So if you are not using Google Doc's to share your documents and information with other people then you are really not using Google Doc's to it's potential.

Sharing, collaborating and privacy are all concepts that you really need to get your head around if you are going to ensure that information you share with parents, students and other teachers stays confidential when it needs to, and hits the world stage when required.

These 12 simple tips from Google's support section are an excellent starting point to get a grip around collaborating on Google Docs.

Shared folders Create shared folders and drag-and-drop items from other folders.

Privacy: You can choose to have documents published publicly or privately.

Share, don’t email: Instead of emailing docs back and forth, type in email addresses of people you’d like to share your Google document with, and they’ll be sent an editable, web copy. This also ensures you’re always working on the same document.

Make changes at the same time: You and your classmates can log into the same document at the same time to make edits.

Share a folder: Share entire groups of documents saved in a single file with coworkers and students.

Invite mailing lists as collaborators: You can share a document with all members of your email mailing lists with this function.

Make a presentation in real-time: Invite others to view a presentation you’ve made as you see it too.

Data validation: Make sure everyone is entering data into the spreadsheet the same way by controlling data validation settings.

Allow people to edit without signing in: This means anyone, even if they don’t have a Google account, can sign in and edit your piece.

Remove collaborators: If you want to take someone off a project, click None next to the name of the person you want to remove.

Forum: If you get stuck with a docs problem, you can head over to the forums and find help from other users.

Change ownership: Switch ownership of Google docs as project leaders change.