Lesson 4: Google Docs -- Sharing Documents Online

Hi Everyone ... Welcome to the Google Docs lesson. This lesson was written by Sabrina Nespeca (with a little help from Jay). Jay's still learning Google Docs but Sabrina is an expert.

Objectives

• What is Google Docs?
• Learn how to edit a shared Google doc
• Learn how to share a Google doc with a co-worker
• Investigate who uses Google Docs
• Publish a Google doc as a blog post or to twitter

What is Google Docs?

In short, Google Docs is a web-based document sharing system. This video does a great job of explaining Google Docs.



With Google Docs, you can:

• Create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations (just like with Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
• Access your files from anywhere (with an Internet connection)
• Collaborate with others in real time
• Publish to the Web

A huge benefit to web-based applications like Google Docs is that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from desktop to desktop, as illustrated in the video above. Another bonus is that they provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). So, you can create a Google doc and save it as either a PDF file or as a web page. And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs to author and publish posts to your blog (or links to twitter!). It’s this type of integration with other Web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based applications so important in the Web 2.0 world.

Did you know?

This lesson was written on a Google Doc by Sabrina and Jay and then published to the Learning Web 2.0 Blog!

How to use Google Docs

First, read the Google Docs tour. The tour takes less than five minutes.

Activity 1 -- Edit a Google Doc

To get started you can just follow this link ... Clickety, click. You now can view and edit the Google Doc.

When asked, sign in to Google with your Google account that you've been using for earlier lessons to view the document. If you haven't gotten a Google Account yet, get one now.

Answer the question in the document. Please write at least one sentence and sign your name with a comment. To make a comment, use the Insert menu option -> Insert comment.

After you (or any of your collaborators) have edited a document and saved the changes, the most up-to-date version is the one on everyone's Docs list. With Google Docs, you never have to worry about someone working on an obsolete version of the document. Congratulations! You've now edited a shared Google Doc. Easy, eh? You've worked in the cloud.

Activity 2 -- Share a Google Doc

In the first activity, we edited a document that someone else created. For this second activity, you'll be creating a new document or uploading an office doc of your own and sharing it with a colleague. If you'd like some help, watch a video to view all the options for sharing and publishing. Otherwise, go straight to the exercise.



or



Share the Google Doc via email with one other library colleague preferably one who has not already written in the Doc from the first lesson. You can choose either "Invite people...", which sends a pre-made message or "Get the link to share..." for the URL alone. In the email, you can add a personal message or a link to the Lesson blog if you like. Below is one suggested message. Copy by highlighting and pressing CTRL+C the text in this box.

I am sending you this invitation as a part of the Learning Web 2.0 series. If you'd like to learn more about Google Docs, check out Lesson 4 at http://learning20-pcl.blogspot.com/.
-YOUR NAME

Now you can re-visit the Google Doc any time to read or comment on anything your colleagues are writing! Need more help?

• Google Docs Help
• Google Docs 4 Everyone (This is an ebook from Safari Tech Books.)
• Visit Jay in his office.
  

Who uses Google Docs?

Watching these videos can help you answer the reflection questions for this lesson.



Many schools are using Google Docs and other Google Apps on an enterprise-level to either complement or replace their office productivity suites. Teachers can open up learning and collaboration between students, students and teachers, teachers and teachers, staff and teachers, and so on in a more controlled way than social media. Online collaboration is changing education and the very nature of knowledge. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for Google Docs users on your campus!

One student's experience: When Sabrina was in the San Jose MLIS program, she was forced to think of different ways to collaborate long-distance with Library Marketing classmates she'd never met. There were no options to meet each other. We tried forums, instant messaging, and finally found Google Docs, which solved the problem of multiple versions floating around. All we had to do then was agree on what to say... Many editorial issues were resolved by using comments and revision history.




A New York couple gathers guest information for wedding planning using Google Forms/Spreadsheets. You can do the same for any kind of party or group event. Here's one way one of your lesson authors used forms: Who wants to read those product license terms? E-resource librarians just love it! We track the terms and conditions for e-resource leases. Sabrina made this form to facilitate finding important terms. If you want to make a form, check out the templates and design section! If you think your form will be useful for other Google users, you can save it as a template for anyone to use.

Activity 3 -- Reflections via a Google Docs Form

Click on this big blue button-made with the Google Docs drawing tool--to share...



Further Reading

Google Docs is but one application of the computer trend buzzword Cloud Computing. Web 2.0 is a part of this. "Cloud Computing" is geek speak for computing software on an as-needed, self-service level without sweating on-site hosting, hardware configuration, servers, etc. (Just ask Bob or Jay about the hassles of these). Some of it is free, like Facebook, and some is pay-per-service, like automatic online back-ups. Your kids may already be using one in their school library. The San Diego Unified School District switched to a union catalog called Destiny® that is entirely web-based.

Blog Posts and a Book on Cloud Computing

• Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk blog post: “Could you live in the cloud?”, and read the comments left by several readers.
• Michael Stephens’ Tame the Web blog post: “How can libraries use the cloud?”
• Jenny Levine’s The Shifted Librarian blog post: “We’re Not All Ready for the Cloud Yet”
• Cloud Computing: Web-based applications that change the way you work and collaborate online from Safari Tech Books

Extra Credit (or if you're feeling courageous)

Publishing

Make a new or uploaded spreadsheet, form, or presentation. Add an image, table or drawing and publish to your blog as a blog post. You can also embed a form or spreadsheet into your blog. Include the blog post title "Lesson 4."

Congratulations!!! You've completed Lesson 4.

If you like, tell us about Google Docs in your blog or via Twitter.