Doctopus - The best tool for sharing Google Docs assignments

Doctopus

Don't be scared by the name, Doctopus is not from Spider Man or James Bond, but rather a fun group from the NewVisions for Public Schools that have really pushed the limits of what Google Apps can do for Schools by writing scripts that work with the Google API.  Doctopus manages assignments using google docs by creating copies and automatically sharing them with students or groups of students, managing sharing, grades and feedback all from a single spreadsheet.  This used to be a Google Script that required a bit more savvy to install and run, but it is now a Google Add-on for Sheets making things much easier for all of us. 

When installed, Doctopus first asks what roster you are working with.  You will need to have a list of your students (First Name, Last Name, Google Apps Email) to create a roster for sharing.  The beautiful thing about this feature is that, not only does it remember your roster for future assignments, but it can create a series of shared folders that manages all of your shared documents with your students!  This is an absolutely essential function for managing many assignments with students (whether you use the other features of Doctopus or not).  

Once your roster is created, you will need to set up your assignment for sharing.  The settings are for the following:

• Sharing type (individual, group, etc...)
  
  
  
• Whole Class Access - Whether or not students can view other students work (helpful in group projects and facilitates peer editing)
  
• Student Access [to document] - does the student have edit, comment, comment or view only rights to the google doc you are sharing.  You can also control whether or not students can share these documents with others by allowing editing rights.  By limiting this, it controls students sharing their work with others to copy.
  
• Add Co-Teachers 
  

Once all of those settings have been made, it is time to select the document that you are going to share for this assignment.  You will have to first select the folder in which the document resides, then select the document that will be used as a template for this assignment.  It is called a template, because the actual document is not changed - Doctopus actually makes a copy of it to share with each student.

Once you have identified the document template, you need to determine where the assignment will reside in your google drive.  You can choose an existing folder or create a new one.  You can then also use Doctopus to send a personalized email to your students.  

The last step is to review your settings before creating a copy and sharing it with your students.  Once you have created the copy, Doctopus, inserts columns in your spreadsheet that will allow you to easily monitor each of the student's assignments and provide grades and feedback right from within the spreadsheet.  You can click on the link to the document to see what work has been completed to comment and provide a grade - there is no hunting through your Shared With Me folder in your drive or wading through all student assignment folders.  This simplifies the entire process of using google docs for assignments and is where the real power of Doctopus resides.  Some other neat features are the ability to Embargo documents for grading (if you say you have to have it completed by Friday at noon - then you can enforce that deadline - however, you can un-embargo the assignment for editing purposes.)  You can also send an email to students with their grades and feedback once the assignment is done.  Now - if this was all possible inside of an LMS like Schoology or Edmodo, I would be jumping for joy!  I believe the new Google Classroom is supposed to have such features - I can't wait to see. 

Please share at below if you have used doctopus and how you like it.