Efficiency with Google Docs
Most people are familiar with the suite of Microsoft Office that consists of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and many others depending on the package purchased or pre-installed. For those who prefer open-source (free software), Open Office is the other common choice. There is another choice through Google. It is called Google Docs. We can achieve better efficiency with Google Docs.
We can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations in Google Docs. The look and feel are very much like Microsoft Office applications. You can create and edit the files or docs (as Google calls them) as per normal. On top of that, you can edit docs from anywhere and collaborate with others. With collaboration, we can share the document and edit the docs together with others online. It is just like sharing whiteboard where everyone’s changes are updated real time.
Google Docs also provides ideas for teachers in Docs for Teacher. You can find it in Google Docs Help area. There are few suggestions provided on how best to use Google Docs in education. You can also find Google Docs Help Forum in the help area. This forum has all the answers to questions the users have. Of course you can join the Google Docs Help Group that will send emails when there are questions and updates. There are also templates available for the Docs at template gallery.
Since Google Docs is using existing Google account login, if you already have account registered with Google, you don’t have to register again. You just need to activate Google Docs and you are ready to use the features.
There is a new feature of Google Docs that allows it to work offline. This is very convenient when you need to work offline. Google Docs will use the copy stored in local hard drive and synchronize the content when you go online again. You can access Google Docs offline you need to enable it first by installing Gears for Google Docs. It is easy to do. Just click on the Offline link in the upper-right corner of your Docs list. When you see the following dialogue box, click the Get Google Gears now button. To access Google Docs offline, just point your browser to http://docs.google.com.
You can get more information from Google Docs Help area.
