Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Thing 13: Web-based Application

Alright, here goes nothing.  I have decided to try and write my blog on Zoho Writer.  As soon as I am done typing, I figure I can copy it to Microsoft Word in case of accident (by the way, it didn't work).  
I have never used either Google Docs or Zoho productivity apps.  I guess if I can use Microsoft Word than I can use an online word processor.  I do not usually use word processors for anything other than basic typing, and I can share documents pretty easily through email, so I am not sure if I would use online word processors in my personal life.  I can understand the appeal of online spreadsheets though, especially if you are sharing the spreadsheets with a large group of people that need to add their own information.  I actually used a Google Docs spreadsheet to sign up to carpool for a club trip the other day.
I decided to try to write my blog post on Zoho and chose to create a drawing using Google Docs.  Here is a copy of my drawing.


Online Applications would definitely be useful for teachers.  It would be a lot easier to put a document on Google Docs than to have to email it to each student or parent.  It would also be a great place for students to collaborate on a project.  Once they learn to share documents, than they could create all kinds of projects.  For example, say your students had to make a tri-fold display about a book.  They could set up a spreadsheet that says who needs to bring what supplies and create documents to discuss ideas or set up a template that shows where they want to put information.  It would be an easy way to create the project before they had to make a hard copy.  
Zoho Writer and the Google Docs are very similar.  I would probably use Google just because I use a lot of other Google tools and so I am almost always signed in on Google.  Getting to Zoho is one more step that I don't need if I am trying to create a document quickly.  

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