Collaboration Software

I definitely think Google Docs and other collaboration software would be useful for group projects. In fact, I have a group project this week that I thought, "Doh! We could have used this!" It's too late now, and the problem is that I don't know who is familiar with the software and who isn't. There is a certain amount of time that has to be devoted to getting up to speed with the software, and people aren't usually willing to do that during crunch time. However, as time goes on, I think the programs will become more widely used, making it easier and faster to create group projects. The software makes it so that everyone can have a say about everything and it is nice that there are no surprises when it comes time to present the project. However, there is the flip side that something you spend quite a bit of time working on can be edited/removed/changed so easily by others.

As far as how teachers would feel about them, I'm not sure that they would have a reason to care one way or another. My guess is that most teachers will have a look at the final product and grade it independently of the edits and work that went on behind the scenes. However, it is nice that teachers do have the option to see the history in case there is a dispute among participants as to how much effort each group member put in.