Anonymous Editing- Google Docs

As technology has been advancing and we adjust how we learn and connect with one another it is important to be mindful that not everyone is at the same level of technical knowledge and not everyone is ready or willing to take the step into a new platform. Google suite has become very popular for a number of reasons; it has free online tools comparable to office suite, it is accessible anywhere you have WIFI access, it meets many different needs, and it is generally user friendly. I was looking for reviews of Google drive and the various apps that run with it and I came across this blog called “How to use Google Drive: Everything You Need to Know” that gives a tutorial on basic use of google drive.

However, not all parents of students in k-12 education feel comfortable with a cloud based storage system and do not want to give permission for their students to be given an account. There are a number of reasons why Google is a helpful tool, but the concern that is brought up the most by parents and educators who are resistant to have students use google suite is security. This blogpost outlines the benefits and drawbacks of using google suite in k-12 education really well in terms that are understandable by the general public.

So, what do we do when we are using Google docs or slides collaboratively with our class and a parent does not want their student to have a district G suite account assigned to their student? Luckily there is a way to use google apps anonymously and without an account. I have liked a wonderful tutorial that showed how to share a document with non Gmail account holders and allow anonymous access to the document. This is especially helpful if you are collaborating in class on a document or a slide show with students who have various levels of accessibility to google suites. This also allows all students to access the document anonymously to add their contributions without being identified as the contributor for that section. If using this format, it is important to lay out clear guidelines and expectations for the task to make sure that students stay on task and contribute what you have asked them to contribute. In other words, it may be an excuse for some students to goof around and post silly things that are off topic because they are not specifically identified on the document. This goes back to class culture and setting those expectations early on so students know what the boundaries are.

I think technology can be very helpful to engage and connect learners in a classroom. But we need to be mindful as educators that all of our students will have varying comfort levels with the use of shared documents and how much of what they are sharing is online and accessible to others.