Thing #18... Online Productivity Tools

Since I didn't feel like downloading Open Office, I went ahead and decided to review Google Docs instead.  Needless to say, I was truly surprised when I clicked on the link and found a document page that listed the Notebooks entries that I have kept since starting Learning 2.0!

Advantages of using Google Docs versus MS Office:

• great for students --all they need is a computer with Internet access & no costly software is involved
• can be used with Windows, Safari & other platforms
• ability to share documents and collaborate on them with others at the same time --it reminds me of a wiki! 
  
• ability to access documents from anywhere without having to carry your flash drive around your neck!
  
• ability to publish document as a web or blog with no need to master html! 
• documents can be saved in pdf, which is not possible in Word except if you have the Adobe program, I think
• Word-processing has same features as MS Word except the limited number of fonts and the lack of more advanced graphic features (adding speech bubbles), but it is extremely user-friendly
• templates are available --it made creating a presentation very easy and after dabbling with it a bit, I found it even easier than PowerPoint!
• Since I am not too much of a spreadsheet kinda gal, I bypassed this application for review...

Disadvantages of using Google Docs versus MS Office:

• safety --there are just certain documents that I would not feel comfortable saving on a server that is not the school's.
  
• possible slow Internet connection at times
• very likely limited space provided for free on the server --my typical presentation files are always humongous!