I have a new technology addiction. It’s not an iPhone, it’s not twitter, and it’s not facebook (although the book is not far from an addiction). It’s my favorite cadre of online tools – it’s GoogleDocs.

Hello, my name is Jeremy, and I’ve been using GoogleDocs since 2007.

It started out with just a couple of spreadsheets that I shared with other coaches to keep track of my lacrosse and soccer players’ contact information. Now, we have the educational edition at my school and each student has an account. Kids are logging in, creating assignments, sharing them with each other, submitting them to me … it’s pretty sweet.

I’ve just discovered how I can use forms to create assessments and student surveys, and I’m not sure my classroom will ever use paper again. A paperless English classroom? Unlikely, but possible.

As an assessment tool, I still have to consider how to keep students from looking at others’ screens for answers, but I’m so pleased that I can offer the assessment on the computer, collecting the answers in a spreadsheet automatically. I can share the spreadsheet with students for viewing later (without names on their work, of course) when we review the assessment results.

Even more exciting, with subjective test elements, one can set up their spreadsheet to grade students’ work automatically: check this link for how. That’s one thing I could get hooked on!