Google- Does it All
Our lecture for the second class of Exploring Your Digital Portfolio was about Google. I have to say my mind was blown. Being 20+ years older than the average college student, I literally had no idea of a fraction of what Google was capable. I have only used it to search the web, Gmail, and maps.
The first Google product that I would really like to familiarize myself with is Google Docs. As someone who has been employed in the banking and finance industry for over 18 years I thought Microsoft Office was what everyone used for everything.
Two years ago when my daughter was applying to colleges she asked me to proof-read her essay. She told me to just go ahead and make corrections to it on Google Docs. At the time I just dismissed it as some new technology that schools were using so that students could collaborate on projects and assignments. I read the essay and made some corrections. She then sent it to my son who is a journalism major at Rowan University so that he could read it along with my corrections. As I look back on it now, I realize how easy it was and what a great product it is. And it is free! In a blog by Charles Cooper about Google Docs he notes that Google designed the product with collaboration in mind, so that users can share and edit the same document in real time (extending, if need be, to mobile devices).
The second product I hope to learn much more about is Google+. In the slideshow Google + for Higher Education, they explain 31 ways to use its features for faculty, students and administrators. It allows for so much to be done remotely like video conferencing, sharing documents, creating a page for your organization/group. The convenience that it offers for free is remarkable. A very helpful video for using many of the features available is that of Ashley Cross. She discusses Google Forms, Google Voice, Google Earth and so much more. She also mentions several times in her video that these are FREE.
As impressed as I am with all that Google has to offer I must say that I am "creeped out" by how much information Google knows. The main reason I do not want an Alexa in my home is because I don't need another Google spy. My phone listens and tracks everything I do and say. Google is the "Eye in the Sky". So I guess that the use of Google does come with a cost...your privacy.
The first Google product that I would really like to familiarize myself with is Google Docs. As someone who has been employed in the banking and finance industry for over 18 years I thought Microsoft Office was what everyone used for everything.
Two years ago when my daughter was applying to colleges she asked me to proof-read her essay. She told me to just go ahead and make corrections to it on Google Docs. At the time I just dismissed it as some new technology that schools were using so that students could collaborate on projects and assignments. I read the essay and made some corrections. She then sent it to my son who is a journalism major at Rowan University so that he could read it along with my corrections. As I look back on it now, I realize how easy it was and what a great product it is. And it is free! In a blog by Charles Cooper about Google Docs he notes that Google designed the product with collaboration in mind, so that users can share and edit the same document in real time (extending, if need be, to mobile devices).
The second product I hope to learn much more about is Google+. In the slideshow Google + for Higher Education, they explain 31 ways to use its features for faculty, students and administrators. It allows for so much to be done remotely like video conferencing, sharing documents, creating a page for your organization/group. The convenience that it offers for free is remarkable. A very helpful video for using many of the features available is that of Ashley Cross. She discusses Google Forms, Google Voice, Google Earth and so much more. She also mentions several times in her video that these are FREE.
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