Tom Barrett

What is the best way to give feedback on a piece of work produced in Google Docs? What formatting tools are most appropriate to use when leaving comments? How do you organise 30 to 60 pieces of work handed in to you? How do children hand in work? What new possibilities does this process uncover?

These are some of the questions which will be driving my thinking in this post about assessing and giving written feedback on work that children have produced in Google Docs. It was at the beginning of May that we began using Google Apps, and in particular the Docs tools, with the Year 5 children. I am beginning to take some things for granted, it has become a part of what we do and another choice for them to use. Google Docs has become just another addition to their toolkit.

I am currently marking two classes worth of narrative writing and geography projects too, and these are my reflections on what it is like to mark work in Google Docs.

3 tools to add feedback to a piece of work.

First of all you need to make it explicit with the class what they must expect to see in their work in terms of marking and feedback. Just as I have encouraged the children to communicate what to expect from each other when collaborating on a document, I have made it clear to my class the types of marking I will be adding. I have shown examples and talked through what they mean from my point of view. I think that it is important to have a few methods that are simple and have a clarity in terms of their feedback function – here are my three.

1 – How do I highlight any spelling or grammatical errors?

I use the highlight tool and a light shade of red to pick out any mistakes that the children may need to revisit and change. The same could be done with an underline tool but I wanted a clear visual cue to problem spots. A method that I explored on Friday during a “live marking” (see below) session, is to change the highlight to a green when I see that the correction is made.

The children may revisit the piece of work and see the highlighted word, they correct the spelling and they also could change the highlight to a green – signalling to me that they have seen and acted upon the feedback. In this way the original position of the mistake is still clear – although this is, in some way, redundant with the document’s revision history.

2 – How do I add comments within a piece of work?

For those comments that you might add in the margin of a handwritten piece I use the Docs comment feature. Place the cursor after the sentence or word you want to comment on and hit CONTROL+M, this is the quickest method for me – you can also use INSERT>COMMENT from the menu bar. You will see a small coloured box appear where you placed the cursor and you can add a short comment about the work. Each comment is tagged by default with your full name, time and date. This can be a useful feature and I would leave it in at least once to show the children the full information, but if the children already understand that the comment boxes will be from you, then there is no need for this info and I often delete it out.

Another reason to delete the name and date information is that if you were to add some suggestions for alternative vocabulary in a comment, the children can right click the comments and insert them directly into the text – blending their work with your feedback and suggestions. But all of the comment text is inserted including name and date – best just to delete user info  out.

It would be a useful addition to the Docs settings to be able to switch between different info in the comment box as default – for example just the date would be useful to me – or none at all.

It is worth noting that wherever you place the comments they will inherit the formatting of the surrounding text – so if you add a comment immediately after a highlighted error the comment is highlighted too. This also applies for headings and other text formatting.

3 – How and where do I write overall comments for a piece of work?

For this type of feedback I use the document header function, that way I know it is distinct from the rest of the work (dotted border) and is clearly signalled to the user when they open it – always on top.

For the first assignments I have added in the same reminder (see image) about the type of marking they will see in their work. If I need to provide a series of comments over time it is worth just dating them to begin with.

Handing work out, handing work in

One of the earliest procedures that I explored was to be able to quickly distribute a single document and the idea of children handing work in to me. Sharing is the most important part of all of this and I would say it is the key feature of Docs. Once I have created a document for the children to use as a starting point or a text for them to work on, I share it with all of my class. The way to create groups of users to share docs etc within Ed Apps is to do it in GMail.

1) Login as usual to your domain account you use and got to your GMail.
2) Open up your CONTACTS.
3) You should see a list of contacts you have, most likely to be all users on domain. Click on the ALL CONTACTS link to see everyone.
4) Go through your list and select the users you want in your group.
5) Click on the GROUPS button and ADD TO… NEW GROUP.

Now that you have created a group it will appear when you share any of your Docs if you click Contacts. When the children hand work in to you they have to simply share the document with you – they will appear in your docs home page and you will see their username next to the doc title. Naming the document with the children’s initials is important if their username does not already contain that information. For us I can see who owns different documents from their usernames, for other schools the naming of docs may be more of an issue.

A writing crumbtrail

A key feature that sets it apart from handwritten work is the document crumbtrail, or revision history. As a teacher I can see every little change and alteration that has gone on from the beginning of the document. You can access the revision history in two ways, from the File menu or from the Tools menu. You have the functionality of comparing older and newer versions.

I find this especially useful with written pieces that have been completed over a series of session or days as I can see, from the dated entries, what has been added and how much has been done. A good method to keep on top of how much work has been completed. The children also have found this useful, giving them the option to revert easily to older versions that they prefer. This tool offers me a window into the document’s past – I can retrace the crumbs and focus on the process as well and the product.

A pile of marking!

Google Docs marking means I do not need to be carrying around piles of work books – however I came across a simple, yet important, problem when I was working this week. If I have a pile of books or papers to give feedback on I activate the intricate system of piles, which I name “marked” and “unmarked” 😉 But when you are looking at a list of Docs that the children have shared with you there is no immediate way to label them or sort in the same way.

Here are a couple of my solutions: organise all of the Docs into a single folder that is named after the work that you are doing – this folder could be nested inside a subject folder too. In the same folder as all of the children’s work create two folders named MARKED (green) and UNMARKED (red). Now MOVE all of the Docs to the UNMARKED folder – get some marking done and move them when it is complete over to the MARKED folder.

I like this method but sometimes it can behave strangely because along with moving folders you can also add documents to multiple folders – it can get confusing if you have moved and also added, the document will show multiple labels.

A second method, which is much simpler, would be to use the STAR feature. Click on the star to the left of the document title. You will then be able to sort all of your documents from the STARRED view in the left bar.

I would use the star to show unmarked work, this way I would be able to see work that still needs feedback adding across lots of different projects from the STARRED view. Your STARRED view then becomes a simple marking to do list.

Live feedback

Perhaps the most exciting development this week is the idea of live marking. A time when both you and the student/s are viewing and working on the document. As much as I am looking for learning that is transformative I am also aware that this type of assessment activity is unprecedented and in its own way is transforming the way you provide feedback. It is not a new idea to sit with a child and go through what they have done – what is different is the fact that we can both work on the document at the same time – I can highlight and mark up the text and the student can make the changes that I suggest as we work. This works very well in practice as proved this week in my class, a pair of children were making the changes I had suggested to their first paragraph as I was looking at the second and so on.

One of the hardest challenges I face with a constricted timetable and expanding curriculum is finding time for the children to review marking I have given and responding to it in turn. It is a crucial step towards a more dialogue centred marking approach but is very difficult in practice with the fast pace of what we do and what is expected of us. I think that the live marking concept brings the marking you, as a teacher, provide and the response the children give together. You mark they respond – it works. The main issue is time and how long it takes to do. You have to both be working on the document, I got through about 4 of these live marking sessions in about 35 minutes and that’s my first shot at it. With 30 to get through it may be something that you have to build time in for but which is very powerful because of the immediate and fast paced response you get. It may belong to a longer unit of work which allows you time over a series of sessions/days to cover all of your students. A live marking model would also work very well for peer assessment purposes and would sidestep the issue of time.

Crucially this method of marking negates any dead time in between your feedback being given and the student making the improvements – that can only be to the benefit of the student and the standard of work they produce.

Ongoing reporting to parents

Another idea I have thought about this week involves the use of Google Docs in the process of reporting to parents. The parents at our school currently receive a paper report at the end of the year and I have just finished writing all 30 of them for my class. I have always considered the concept of contributing to the report as the year progresses – writing about the unit of work we have just finished at that moment, rather than waiting 5 months for report writing deadlines to come around. What if we shared a report document with the child’s parents at the beginning of the year and explained that the children’s reports will build throughout the year but they have complete access to them whenever they want. As the year wears on you add comments and remarks about the child which are immediately shared with the parent. Perhaps you communicate with the parents when these planned series of updates will take place or you simply inform them when changes do take place.

According to this report 82% of GB parents with children 17 or under said that an online reporting service would be helpful. The UK Minister of State for Schools and Learners Jim Knight has announced plans to have ‘real-time’ electronic school reporting systems up and running in all secondary schools by 2010, and in all primary schools by 2012. That is 4 years away for us! It is not a dedicated report writing tool, true, but it is a simple and easy way to share a document. With careful planning, the support of next years parents and my school we could have this running from next September.

Image1: ‘crumbs‘  http://www.flickr.com/photos/70685828@N00/1705580506
Image2: ‘11/15/07‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/19627189@N06/2037138203

It has been a quieter few weeks in terms of our use of Google Docs, by our standards anyway – so I have combined some of my reflections over the last fortnight. Although less prominent in the daily work of our literacy unit the use of Google Docs has continued and has become more and more intrinsic to the thoughts of the year group.

Modelling examples of collaboration with Google docs.

Last time round I spoke of identifying the fact that the children were not very productive when taking their first steps into the collaborative use of docs. Rick and I spent some time this week modelling some of the behaviours we want the children to be aware of when working in a team. With all of the children in my room I worked on the computer connected to the SMARTBoard and Rick on one of our laptops. We had created a document that mirrored the children’s project, shared between us we gave a running commentary of our thoughts and what we were doing in terms of teamwork.

Initially we spent some minutes just talking to each other about what had been completed so far and what we were both planning to do. Key teaching point: begin the collaborative session with a mini-meet that provides a plan for what is to follow. As we began working I ensured the children were aware that I told Rick, and he did likewise, where I was working in the document. Key teaching point: to have document awareness, a sense of where your peers are working. During the modelled session I was constantly talking through my decision processes for the research side of things and also being explicit about my communication with Rick. Prior to adding an image or some text I would mention to him what was going to happen. Key teaching point: communicate what changes you are making so that your team are aware of what is occurring, no surprises.

I would recommend this modelling phase to anyone using Google Docs in a collaborative sense with younger children, to help illustrate what is expected.

Development of this skill within the children’s groups.

The teamwork side of things is our biggest challenge and we talk about it everytime we continue our project work. It feels a little new and messy at the moment, but I have confidence that these sorts of skills can and should be refined. I know that they will work better together in future projects and that they are much more aware of the issues.

Over the course of the project and in subsequent sessions (to our modelling lesson) they have shown they can apply the examples we set. A group in my class today began by logging into documents and then they tilted their laptop lids down and talked about what was to follow.

Children turning independently to GDocs

Their has been strong evidence this week of a shift in the children’s thinking in terms of GDocs as tool. During a Design and Technology session about musical instruments one of the children independently used Google Docs to make some notes about the research that they were doing. Totally unprovoked. A small example that shows that we have positioned the application as a personal tool for them and they are beginning to use it as one of their own personal tech choices.

Sharing beyond the domain

With tighter security comes less opportunity to share beyond the domain. In the administrator settings I have the option to NOT allow the sharing of documents beyond the domain. It is important to consider that this tighter grip does not allow collaboration of documents, synchronous or otherwise, with children from other schools, towns, cities, countries.

I am currently collaborating on some weather data for June with the British School in Muscat, Oman. However this has to be done through my own personal Google account. It is key to be able to balance security with collaboration beyond the walls of the classroom. It will be interesting to see what happens when we have an international opportunity to do something like this perhaps in the future.

Spell checking in Firefox 3

Just a little aside really about the use of Firefox version 3 which checks my spelling as I am writing in a form. It also seems to, although somewhat erratically, check my work as I am typing in Google Docs. There is a spell check function that works reasonably well, but I like the idea that using FF3 it will underline incorrect words in red as you type (you currently have to switch the spell check on in GDocs) It could be a useful feature.

Providing a choice – 56 out of 60 children

Back in December I surveyed the children in Year 5 and 6 who had been using the laptop resource in their classrooms for approximately 3 months. One of the questions asked for their preference in writing, either with pen or pencil on paper, or with a laptop. About 90% said they would prefer to write using a laptop. On reflection I think those figures illustrate the continued positive attitude towards the resource in the classroom. Perhaps inflated by a general good feeling about the technology.

For a literacy task this week I told the year 5 children that they complete the independent writing task either in their literacy books or by using Google Docs. 56 out of 60 children chose to write using Google Docs. I questioned about their choices in the last part of the lesson and they ranged from: “I can work quicker”, to, “I don’t have to worry about my presentation” and “I will be able to continue the work at home.” The percentage is high again but this time around I know that they are making a much more informed choice due to the amount of time we have spent using the tool.