Preferring Google Docs over Gmail, junior Amanda Wolford does her history project. Photo by: Janessa Salazar.

By: Janessa Salazar

With the new school computers, Plymouth High School has just about all the resources it needs for school. Some of these resources are made to do similar tasks, for example Google Docs and Gmail. The real question is which one is the preferred resource.

Google Docs and Gmail are two websites that are used by both students and teachers at PHS. Some say that Google Docs is the best and others think otherwise. Last year, the Plymouth School Corporation was debating on whether or not to let the students have Gmail or not. It was decided over the summer that Gmail would also be incorporated for staff and students to use as a resource. They were hard at work with more filters and setting up everyone’s Gmail accounts for the new year. Now that staff and students have both items, both students and teachers can have a greater amount of resources to use.  Junior John Stillson said, “I think that teachers are used to communicating with emails so they are used to doing that. The students are the ones working on projects, so they definitely apply the benefits of Google Docs a lot better.”  Freshman Quentin Gawornski said, “The biggest reason on why I use Google Docs the most is because you have the ability to communicate with other teachers and students and collaborate almost instantaneously [on] projects or assignments.”

Neutral about Google Docs and Gmail, freshman Quentin Gawornski works on his laptop. Photo by: Janessa Salazar.

However, not all students favor using such websites. Sophomore Cody Gamble said, “For a student like me, I don’t check Gmail very often and sometimes miss updates or information.” According to junior Amanda Wolford she would agree, “I cannot access my gmail, I’ve always always always had problems with it!”  Junior Morgan Thomas thinks differently, she said, “Both are okay to have, but I prefer just to have Google Docs because Gmail is almost the same thing.” Despite the dislikes, there are still students such as Sophomore Scott Mason who benefit from the sites. He states, “Well I find them both [useful] and I see why they brought in GMail.”

Both programs do the same task in different ways. It is up to the students and teachers to decide which they prefer. One day, the debate on the issue of which resource is more proficient will be resolved.