This term is the first time that I've worked with Google Docs. I'm excited to dig a little deeper to find additional ways to use it in the classroom. A couple of things I've done is collaborating and peer editing with my Online Experience class. That isn't very exciting when compared to some of the video clips that I've watched recently of others' ideas related to Google Docs. I think it would be a great tool for at the beginning of the term - a getting to know you activity or even a place for them to add their blog addresses. I'd also like to use it as a tool for me to comment on their assignments. Again, I'm just looking forward to using it more!
Computing in the cloud is different and I don't now how comfortable I am with it. That, of course, can be attributed to my reluctance to change. There are plenty of advantages: real time collaboration, you can work on an assignment from anywhere you have access to a computer, and you can share a document within a group project. The negative would be if all of our work were exclusively in the cloud and the server were to go down at school, the students wouldn't have access to their work.
I understand your concern over the internet or the server being down. I also know that school networks go down! So nothing is a sure thing in the world of technology. I would also be reluctant to upload anything of a personal or confidential nature, like an IEP for example.
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