Affordances are perceived emergent properties and realized possibilities of the object. Affordance is not a feature of subject or object; rather it refers to both (Gibson, 1979, p. 127 and 129). They express possible functions in certain situations. Affordances are not good or bad, what they are depends on the subject’s perception and its optimal/non-optimal use of the possible function.
- Google Drive/Docs basic affordances enable easy creation, storage, sharing and collaboration of different file types (documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms, drawings, etc.) Decent (15 GB) of free Cloud storage size allows sharing, upload/download, ease of access to files and docs (and its revisions) stored for future use.
- Google Drive/Docs social affordances are quite decent. Doing group collaborative work with the help of Google Docs empowered with Google+ Hangout, is a good choice that results in extraordinary social experience, by enabling text, spreadsheet, presentation, form and drawing modification and fruitful collaboration together synchronously in real time. Using only Google Docs we can modify text together and left some notes on margin for others to find, but speaking and chatting would not have been possible. Consequently, the social features of Google docs are decent, but if empowered with Google+ tools, social affordances are extraordinary.
- Google Drive/Docs cognitive affordances are not immediately obvious. The concept of cognitive affordance is understood as series of coherent sessions of creative and analytical activities that consider involvement of inductive/deductive reasoning, thinking, analysis and other mental processes, essential in the creativity process. Working in Google Drive/Docs, includes possibilities of writing, interaction with others, reworking text, compiling presentations, drawing pictures and forms, editing images, listening/editing music, watching/editing videos processing information, etc., reflecting on your own thoughts and other related activities. The creative possibilities are virtually inexhaustible.
- Google Drive/Docs emotional/motivational affordances are synergistically linked to those other two, considering that using that kind of advanced cloud web storage empowered with powerful web apps service, creates rich document production and storage system, easily accessible everywhere, with so many decent social and cognitive affordances, quite inspiring and motivating to users. I can witness that it is quite easy to "fall in love" with that kind of efficient production/storage environment.
The value of synchronous and asynchronous collaboration is confirmed by numerous studies as essential and highly rewarding for education and business, so people can learn and accomplish much more when they “put their brains together”. Here is the Google video about sharing and collaboration.
The video above provides a closer examination of the Google Drive Sharing and Collaboration process. It demonstrates a number of significant affordances, including ease-of-use, various methods for performing specific tasks, accessibility on a number of platforms, open communication through various functions such as chatting and commenting (with very comprehensive comment notification settings), and the capability for educators to carefully review and monitor a document’s revision history as an excellent way to assess if students are equitably contributing to their group projects.
Other Collaborative Interactivities
Since its introduction in April, 2012, Google Drive has inspired numerous educators to suggest some very creative ways of taking advantage of its many affordances.
Other Collaborative Interactivities
Since its introduction in April, 2012, Google Drive has inspired numerous educators to suggest some very creative ways of taking advantage of its many affordances.
- As an example, George Williams, an associate professor of English at the University of South Carolina Upstate, wrote a comprehensive tutorial called, “Host a Website on Google Drive,” posted on The Chronicle of Higher Education on February 25, 2013.
- Another excellent use for Google Drive involves its seamless integration with learning management systems, like the Canvas LMS by Instructure.
- Google Drive is now being utilized for collaborative multimedia projects, where learners and instructors can securely exchange video or audio files by use of shared folders.
- Also, for bloggers or website developers who want to embed content in one of their own pages or posts, Google provides the necessary code. The University of Alaska Fairbanks gives complete instructions for this on their website in a pdf file called "Teaching Tips."