As you may have surmised from previous Things you have completed, Web 2.0 (in general) and 16 Things (specifically) are all about sharing; sharing information and ideas, working together and organizing collaboratively. The internet is changing and you are part of the change. Now don’t get me wrong, the internet is still a great place to "pirate" tons of free music and download formitable mountains of porn. That’ll never change. What I’m talking about is “the promise” of the internet as an arena (or Thunderdome) for the free flow of information and ideas. That “promise” is becoming an ever-increasing reality. That’s what I’m talking about when I say “that’s what I’m talkin’ about”. In this Thing we’re gonna look at some tools that will foster collaboration and sharing.
Now, we all have used email and attached documents to share various drafts of a project. This may work, but there are a number of obstacles that can muck up the smooth exchange and editing of that aforementioned document. Attachments may not open or you or your collaborators may not have the same software program or the right version to open and edit a document. It is easy to lose track of which is the current version with all the changes.
But seriously, look who I'm telling. After all we've been through together thus far, I think we understand each other pretty well. Let us proceed.
Web 2.0 tools make collaborating on an original document or other publication easier. Documents are online and available from any computer with Internet access. Edits are easy to make and save. The program saves a document’s history with all changes made and indicates who made the changes. A full set of word processing tools makes formatting simple. Click the toolbar buttons to bold, underline, indent, change font or number format, change cell background color and so on.
I know this is getting kinda wordy so, to break it up a bit, I thought you might like to take a look at this CommonCraft vid.
Zoho offers a suite of productivity web applications. Zoho Writer is the word processor. It allows instant collaboration, inline commenting and chat facilities. It allows multiple users to work on a document simultaneously, you can import Microsoft Word (DOC), OpenOffice text (ODT & SXW), HTML, RTF, JPG, GIF, & PNG files. Options include sharing documents only with your colleagues/friends or you can publish them for public view.
Use Google Docs to create basic word processing documents, presentations, or spreadsheets from scratch or you can upload your existing files. Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. You can share documents with a select group or make the document public.
Akin to this whole sharing and collaboration business is a tool called Dropbox which allows you to store, sync and share your files online. You can check out a brief demonstration video here to see what Dropbox has to offer. This tool DOES require a download. Totally worth the effort though.
1. Look at this public document in Google Docs. Make as many edits and changes to the documents as you wish, using the various editing tools available. Send an email to aim16things@aii.edu and we will invite you as a collaborator.
2. Zoho Writer lets anyone who knows the address look at the document, but you must be invited to edit it. If you want to edit this document in Zoho Writer, send an email to aim16things@aii.edu and we will invite you.
Blog Prompts
Which of these tools is easier for you to use?
How do the features of each compare?
Does one have features that would make you choose it over the other?
What would the Founding Fathers think of these tools?
Would the final draft of the "Declaration of Independence" have been better had these tools been at their disposal? Hmmm, I wonder...
Challenge (optional)
1. Sign up for an account in Zoho and/or Google.
2. Create and share another type of document using other Zoho tools—Sheet (spreadsheet), Show (presentation tool), Notebook, or Wiki.
3. Publish the document (Public) and post the link on your blog for others to view and/or edit.
4. Blog about the tools' ease of use, potential use in your chosen profession, and other thoughts.
