What is Google Docs
– Google Docs “is a free
Web-based office suite,
and data storage
service offered by
Google. It allows users
to create and edit
documents online while
collaborating in realtime with other users”
(Wikipedia, 2011, para.
1).
History of Google Docs
Recognizing a Need
– Google Docs is a cluster of
technologies that was
developed from previous
innovations: Writely and
Google spreadsheets. The
Google corporation
purchased the company that
delivered the Web-based,
word processor- Writely, and
combined this innovation
with its own Google
spreadsheets in 2006
(Wikipedia, 2011).
History of Google Docs
Basic and Applied
Research
– Google combined
Google Spreadsheets
with early technologies
to produce Google Labs
Spreadsheets in 2006.
History of Google Docs
Development
– Google developed the
innovation by adding program
presentation capability and
launched a new version of
Google Docs in 2007.
– Google further developed the
innovation after purchasing
DocVerse which enabled the
innovation to incorporate and
allow, “multiple user online
collaboration on Microsoft Office
compatible document formats
such as Word, Excel, and
Power Point (Wikipedia, 2011,
para. 10), and launched its most
updated version of Google Docs
History of Google Docs
Commercialization
– Google first made the
innovation available to users of
Google Apps.
– Google then marketed their
innovation by advertising that,
“Google Docs would allow any
file type, including 1GB of free
space and $0.25/GB for
additional storage” (Wikipedia,
2011, para. 9).
– Google Docs is now available
online, as open source
technology, free of charge.
History of Diffusion
Diffusion and Adoption
– Google Docs has
experienced popularity
among businesses,
students, and educational
institutions due to no user
fees, easy accessibility on
the Internet, and its
“enhanced sharing features”
(Wikipedia, 2011, Features,
para. 4).
Benefits of Google Docs
– Google Docs facilitates
online collaboration in
real-time, allowing
users to open, share,
and edit documents
simultaneously. Google
Docs’ basic benefits
can be divided
according to what the
innovation allows users
to do with documents,
spreadsheets, and
presentations.
Benefits of Google Docs
Documents
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Upload and convert Word documents,
OpenOffice, RTF, HTML, text (.txt), Open
Office (.odt), and StarOffice Writer (.sxw)
files (or create documents from scratch).
Easily format your documents.
Invite others by email to edit or view your
documents.
Collaborate online in real time and chat
with other collaborators.
View your documents’ revision history
and roll back to any version.
Publish documents online to the world,
as web pages or post documents to your
blog.
Download documents to your desktop as
Word, OpenOffice, RTF, PDF, HTML, or
zip.
Email your documents out as
attachments (Google, 2011, p.1)
Benefits of Google Docs
Spreadsheets
– Import and convert .xls, .csv, .txt,
and .ods formatted data.
– Export .xls, .csv, .txt, and .ods
formatted data and PDF and HTML
files.
– Use formatting and formula editing
so you can calculate results and
make your data look the way you
want it.
– Chat in real time with others who
are editing your spreadsheet.
– Create charts and gadgets.
– Embed a spreadsheet, or individual
sheets of your spreadsheet, in your
blog or website (Google, 2011, pp.
1-2).
Benefits of Google Docs
Presentations
– Share and edit presentations with
your friends and coworkers.
– Import and convert existing
presentations in .ppt and .pps file
types.
– Download your presentations as a
PDF, a PPT, or a TXT file.
– Easily edit your presentations.
– Insert images in videos, and format
your slides to fit your preferences.
– Allow real time viewing of your
presentations, online, from
separate remote locations.
– Publish and embed your
presentations in the website,
allowing access to a wide audience
(Google, 2011, pp. 1-2).
The Innovation-Decision Process
Knowledge
– Google Apps users had
knowledge of Google
Docs on February,
2007.
– Google Docs
introduced their new
feature of the
presentation program
product on September,
2007.
The Innovation-Decision Process
Persuasion
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Google started testing their latest site
docs.google.com on January, 2011 to
advertise their benefits to potential
adopters:
Potential adopters could access
documents, spreadsheets, and
presentations without going to various
sites or using separate software.
Potential adopters could also access
their documents, spreadsheets, and
presentations anywhere they can find
Internet connection.
Potential adopters can share their
documents, spreadsheets, and
presentations with others.
Potential adopters can engage in
collaborative activity using Google Docs
to allow group members to co-create,
co-edit, chat, and present knowledge.
The Innovation-Decision Process
Decision
– Bojanova and Pang (2010)
developed an study
regarding the use of various
Web 2.0 and 3.0 technology
to enhance graduate level
courses and engage
graduate students. They
selected Google Docs,
“because of its collaborative
features” (p. 229), and found
that 68% of their
respondents preferred using
Google Docs for the reasons
the researchers chose to
implement the software.
The Innovation-Decision Process
Implementation
– “Students seem to prefer the
multiple editing capabilities
of the Google system”
(Rienzo & Han, 2009, p.
125). The adopters of this
innovation prefer this
software to its competitors
due to the “simultaneous
editing capabilities of Google
docs and the more versatile
organizational possibilities of
the Google system” (Rienzo
& Han, 2009, p. 125).
Communication Channels
Internet Communication
Channel
– Google Docs is cloud
computing software that is
available online and as such,
the Internet is a major
communication channel.
Bradley (2010) commented
that, “Google is virtually
synonymous with the Web
and thus has the advantage
when it comes to online
collaboration.
Communication Channels
Interpersonal Channels
– Since the software is used for
business and educational purposes,
interpersonal communication
channels, both local and
cosmopolite are factors in the
spread of the benefits of this
innovation. Jensen (2010) wrote
about how she touted the benefits
of Google Docs to colleagues and
students and influenced the learning
community to adopt the innovation
with great success. Jensen (2010)
trained some students to use the
software for a project and after
completion of the project, she
interviewed the students.
Slide 17: Communication
Channels
 Line 1:
Interpersonal Channels
– Jensen (2010) shared, “None had heard of
Google Docs before their teacher and I
introduced it in class. Students liked Google
Docs better than trying to use email or flash
drive. All of the students felt that it was a very
useful tool and could see themselves using it in
the future” (p. 53).
Innovation-Decision Process
The Confirmation Stage
– Jensen (2010) added, “Over all, we
are very impressed with Google
Docs. It saves time and headaches
for all of us (teachers, students,
myself included). I have requested
that my school district sign up for
Google for Schools” (p. 53).
– In this situation the early
adopter/change agent introduced,
taught, and persuaded other
teachers and students to adopt the
innovation. The adopter decided to
continue use of the innovation over
time, and also recommended that
her school district, a large decisionmaking unit, adopt the innovation as
well.
Rate of Adoption
Adopter Categories
Innovators
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Innovators of Google Docs might be
educational specialists and media
specialists. These individuals have more
cosmopolite networks and attend
conferences and seminars outside of
their local school districts where they
would learn of the innovation. As
gatekeepers of the flow of new ideas into
their local school districts, they would
introduce the innovation to the teachers
in their schools (Rogers, 2003).
Least resistance would be an effective
strategy for this group, since change
agents could impress these professionals
with the ease, flexibility, and no cost
option of Google Docs and rely on the
innovators to release the innovation in
their local school districts (Rogers, 2003).
Adopter Categories
Early Adopters
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Early adopters would be instructors who
use technology in the classroom to
enhance their pedagogical styles and
engage learners. These individuals would
learn of the innovation through
interpersonal communication networks
that consist of tech savvy faculty from their
school and local districts. These
individuals would receive training to use
the technology in their local areas. The
adoption of the innovation by these early
adopters would trigger adoption by their
colleagues and cohorts as they are
respected individuals known for adopting
effective best practice methods in the
classroom (Rogers, 2003).
These adopters would be most persuaded
by their networks to adopt the innovation“diffusion is a social process with an
innovation moving through interpersonal
networks” (Rogers, 2003, p. 297).
Adopter Categories
Laggards
– The individuals most likely to reject
this innovation would be teachers
who do not trust the ‘open’ nature of
Google Docs and feel that the
application may not be secure
enough for use. These instructors
may feel that the innovation has no
relative advantage over the
Microsoft Office suite.
– The strategy of greatest resistance
could be used with this
demographic, by targeting these
rejectors specifically through local
seminars and workshops designed
to illustrate the many benefits of the
innovation at no cost to the user.
Perceived Attributes
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Google Docs is characterized by certain
perceived attributes that could help the
innovation meet critical mass in the realm of
education. The relative advantages of Google
Docs is that it is free to users; it possesses
interoperability in that the software supports
other formats; the software supports multiple
browsers- Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and
Google Chrome; and the program affords and
facilitates collaboration as it allows users to
share, edit, publish, and therefore co-create
knowledge (Lynn, 2009).
These advantages render Google Docs
compatible with the needs of the instructor who
desires to build and maintain a 21st century
classroom where activities are designed to be
engaging, enthralling, and to meet the needs of
a diverse learner population. The innovation is
relatively simple to use, and its online
accessibility gives it trialability and observability.
It is easy to observe one’s cohorts utilizing
Google Docs in their classroom and it is simple
to try it one’s own classroom to get a feel for the
program and its usefulness for creating, editing,
and publishing collaborative learning projects.
Centralized and Decentralized Diffusion System
– I believe that a combination of a
centralized and decentralized
diffusion process best suits this
innovation. Teachers who can
benefit from the adoption of Google
Docs are a relatively homogenous
group in terms of their needs. The
innovation can influence pedagogy
by facilitating collaborative group
activities. The innovation is also not
a technologically complicated to
use, however, it would be useful to
have training and exposure to the
product from a technical expert who
can show the teachers all that the
innovation could contribute to the
practice of teaching and learning.
The Roles of Key Change Agents
in the Diffusion Process
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Key change agents in the diffusion of
Google Docs could be the school’s Media
Specialist or Educational Technologist.
These experts would assume the roles of
the change agent which reflect:
Building an information exchange
relationship where the change agent
supplies adequate information about how
Google Docs would suit teachers’ needs
and solve problems they may be
experiencing in the classroom regarding
facilitating collaboration.
Motivating the teachers to develop a
desire to learn more about Google Docs
and they ways in which the innovation
could influence pedagogy.
Assisting teachers in translating their
desires into action. (Rogers, 2003).
Critical Mass
– The slight S-Curve
indicates that Google
Docs would have
achieved critical mass
somewhere around
320,000 users.
References:
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Bojanova, I., & Pang, L. (2010). Enhancing graduate courses through creative application of
cutting edge technologies. International Journal of Learning, 17(3), 225-240.
Bradley, T. (September, 2010). Collaborate in real time with Google docs. PC World, 28(9), 3030.
Google. (2011). Google docs basics. Retrieved from
http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=49008&hl=en_US
Jensen, T. (May/June, 2010). No student email at school? Google docs to the rescue! Library
Media Connection, 28(6), 52-53.
Lynn, S. (November, 2009). Microsoft office Web apps vs. Google Docs. Retrieved from
http://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/221601298/microsoft-office-web-apps-vs-googledocs.htm;jsessionid=qyuItYhPmOqR1N+WQXTFvA**.ecappj01
Rienzo, T, & Han, B. (2009). Microsoft or google Web 2.0 tools for course management. Journal
of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 123-127.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. New York, NY: Free Press.
Schonfeld, E. (December, 2007). Google spreadsheets edges out google docs in usage.
Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2007/12/07/google-spreadsheets-edges-out-google-docsin-usage/
Wikipedia. (2011). Google docs. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Docs