A school district customer is evaluating document creation tools for use by their students.  They are looking at Microsoft Word, Google Doc, and the tools within Connected.info and trying to determine which choice to recommend and to some extent agree to provide and support.

With respect to Connected.info, all three tools can be used by a student to author documents that can be submitted electronically in response to a homework assignment.  Thus, the choice of which tool to use can be made solely on which tool does a better job at the actual creation of the document.

Microsoft Word is the current standard for many districts.  As a client tool, it does not require an Internet connection to work and as such can be considered as more widely accessible to the student population.  Also, the width and breadth of features for document creation can not currently be matched by any on-line tool.  It simply is the king of the feature hill so to speak.

However, the cost of acquisition and support can add up for a district.  Also, since the files (documents) need to be stored on a local disk, there is the issue of getting at them if they are at home or conversely at school when the student is in the other location.

Web-based document creation tools such as Google Doc, and Connected.info’s blog capability have some advantages over the use of Microsoft Word.  The files are centrally stored on the Internet so as long as a student has access to the Internet, the documents can be accessed no matter where the location of the student.  Moreover, both tools allow for viewing and sharing (in a sense) by other students.

Also, Google doc does allow for the editing of a document by multiple people at the same time, but there are limits to how practical that is.  Connected.info does support wikis, which have a shared document / shared editing capability.  However, currently a wiki can not be submitted in response to an assignment.  A blog post can be commented on by other students, but only one can edit the post as the owner.

To recap -

Microsoft Word is the king of features, but its inability to store documents on the web for ease of access from multiple locations can make it an unwise choice for students.

Google Doc supports web based access of files and shared document editing and viewing.  However, its features are basic and a student must be connected to the Internet to access the files.  Also, there are some privacy concerns which need to be addressed when setting up the environment.

Connected.info’s Blog features are similar to Google Doc, but do not support shared document editing.  It is more private than Google Doc, but also requires an Internet connection to use.

We hope this information helps you to make the best choice for your district.

Recently, a new teacher user asked a question about what we would recommend for sharing a document with her students.  She noticed that she could add a file to an assignment as well as upload that file into the class group and was curious what the pros and cons of the choice were.

First, let’s review the choices.  When an assignment is loaded into Connected.info from a teacher’s gradebook software, it appears in the list of assignments for a particular course section.  Depending on the gradebook, the ability to attach a document, such as a worksheet, to the assignment may not be present.  Connected.info allows the attachment of any number of documents, video files, etc. to an assignment for this reason.  By editing the assignment and uploading the file or files she wants, a teacher may then post the assignment to the system.

Connected.info also has a feature to allow document or file sharing within the class section group.  This “document locker” is not dependent upon an assignment and as such represents a convenient place to share files which may be applicable to a number of tasks during the school term.

Which makes more sense to use?  As is sometimes the case, the answer is “It depends”.  Attaching a document to an assignment provides access to the document to students and their parents when they wish to work on the assignment.  And, it also allows historical access to the document.  What does that mean?  Suppose next school year, a parent or student wants to review some of the assignments worked on this school year.  The assignment is available for viewing, but the document storage for last year’s course section group may have been cleared out since the class section is no longer meeting.  Also, attaching the document to an assignment provides for an in-context use of the document, whereas the document sharing feature may be less convenient.

However, document sharing does have its advantages as well.  Suppose the document is applicable to more than just one assignment.  It would be less convenient for the teacher to have to attach the same document to many assignments.  Storing the document in the document sharing locker and referencing it in the various assignments may be more efficient for her.

The nice thing is that both features can be used when needed.  Also, I would point out that both features support Connected.info “multi-post” capability where the teacher can easily add the same document to multiple course section groups at the same time, saving her from having to repeat the task for each course section.

Please keep the questions about Connected coming!