Google Docs Vs. Open Office...
Having used both platforms for a few months now, I think that both suites of productivity tools are excellent FREE resources. I think that the two work best together because of the one reason that sets them apart. Google Docs are saved to your google account (gmail, iGoogle) online in one of the many clouds whereas Open Office stays put on your desktop, where it (and the documents that you create and save from Open Office) will always be so even when you can't access the internet, you can still work on your Open Office docs. Since I have internet access at home, work and even grad school (all wireless as well) it makes sense for me to keep most of my active documents in Google Docs because I am able to get to them no matter where I was or what computer I was on. But lets just say that I took my laptop with me golfing at Tower Ridge, where I don't have a wireless signal, I would have to create a document in Open Office and just save the work while my dad was hitting out of the sand trap, and then if I wanted to later could easily upload it to my Google Docs when online. Easy enough for my students to remember as well: Open Office = work offline, Google Docs = work online. For students of mine that already have multiple documents on different computers at school and home have started uploaded them all to one place on Google Docs for better organization, and some 8th graders that I try help mentor about high school choices have uploaded essays and application questions to their Google Docs for future editing, use and reference.
Having used both platforms for a few months now, I think that both suites of productivity tools are excellent FREE resources. I think that the two work best together because of the one reason that sets them apart. Google Docs are saved to your google account (gmail, iGoogle) online in one of the many clouds whereas Open Office stays put on your desktop, where it (and the documents that you create and save from Open Office) will always be so even when you can't access the internet, you can still work on your Open Office docs. Since I have internet access at home, work and even grad school (all wireless as well) it makes sense for me to keep most of my active documents in Google Docs because I am able to get to them no matter where I was or what computer I was on. But lets just say that I took my laptop with me golfing at Tower Ridge, where I don't have a wireless signal, I would have to create a document in Open Office and just save the work while my dad was hitting out of the sand trap, and then if I wanted to later could easily upload it to my Google Docs when online. Easy enough for my students to remember as well: Open Office = work offline, Google Docs = work online. For students of mine that already have multiple documents on different computers at school and home have started uploaded them all to one place on Google Docs for better organization, and some 8th graders that I try help mentor about high school choices have uploaded essays and application questions to their Google Docs for future editing, use and reference.
Other than being free, the fact that both programs can easily read most files from new and older software makes platform compatibility a thing of the past. Even the oldest Microsoft Word docs that I have from 10 years ago uploaded fine to both. And since many of those big-name fancy software companies don't allow you to save as an older version or even sometimes open older versions of documents, think of all the headaches and hassles this would solve in schools where many of the computer equipment is outdated or just mismatched labs set up where the school could find enough space. Just by using Open Office and Google Docs, both students and staff could have the ability to share and save work that was accessible to them anywhere at anytime as long as they could get online and had what they needed uploaded or saved in their Google Docs. I also like how you can select more that one file at a time to upload to each program, making it easier for users to make a fresh start with programs that won't empty your wallet and create endless possibilities for collaboration in and out of the classroom. Open Office looks like it has a ton of templates and add-ons available, so that may take some time to see what other uses it could have in the classroom, or it may be worth having students start using both platforms and have them come up with some ideas to use the various programs in their courses.
On a more personal note, Goggle Docs has been a huge help to me in organizing all my course work from the Ed Tech program after my laptop went down and I needed a place to quickly upload all of the documents that I needed to save that were created along the vast journey these past seven or so years. Here's to you! Google Docs!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment