Since Google Docs is basically a word processing program, there are many ways to use it in the classroom - especially for myself as I teach History Alevel

1. Individual writing assignments (essays, research papers, creative writing, journals, lab reports etc.)
2. Collaborative writing assignments (research, creative writing)
3. Peer editing
4. Teacher editing
5. With SmartBoard documents can be used for whole class viewing and/or revising

Many of the benefits of Google Docs arise from its collaborative nature.

1. Allows multiple students to write, edit, comment on, and view documents.
2. Students can share documents with the teacher for comments and editing suggestions.
3. Students can work on documents from anywhere they have Internet access.
4. Documents can also be shared publicly.
5. Everything saves automatically. (This could be the best feature - no more "lost" work!)
6. Docs can easily be accessed, shared and/or presented on a SmartBoard.

Google Docs affords the possibility for teachers to have real time updates with the total amount of edits, times and dates, and who edits what. This allows us to be aware of how a student is developing their writing skills and how they are processing certain subjects. This is invaluable considering that most of the times we only get the end result - the essay - whereas it is more fundamental to the learning process of a student to be aware of minute details of how they are procesing the subjects and how they try to express them - in this way we as educators can offer more specific feedback . 

Crucially, Google Docs affords users with the ability to view the edits in real time - and thus, intervene on the spot when there is something to remedy or clarify for the student. This is invaluable because it allows you to use time on a task effectively and solve problems as they arise instead of days or even weeks later.

Therefore, the general purpose of Google Docs is:

• Personalization & adaptation, to provide students with tailored learning pathways, or assessment materials.
• Intervention purposes, providing educators with information to intervene to support students.

Overall - these are the benefits from learning analytics through Google Docs 

• Monitoring individual student performance
• Identifying outliers for early intervention
• Predicting potential so that all students achieve optimally
• Preventing attrition from a course or program
• Identifying and developing effective instructional techniques
• Analysing standard assessment techniques and instruments (i.e. departmental and licensing exams)
• as predictors of students requiring extra support and attention;