Thing 13: Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox

I'm on holiday this week so I'm only going to look at two of the tools (I can hear you asking 'why are you doing this if you are on holiday?' well it's either this or paint the radiator in the kitchen!)

Google Docs - For some reason I thought this was going to be a bit complicated. I thought it was going to look different to Microsoft and that I'd have to find my way around an unfamiliar screen but it was actually very easy and did look like the applications I use at work.

I created their equivalent of a Word document, sent it to a colleague at work and gave them permission to edit it. I think this sort of tool is useful for groups that don't share a computer network at work/home. I work closely with my mentees and we send files by email  but I think I might try this in future as some of the files get rather large. It's good because the other person can edit it and so you have a master document.

I'm assuming that my document is now 'in the cloud'. There's a lot of talk about the 'cloud' and despite all the good things about it - such as not needing a USB stick anymore - I fear it's just going to be a new way to make money from broadband customers. I imagine that soon someone will start charging me for my bit of the cloud.

Wikis - I like wikis. I use a wiki at work so that our new first year students can book themselves onto a library workshop. We used to do this using bits of paper at the enquiry desk and we always had students who wanted to be with their friend and who would change their mind about which slot they wanted to attend - let's just say there was a lot of crossing out. Now I don't have to get involved in any of that. The students can look at the days and timeslots available and book themselves (and usually their friend) on to the workshop that suits them best. We get the odd one that manages to delete everything but I can usually retrieve it. I do have to warn them that I can see who has edited what on the wiki so that they don't scrub off another persons name in order to pinch their seat at the workshop. The academic staff also use wikis to monitor attendance at seminars. It means there is no need for paper registers and all - administrator, tutor, seminar leader - can see the master document at the same time.
It's a good tool to use in my role - workshop bookings, sharing documents, working in with groups across various locations - it's flexible and people seem to get to grips with wikis fairly easily so no need for extensive training or  instruction guides.