 |
| iconfinder.com |
Some new options are available in GoogleDocs
In the past, GoogleDocs has been criticized for being somewhat of a lightweight when it comes to working on research papers. Typically, students would use Word to type the paper and then find some other option for generating bibliographies/works cited. Most people have heard of/used the Citation Machine at some point and many others have used EasyBib. Still others have fiddled away with the resources functions within Microsoft Word. EasyBib was really by far the best option of those three since it allows students more flexibility in finding and tracking their sources over multiple projects. It's easy to use and has been a stand-by of many English teachers for some time.
I did an earlier demo on how to add EasyBib (or other apps) as a Google Chrome app. This allows students to access the EasyBib website and log in automatically using their Chrome profile.
Now, GoogleDocs allows several options when it comes to research and works cited pages. There is a Google-based version that maximizes Google Search and Google Scholar allowing kids to search the web from within their document. There is also now the ability to use EasyBib as an "add-on" within the doc itself. The benefit of either is that students don't need to leave their document while working on it and waste time copying and pasting URLs.
These features aren't only for high school students working on research papers. There are image search functions that allow kids to search for images while also learning to cite them when adding them to there work (21st Century Skills). So students using GoogleDocs for projects, flyers, or brochures may also use these new features.
The add-ons are growing every day. If you find an add-on that works well for you, share it in the comments below.
Check out this demo:
