CROCODOC



Alexandra Mills www.crocodoc.com

This website is a great source for sharing documents, pdf's and power points among groups or classes. Through this site, students can upload projects and presentations to be shared with the class, teacher or with selected students. The site is very user friendly and easy to navigate. As soon as you log onto to site you are prompted to upload your paper or power point. Once it uploads, you are taken to the editing site where users can easily highlight and edit right on the page. Another great feature is that users can add comments on sticky notes and email the document when finished. Also, users can add a password to their page so that only those with the password can view and make comments to the page.

There are no tutorials or videos to help use the site, which I think is a tribute to how easy the site is to use. The one challenge that I think users might face is the privacy part. It seems like all groups have to use the same password to view the documents, I think it would be better if there were a groups page. This was classes could sign up and those within the class would be able to view the documents and make changes to classmates' work. There is also the issue of cost, the basic plan is free, however a more indepth version is available for $8 a month or $36 a year. This could be something the school or PTO could pay for, this way you would have use for it all year.

Lesson Plan:

Students in my 7th grade Language Arts class will peer edit another student's persuasive writing piece using www.crocodoc.com.

Instead of the traditional way to peer edit, students will upload their paper to the site for another student to peer edit. Each pair will create a password to use and will have two nights to complete the assignment. Students will be given a rubric and will need to complete each item on the rubric to receive credit for the peer editing step in the writing process.

The rubric would have a checklist, similar to the one below:

- Highlight the thesis statement -Underline all transition words - Strike-out any grammar or spelling errors - Add at least three sticky notes (1- Question, 1- Comment, 1-Critique) - Email the document back to your partner

I think this would be a more fun alternative to peer editing on paper. I am sure the students would find this way more enjoyable and probably be excited to peer edit, something that does not normally happen!