It is possible to use Google Documents to write essays for FS. First, create a new document. Once you have created a document, you will want to rename it.
You should, for this class (and, perhaps, all classes) name your documents something sensible. Including your username in the document name will make it easier for your professors to figure out whose document it is. Including the course might be good as well. See how I've renamed my document below:
I've named this jadudm-FS101-first-essay. It is a good idea, for a variety of reasons, to avoid spaces in the names of files. In the universe of the WWW, not every kind of computer likes spaces in filenames. You should get into the habit of using the - instead of the space.
Once you've named your document, go ahead and write your essay. It will be awesome. See mine, below? I've used Heading 1 for the title, Heading 2 for my name, and then gone ahead and written it. I would recommend using Times instead of Verdana, which I forgot to do in these examples.
Next, go ahead and give yourself a standard page view.
This makes it much easier to know how much you've written.
Now, share the document with me (if you are handing the document in). First, go up to the Share button in the upper-right-hand corner of the page.
Select Invite People. Next, you need to fill out a few things:
First, you need to add my email address to the Invite list. Second, you should make sure that you are inviting me to edit your document. Third, you should include a note in the Message box. For example, you might mention that this is a draft that you want feedback on, or perhaps it is a final submission.
I will then use footnotes and comments to mark up your document:
You are able to turn these off in the Print Settings, which is useful if you want to generate a final version of the document. As you edit your document in response to my comments, you are also welcome to remove the comments and/or footnotes as you address them. Either way, the final document you submit should not have any footnotes or comments that I wrote.
That's it.
That's all you have to do. You could, in theory, write everything for FS101 in your web browser, and never have to print a single piece of paper. I think it would be a fabulous experiment.
