Google Drawing

My group had Google Drawing, which is Google's version of MS Paint. It is a drawing tool that can be used to make drawings or illustrations of all kinds, either to stand on their own or to be inserted into other documents. Here are a few of the things you can do with the Drawing tool:


- Create drawings and diagrams that can be inserted into other Google Docs products
- Import and edit images
- Create custom shapes and lines OR insert pre-made shapes and lines (or a combination of both)
- Insert text with your images


Just as with Docs, Drawings can be published and shared with others, to allow multiple editors and artists to work on the same document. Because of this, it makes for an easy way to make collaborative projects - all invited members can contribute to the picture in real time. It cuts down on "waiting for communication" time, as students can all work on the drawing simultaneously without being in the same place, also using gchat to discuss what they are doing while they work. They no longer have to wait for emails, phone calls, or class time for feedback (both from each other and from the instructor) or bounce around ideas. And, since Drawings is pretty easy to use, students can easily teach the program to themselves, both speeding up instruction time and facilitating student-driven (teacher-directed) learning.


For me, this tool was very simple to navigate: Google does a great job of labeling and making clear what each part of the program does. I was able to pick it up quickly and feel as though I was accomplishing a lot with just a few clicks. Also, since another great feature of the Google products is continuous, automatic saving, I never felt as though I couldn't explore - I wasn't worried that I would lose everything I had done, because I was confident that it had been recently saved.


For our group project, we all took some time to explore the program separately, playing around and figuring out what it could do for ourselves. We then conferred, pointing things out that others had missed, and helped Trevor to create our final drawing. All of us contributed to the document as well, making sure we each had input into all of the areas (especially reflection).