Colloborating with google docs in the cloud m rice
Transcript of Colloborating with google docs in the cloud m rice
Agenda
Introduction: What is Google Docs? Cloud-Computing Technology History of Google Docs Software Components and Features System Requirements Getting Started with Google Docs Advantages and Disadvantages Current Uses in Education Personal Impressions Questions
2
Introduction: What is Google Docs?
Free cloud-computing software
Offers document-sharing services
Marketed by Google as an Office suite
Used for creating and collaborating on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings
Today Google Docs is ‘widely used’ at one out of five workplaces. – Patrick Thibodeau
3
Cloud Computing Technology4
Cloud computing is Internet-based.
Shared resources, software such as Google Docs, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand.
Yahoo
Zoho
Rack-space
MicrosoftSales-force
Amazon
Cloud Computing Technology
Advantages: It’s inexpensive and convenient for consumers.
Disadvantages: ◦ Users are concerned that their data is not protected or private
◦ Users have no control over the expertise and technology infrastructure provided to them in the cloud
5
History of Google Docs
Early Years
March 2005 – Google acquires spreadsheet technology from 2Web Technologies; Google then launches Google Lab Spreadsheets, the first component of Google Docs
March 2006 – Google acquires Upstartle (word processor)
June 6, 2006 - Google Docs is born (beta version)
Feb. 2007 – Google Docs becomes available to all Google Apps users
Sept. 2007 – Google Docs adds a presentation application
April 2008 – Google permits offline access and editing of docs
July 2009 – Google Docs is taken out of beta
6
History of Google Docs
More Recently
Jan. 2010 – Google announces it will allow any file
type, 1 GB free storage, and 25 cents/each additional
GB of storage
March 2010 – Google acquires DocVerse – allows
multiple user online collaboration with MS Office
compatible formats
April 2010 – Google adds a drawing application to
docs
May 2010 – Google removes the offline editing
feature from Google Docs
Sept. 2010 – Google introduces a new revision
history component to docs
7
Software Components and Features
Google Docs◦ Documents◦ Spreadsheets◦ Presentations◦ Drawings
Google Docs supports third-party proprietary file formats (e.g., HTML, Open Office, .rtf,.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, and .pdf)
8
System Requirements15
Cookies and JavaScript must be enabled in your browser. Also, if you’re using Internet Explorer and want to edit drawings, you must install Google Frame.
Getting Started with Google Docs
To access Google Docs, you must have a Google account. If you have a Gmail account, you already have a Google Account.
https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
Then go to and sign in.
16
Advantages of Google Docs
Good for online collaboration
Good version control
No worries about hard drive crashes or viruses
Software is free!
Documents can be shared with non-Google account holders
Google Docs saves all previous versions of documents
Comes with an auto-save feature
Can lock documents (view only access)
Docs features a language translation tool
Can publish files to the web to a URL that Google assigns and then give it out
17
Disadvantages of Google Docs
Can’t open two documents side by side; must open two browser windows and switch between them
Can’t create multi-column word document
Can’t perform mail merge
Docs comes with limited font offerings – no Helvetica!
Can’t turn of grid lines when printing spreadsheets
Presentations has only 15 themes, and no ability to animate, create builds, or add transitions
When you print, what you see is not always what prints
You can upload files in many different formats but must convert them to Google Docs equivalents to edit them
18
Current Uses of Google Docs in Education
Google Docs is popular in education, particularly K-12 settings, because it’s inexpensive and promotes group collaboration.
How it’s used◦ Personal Productivity◦ Collaboration with Students◦ Collaboration with other Educators
19
Personal Impressions
Very impressed with ability to collaborate with others online.
Like being able to store my files in the cloud. Word processor is very similar to MS Word. Like
the chat feature. Spreadsheets seems robust. Presentations is so-so compared to PowerPoint. Drawings, which has been compared to Visio, is
no Visio! PDF files disappear for days from folders and
then reappear (Cloud or Google issue?). Not sure why you need 50 (or 10) people
working in a file simultaneously. Love the URL publishing feature. For the most part, Google Rocks, just not when
the server is down. But it’s promising and free!
20
References
Bradley, Tony (2010). Collaborate in real time with Google Docs. PCWorld, 28(9), 30. Retrieved September 19, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database.
Claburn, Thomas (2010). Google’s real-time bet. InformationWeek (1262), 27-33. Retrieved September 24, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database.
Cloud computing. (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
Gibbons, Brendon (2010). Google Docs: Word Processing, Collaboration, More. Practical Ecommerce e-magazine. Retrieved 9-29-2010 from http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/2171-Google-Docs-Word-Processing-Collaboration-More
Google Docs. (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 19, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Docs
Google Docs beta (2008). Using Google Docs in the classroom: simple as abc. Retrieved October 3, 2010 from https://docs.google.com/View?docid=dcdn7mjg_72nh25vq
Google for Educators (2010). Google Docs. Retrieved October 8, 2010 from http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html
Griffiths, Rob (2010). Why I don’t use Google Docs. Macworld, 27(5), 48-49. Retrieved September 19, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database.
Singel, Ryan (2010). Google Docs Becomes Google ‘Any File’ as Cloud Wars Heat Up. Wired e-magazine. Retrieved 9-19-2010 from http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/google-docs-storag/
Thibodeaux, Patrick (2010). Google docs ‘widely used’ at one in five workplaces. Macworld (27)1, 62. Retrieved September 24, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database.
.
21