The Seeker's List: Computers & Internet

• With Google Apps which is a combination of Gmail, Google Docs and some other  bits and pieces

• Google Docs, however, uses the same space for storage of files and editing.  It is as close to an actual online office suite as you can get, really.

   

  But whether you like it or not, Google Docs or any non-Microsoft company will  never make a fully compatible online or offline office suite which works 100%  with Office documents. The simple reason here is that Microsoft made
• Google doesn’t have an offline office product so a comparison could not really  be fair in this instance. Nevertheless, the cloud factor is important.
• cloud storage facilities or online office suites

• Not only is Google Docs incredibly easy to use as a cloud office suite, the  exporting options available are vast and allow PDF exporting, HTML and even more  quirky file formats. Office Web Apps, as you would imagine, will stick to the  limited few that Microsoft support as file formats.
• Silverlight, even though an integral part of some Office Web Apps, will not be  entirely required. It will be used for rendering zooming in and out on documents  and animations in slideshows, but will only be used if it is detected on the  user’s PC.
• Once things are ready on the SkyDrive front, all the workspaces and documents  will be migrated over to SkyDrive so they can still be accessed. Whether this  will cause for a name change to “Windows Live Office Apps”, I am not sure, but I  wouldn’t put it past them.

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• The new Windows Live suite includes three different services for file storage  and online synchronization. They are called Live Mesh, Windows  Live Sync and   

  Windows Live SkyDrive  – all apps  are available for free and you just need a Windows Live account to get started.  

• Windows Live SkyDrive is an online file storage service similar to Box.net. You  can manually upload documents, pictures and other files to Windows Live servers  via the browser and your uploads will remain accessible from any other computer  or web-enabled mobile phone.

• Say you have music files stored in your home computer’s hard disk and want to  access this collection from the Office computer. Simply install Windows Live  Sync of both the computers and add "my music" folder to your "personal folders"  – now your entire music collection will be accessible from either of these  computers.
• Live Mesh includes everything that Windows Live Sync has to offer plus two extra  features – cloud storage and remote desktop (with support for copy-paste)

• Which Live Service is right for me? As expected, each of  these Live services do have some overlapping features. Live Skydrive is for  online storage, Live Sync is primarily for folder synchronization across  computers (no storage) while Live Mesh offers a good mix of both though with  limited storage space(5GB). Therefore my suggestion would be to go with SkyDrive  as well as Live Mesh – you’ll get plenty of storage space plus remote desktop  plus you can access important files from any other computer.

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• Wiki
• Wiki 
   
  • Strong focus on collaboration and content creation  
  • The content self organize as time progresses  
  • Content not known initially  
  • Navigation using content (linking)  
  • Validation process based on collaboration ("collective intelligence")  
  • Innovation zone
• • For collaboration on content the wiki is king
• For publication of content the CMS is king

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• We decided to use WikiDot.com for a couple reasons, and I’ve been generally  happy about the results thus far:

   

  1) Google Docs work well for specific documents – but they don’t scale over  time well… more importantly the documents are treated distinctly and ultimately  get as cluttered as your computer desktop

   

  2) Wikis are ideal for concepts that intend to grow (new pages are easy to  create and are woven together intuitively)

   

  3) Wiki technology is less intuitive than Google Docs – but the core  functionality takes only a couple minutes to learn

   

  4) Wikis are easier for group contributions (from small edits to major  additions) and for group watching

   

  5) Wikidot (like Google) enables private domains and customizable layers of  control, invitations, etc – critical for internal discussions

• Online  Collaborative Work spaces

   

  Various web-based applications which allow groups of students to work  together on common documents in various formats either synchronously or  asynchronously. Many applications include to-do lists, calendars, and ample  storage space. These spaces are not always secure, however. Some applications  include blogs and wikis for group work, as well.

   

   

  Application in Education

   

  You can upload various types of documents or spreadsheets, even PowerPoint  presentations in many applications and have students work entirely online  asynchronously on a product. Partners and groups can be inside the same  classroom, or across the country or world from one another