Review of Online Applications

Google Docs
Google Docs is a great way to share information with others through documents, spreadsheets, presentations and surveys.

The neat thing about using Google Docs in a class is that you don’t need to purchase Microsoft Office and each student does not need a Gmail account to access a document that you share. If you share the URL with your students, (use TinyURL.com to make a short URL that’s easier to type), the students can access the document all at the same time. The way I used Google Docs in class is to have the students go to a Google Doc where I’ve posted questions. The students are divided into groups of three to four students each and each group types in their short answers to the questions. As someone types, the other groups can see their postings. Groups are asked to come up with a different answer than what other groups have already submitted. With any online tool such as this, the information is saved on the host server (in this case, Google’s server) so confidential information would no longer be confidential. Anything that needs to be keep confidential should be saved on the school’s/organization’s own server (which Google Docs doesn't accommodate).

Using the spreadsheet option to create a survey is a great way to have individuals answer questions. Just create a new spreadsheet and click on “form” to create the survey. Enter your questions (choices are available for types of answers—multiple choice, yes/no, fill in the blank, etc.). There are templates to choose a design, or you can leave it very plain. To edit a question, click on the pencil by that question. You can also delete a question by clicking on the trash can next to the question. URLs to the surveys can be e-mailed to recipients or posted on a Web site. Once the survey is posted and individuals take the survey, the answers are submitted into a Google docs spreadsheet so it’s easy for the owner to tabulate the answers (survey takers cannot see the results). To show you how a survey looks, class members can take this survey.

SumoPaint
This image editor is very easy to use and you don't have to download a program--just use it online. The tools are very similar to other image editors though it has a lot more options than Paint (if anyone uses that program). Sumo was very easy to get around in and easy to understand. The one problem I found was that even though it asks which option to save as (sumo, png, jpg), the user still needs to type the extension after the name. If the extension is not typed in (such as .jpg after the name), the computer doesn’t understand that the file is an image. Since most programs will automatically add the extension to the name, this could trip up some students.