I think the problem with this concept is that it requires a paradigm shift to accomplish the goals of a unified voice in the paper without those awkward transitions. With our assignment, it began with splitting up the parts and then putting it all together at the end. One advantage of the
collaborative paper, compared with tradition papers, was that the awkward transitions were reduced and it allowed each of us to see how the work was progressing. I liked the assignment but I don't think I got the full benefit of using Google Docs, yet.
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I find it very intresting that you posted a blog about our project...I was thinking about the same things with group projects...I have found it very diffucult to do group projects by splitting it up by giving a person each section...I find that ideas i get to write come in previous paragraphs and writing only one section limitis me...But i think google docs is really cool letting groups do projects with out really meeting..with college days being so busy this really helped
Interesting topic! I was thinking about Google docs, too. I think Google docs is the one of the best ways to accomplish collaborate writing. Since Google docs’ feature is quite similar to Microsoft Ward, we do not have to learn new functions that much. The thing that differs from tradition paper is that group members use online communication tools such as messengers/emails more often when we write paper online. I mean, the amount of time group members meet reduce, but the amount of time group members use messengers/emails to contact with each other increase. Anyway, cooperation is the most important thing when we do group work. : )
Yeah, it's definitely different. It also sort of removes the need to brainstorm about how you want to structure your paper. Instead, it can be quite messy, and you have to work together to make it cohesive at the end.
But I agree with you: once you master that, Google docs can be very beneficial.
After this project, I have decided that I love using Google docs and wish that I had known about it sooner, it is so useful for all the reasons stated above.
I also really liked using Google docs. It's so much more efficient than laboriously emailing a paper out to all of the group members, collecting all the feedback and then editing it. One person always ends up getting screwed with all the work. This way if a member wants to change something, they just do it. I agree with Jess. I wish I'd known about it a lot sooner.
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