Google Documents is an amazing online resource. After carefully reviewing many of its features, I feel confident in recommending this application to colleagues for several reasons. First, the application is FREE! Google Docs seems to be a twin sister to the pricey Microsoft Office Suite as they both feature word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and form/data collection products. Second, when multiple colleagues sign up for Google Docs, real-time collaborate is available and users can edit and revise the same document online. This would be a fantastic alternative to the multiple emails that are often sent back and forth to edit documents. The steps that are currently taken to edit a document, attach it to an email, send it off to a colleague who they makes their changes, attaches it and sends it back in an email, and so on are eliminated with the collaboration feature of Google Docs. Third, the documents are hosted right online so they can be accessed from any computer. Many teachers can currently access their school documents only by sitting at a computer in their district in order to reach the documents on the district’s server. Google Docs would eliminate the need to transfer files via a flash drive or removable hard drive between home and work computers.
Of course, every application has drawbacks. One obvious drawback is that since Google Docs are an online application, one must have internet access to access them. Another minor drawback is the formatting options. I noticed that the options are significantly reduced in Google Docs. There are not as many font styles and text sizes in Google as there are in the Microsoft Office Suite. However, I know that personally I only use four to five of the text options, which is probably even more than the average user. Although Google Docs’ options are reduced, there are still plenty of choices to make a presentable and aesthetically pleasing document, spreadsheet, or presentation. A third drawback that I noted was in the presentation feature. After creating a presentation, I did notice that the bottom bar, even in the full-screen mode, advertises Google. That bothered me a bit. However, the bottom line is that this is a free application and the least we can do is advertise Google when we use it, right? Overall, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks of Google Documents. I would highly recommend this application to my colleagues.
Image editing software is new to me. I take pictures, upload them to web albums, and make digital scrapbooks. Once in a while I’ll crop a picture before sending it off to the e-scrapbooking site. However, playing with Picnik’s online photo editing software really opened my eyes to the possibilities of creating amazing pictures with just a few clicks. First, no registration is required to use the tools and one of the first things that I noticed was that I did not need to download any software to my computer. I was really surprised and quite pleased with this. Adobe Flash is used to edit photos on this site, but most users would probably already have this installed. Second, tools that seemed basic to me, including resizing, cropping, rotating, sharpening and red-eye correction were available. One of my very favorite features was the one-touch “auto-correct” button where a wide variety of tools were applied to perfect a picture. Third, an overwhelming variety of special effects are available including frames, text, stickers, sepia, black and white, vignette…the possibilities really are mind-boggling. Fourth, a feature that I really appreciated was that photo cards can be created with this online editor and then printed at your own home in beautiful full color. I have paid a fortune for special occasion cards for years but will certainly be using Picnik in the future for this feature. I did not find drawbacks with this online application. All photos created can then be saved to the user’s own computer, registration is not required, paid upgrades are available but are not necessary for the average photo editor, and the site is fast and free. I would highly recommend this application to colleagues.
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