Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools

I have had a Google Docs account for almost a year, and I have only used it sparingly. I think that my team at school would like it if only they would give it a try. There is still some resistance to change because it is just easier doing things the old way. Whenever my group of 17 teachers have a document that we are making changes to, we are constantly emailing back and forth with the revisions. Finally, one of my co-workers said she is interested in trying Google Docs, and we are going to show our group how easy it is to plan our annual Thanksgiving luncheon on Google Docs rather than emailing back and forth! What a great collaboration tool; if only we would use it.

Using Google Docs is similar to using an open-source word processing or presentation format. All the basic fonts, backgrounds, and styles are there, but editors in Google Docs do not have all of the wonderful creator/editing tools that are found in Microsoft Office 2007 or newer versions. Another disadvantage is that for true collaboration to work, all the members of the group would have to learn how to navigate in Google Docs, and that is sometimes difficult to get everyone on the same page.

Here is a one-slide presentation I made for you to view in Google Docs, and, yes, you can even edit the slide. In Google Docs, you, the owner, decides which documents are viewable and which are private. Just click on the link for Google Docs and edit away. Hope to see your images or input soon!