The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past two years and for good reasons!
These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the internet without the need of installed desktop applications. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean the death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office. But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, on this both sides seem to agree; web-based apps have their place.
One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing.
With Google Docs, you can create, store and share in a secure, real-time environment. That means you and your friend in, say, Australia, can be editing the very same spreadsheet online - at the exact same time.
Guess what!? When you created your Gmail account or Blogger account, you simultaneously created your Google Docs account - so you'll use the same email address and password that you use to access your blog.
Watch and learn more about this collaborative tool.
Task:
Create a blog post about what you found when using Google Docs.
Do you think it could replace your copy of MS Office someday? Do you think Microsoft should be a bit nervous? Do you think that student's without access to a home computer could use Docs to do some of their work at the library, and then do more in another location with an Internet connection?
Create a blog post about what you found when using Google Docs.
Do you think it could replace your copy of MS Office someday? Do you think Microsoft should be a bit nervous? Do you think that student's without access to a home computer could use Docs to do some of their work at the library, and then do more in another location with an Internet connection?
