Using Google Docs for Collaboration

Google is making word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software available for free on the web. This suite of software is called Google Docs. These products are not as full-featured as products in Microsoft's Office suite, but many times a person does not need the advanced features. Since documents created in Google Docs are stored on a Google server, one may access them from any web browser.

Collaboration
One of the best features of Google Docs is the ability to collaborate with others. Multiple people can work on the same document (including spreadsheets and presentations). They may even work on the document simultaneously. Documents remain private or shared with collaborators as one chooses. Should a person wish to publish a document to the web it is an easy task.

I have had my students use Google Docs for a couple of class projects and it seems to work well. I also used a table to collect information from a group of administrators. To invite others as collaborators one simply sends them an invitation from a form within a document.

Google Docs is part of large number of applications that Google has made available for free. The Educause Learning Initiative wrote an overview of educational uses of these applications in March as part of their "7 Things You Should Know about..." series.

I encourage you to take a look at Google Docs and let me know if you have found them to be useful for any of your projects.