What about Google Docs?

Photo Courtesy:  http://www.google.com/google-d-s/documents/

A simple and accessible way for students and teachers to create, store and share instantly and securely, and collaborate online in real time is through Google Docs. Haven't heard of it? Well, now is the right time for you to know about it!

Google Docs is a free, Web-based word processing, presentations and spreadsheets program.

Unlike desktop software, Google Docs lets people create web-based documents, presentations and spreadsheets that anyone in the group can update from his/her own computer, even at the same time.

Instead of emailing around files and having to deal with the confusion and extra work involved in managing different file versions and manually aggregating input from others, anyone in the group can edit the document online from anywhere -- all you need is a Web browser.

And, since your docs are all stored safely in Google's servers, you don't have to worry about losing data from a hard drive crash or nasty virus.

It features security by enabling you to decide who can access and edit documents. 

For teachers who have tight schedule, Google Docs is an ideal way of publishing new academic updates, assignments, and to monitor student's progress via an interactive process that allows teachers to give the students certain guidance about their academic performance. 

Students will find this application very helpful for them because it offers them the ability to keep on top of their assignments. They never have to remember to save their work; it happens automatically. It's easy to collaborate online with fellow students, even when they aren't in the same place, and they can get feedback easily from teachers, parents, relatives and tutors, and enter updates anytime from anywhere. And kids can go back to the revisions history to see how their assignment has evolved, and who has helped.

Now that you have idea of what Google Docs is all about, it's time for you to create one. How? Here are the steps:

To create a doc:

1. From your Docs list, select "New" from the upper-left corner.
2. Select which kind of doc you'd like to create: document, spreadsheet or presentation.
3. A brand new version of the doc type selected will open for you, ready to be edited and shared.

To share a doc:

1. From within the document you'd like to share, click the "Share" tab, in the upper-right corner*.
2. Enter the email addresses of whomever you'd like to add and select the button next to "As collaborators:" or "As viewers", depending on what kind of access you'd like them to have.
3. Click "Invite collaborators."
4. If you'd like, in the window that appears send an email to your collaborators explaining a little about the doc. Whether or not you send this email, your doc is now shared.

*A note about Advanced permissions:

In the "Share" tab you'll notice a couple of options below the invite screen that bear further explanation.

• "Collaborators may invite others" is exactly what it says -- an option that allows or prevents those you invite from inviting others to the doc.
• "Invitations may be used by anyone" is a feature that allows invitations to be forwarded, and allow access to, anyone who receives them. In effect, this option works similarly to "Collaborators may invite others."
  
  Note that when inviting a mailing list to collaborate on a doc, you'll need to have this option checked.

(https://docs.google.com/View?docid=dcdn7mjg_72nh25vq)

Well, if you really want a hassle-free task and an accessible way to reach your peers, try using Google Docs. You wouldn't be having any problems because Google lets you create with the basic instructions.




Easy, huh?