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Now, more than ever, students and teachers are using smart devices, computers, and collaborative software in and outside of the classroom. These tools are not only effective, efficient, and transformative, but time-saving too! We know that time, the supreme enemy of teachers, is always in short supply. Fortunately, the Kennedy Center’s arts-centered lessons have comprehensive digital resources that finally put time on the side of the teacher.

Let’s check out the benefits of integrating instructional resources that use Google Docs and Google Slides so you can actually enjoy your lunch from the teacher’s lounge! 

Make Modifications 

IEP’s and 504 plans often suggest instructional modifications to change what the student is expected to learn. Google Docs and Google Slides are tools that make it easy to tailor assignments, testing, or projects to meet student-learning needs. Editing a question to meet a different learning standard, highlighting or bolding key details, creating word banks or sentence starters, and reducing the workload can quickly be done with these tools. In the end, the resources look similar to that of their peers, but the work itself meets students where they are in the learning process. 

Let’s say a 7th-grade student is conducting myth research from the Elements of Myth lesson and you want to reduce anxiety by modifying the research workload. By simply deleting two rows from the , a student can focus on quality research while maintaining high cognitive health. 

See Version History

Individual and collaborative learning is constantly in motion during the school day and with large class sizes, keeping up can be challenging. In a Google Doc or Google Slide, teachers can use the Version history > See version history feature in the File menu to track student progress, view participation, evaluate contributions, and analyze students’ learning process. On those rare occasions when you become a detective instead of a teacher, you can restore previous versions that were purposely or accidentally deleted, investigate cyberbullying, and catch plagiarism before student work gets published. 

For example, while teaching the Five Artists of the Mexican Revolution lesson, a student notices that their contribution to the has gone missing. Instead of having the student re-do the work, the student or teacher can look at the revision history to recover the missing parts. 

Collaborate in Real-Time with Peers and Teachers

Cloud collaboration makes it possible for students and teachers to work synchronously or asynchronously. In simpler terms, the same document or presentation can be viewed or edited on different devices, by different people, at the same time, or even at different times. Collaborative members can work harmoniously without access restrictions. 

For instance, in the Multimedia Hero Analysis lesson, a teacher can delegate project roles and responsibilities. Then students can pursue their roles individually, while collectively producing a finished product in a Google Slide. As students work, the teacher can give timely feedback to the group members. 

Enable Accessibility Features

Teachers can make Google Docs and Google Slides more readable by using several of the accessibility features within a document or presentation. Screen readers can read alt text, tables, comments, suggestions, lists, and scan for links. In the Tools menu, click the Accessibility settings to enable screen reader, braille, collaborator announcements, and magnifier support. 

An example of this feature going a long way can be observed in a lesson like Exploring Weather where students are analyzing weather paintings. In the , the images contain alt-text so low-vision or blind students can use screen readers to fully participate in an arts experience.  

Translate or Write in Different Languages

Whether you are a dual-language, foreign language, or global educator, Google Docs and Google Slides have a feature that can translate any student resource to over 100 languages. If you already have a document written, click the Tools menu > Translate document to select the language you want to translate to. If you’re writing new text, Docs and Slides will automatically detect the language, making it easy to use languages interchangeably or in isolation. 

This tool is a great resource for a lesson like Comparing Cultural Holidays. The and can easily be translated to a language that suits your dual-language classroom, language studies program, or dominant language.

Work Online or Offline

Online connectivity allows you to extend learning to places beyond the classroom. Google Docs and Google slides can be accessed on any device with an internet connection. Students can complete their work in or outside of school. If a student does not have access to the internet, they can use the extension on a computer device or enable the Available offline feature on a mobile device while using the Google Docs app. Working offline opens up opportunities to complete tasks even without the internet. 

For example, let’s say many of your students have a long night of traveling to and from a game because they are part of the marching band and football team. In the lesson Guantanamera: A Poem and a Song, students can open up the  on their laptop device during class, add the Google Docs Offline extension, then make the document viewable without the internet. 

Differentiation

Differentiating assessments, abilities, learning styles, interests, social-emotional needs, and grouping are just a few of the ways teachers respond to individualized or group instruction. With Google Docs and Google Slides, teachers can customize learning experiences like chunking text; masking text; line spacing; and changing the size, color, or font. By clicking File > Page setup the traditional bright white background can be changed to softer colors or inverted colors such as a black background with white text. By going to Tools > Voice typing students can speak directly into a Doc or Slide as long as their device has a microphone. Voice typing is an excellent alternative to traditional writing process tools like pencil and paper or typing. 

One way to differentiate for a student in the Visual Storytelling is to add lines to the  to improve the organization of content or revise the organizer to include additional story elements like a problem and solution. 

Language Support

All students are academic language learners and as they learn and grow, their native and secondary languages grow with them. The language support features in Google Docs and Google Slides are breaking language barriers between content and students. These digital tools include a built-in dictionary, synonym suggestions, spell check, and grammar check.

To demonstrate, the Get Dramatic: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle lesson uses a combination of science and literary terms. An English Language Learner (ELL) can utilize the language tools to improve comprehension or express themselves with higher Cognitive Academic Language (CALP). Their critical and creative thinking will have fewer communication hurdles, demonstrating what they really know about recycling.