Google Docs is by far my favorite Web 2.0 tool. It is solid, very stable, and truly collaborative. Imagine having 10 people collaboratively work on a single PowerPoint presentation... you can with Google docs. Imagine a class of 30 students all inputting data into a spreadsheet and performing analysis simultaneously ...you can with Google Docs. Imagine creating an online form to gather information or take a survey then emailing it to thousands of people ... you can with Google docs.
I coach/mentor a robotics team and on day one of the season, I don't have kids sign in and give me their information on a piece of paper. I simply put out a laptops with a Google Doc opened in the webbrowser. This saves double entry (copying paper to computer) plus this document can be immediately shared and accessed with a few clicks of the mouse.
Google Docs is not as robust as Microsoft Office and would not be suitable for creating a newsletter or application that requires heavy formatting and can be considered a Microsoft Office lite. Additionally, Google Docs is not a good choice for people that need to keep their information top secret or secure. The good news with Google Docs is that your information is available anywhere on the Internet and, the bad news is your information is available to hackers anywhere on the Internet as well. Google has been hacked and has servers spread across the Globe so there is no guarantee that your physical data even resides in the USA.
Google Docs is very easy to transition to for the average user and there are plenty of tutorial videos on all aspects of Google Docs available on YouTube. Here are some great examples:
Great Overview Videos of Google Docs
Why Google Docs for Educators?
Google Docs Spreadsheet Tutorial
I like the tutorials you included as part of your blog. There is a funny one about Google docs where a young man is trying to write an email to a girl he likes and all his friends help him edit it. In the end the girl accepts his invitation, but suggests next time he just speak to her in person. Google docs is great, but when sharing presentations some agreements have to be made ahead of time. Two people can be editing the same slide (or typing over each other in other types of docs) and that can be a little confusing, especially for newbies.
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