Google and Collaborative Editing

I thought I would combine two articles that were presented for this week for one of my weekly blog posts. The two articles I will talk about today are the 7 Things you should know about... Google Apps and Collaborative Editing.

Ever since starting this MA in Educational Technology, I have been thoroughly impressed with what Google has to offer... for FREE. With a simple sign up of a free Google account, one can do many things with a few clicks of a button. You can send and receive email via Gmail. You can create various documents with Google Drive, as well as save them in "the cloud" and not have to worry about having your work only located on one device. You can also utilize their many apps that allow you to do a plethora of things. You can even create a group via Google Talk and communicate with each other in real time via your device's camera.

The aspect of these Google services that goes unnoticed, at least in my eyes, is the ability to share and collaborate what you create/work on. According to the article 7 Things you should know about... Google Apps, "Sharing content is as simple as granting someone access, which facilitates collaboration without having to transfer files or worry about software compatibility". With my job (teaching distantly online) collaboration and sharing of content is essential. Also, when students are working from home and are not in a classroom setting, there tends to be a disconnect from learning. By utilizing Google Apps and it's collaboration tools, I can try to create a classroom environment (even if it is done virtually) that can help connect learners to each other and to the content being delivered. According to the article 7 Things you should know about... Collaboration Editing, "working simultaneously on a document can build a sense of community among the editors that is not possible if the document were simply passed from one individual to the next".

I feel that having a Google account is somewhat of a necessity to be successful in today's education field. Especially completing your education via a virtual school, utilizing Google and it's collaboration tools are important and useful resources to make the most of your education. I plan on using these more than ever this upcoming school year.

References:
- 7 Things you should know about... Google Apps." Educase Learning Initiative March 2008. Web. Retrieved on August 8, 2014.
- 7 Things you should know about... Collaborative Editing." Educase Learning Initiative Decemeber 2005. Web. Retrieved on August 8, 2014.