Google Docs
Introduction
Use in educational setting
Schools can use Google Docs for the purpose of bringing communication and collaboration tools to the entire academic community for free. Students, teachers and staff can share ideas more quickly and get things done more effectively when they have access to the same powerful communication and sharing tools. There's no hardware or software to install or maintain, since everything is delivered through a standard web browser -- anytime, from anyplace.
Here's what you can do with documents
Pros and cons
In discussing the pros and con of central storage, A. Bylund 2006 concludedTemplate:It would rock to have a single point of storage for all my online profiles and activities. This is the strongest defense in support of Googledocs. To the classroom teacher whose work space may be at the school computer lab, the faculty lounge or the library, the online access to a web based storage is prime. In addition Googledocs is
- free; and
- familiar, having three programs for word processing, presentation and spreadsheet.
Other features include an automatic save of an active document every couple of minutes. Uploads of any external file of word, power point or spreadsheet document from a computer makes it possible to share with others online, or just have access to it from any computer. Simultaneous editing from different sites promotes collaborative work. Pictures or clip art may be inserted in the document file.
The ease of access in Googledocs is diminished by
- private data is automatically stored on the google server without user option for where data gets stored;
- formatting capability is limited. The presentation application does not offer many features like themes, templates, transitions, and animations;
- files cannot be accessed without the internet;
- users need to sign up as a Google user;
- Googledocs is not supported by the Safari browser;
- presentation slide show does not present as slide show in the Mac preview;
- published or shared files must first be accessed from email, ergo users must all have email accounts; and
- loading of file is slow.
Examples
References
Bylund, A. (2006). The pros and cons of central storage. Retrieved from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061107-8168.html