Week 7 Post

I have been using Google Docs for a little while now mainly for my school work.  This week allowed me to dive a little deeper into some of the features I had not discovered on my own.  One of the components of Google Docs that I have used before this course is the forms application.  For one of my courses I was required to create a survey in order to collect data.  Therefore once I had my questions and how I wanted the survey to look I was able to post everything onto my Google Form.  After I made the file live, it was very easy to then send out the link to participants to fill out.  The best feature about Google Forms is that once the data is collected, all of the information is transferred to an Excel file.  This makes it very easy to read and manage.

Another use for Google Docs within academics is working on a group assignment.  Whether the course calls for an essay, presentation or a financial model, everyone can work on the file at the exact same time.  Although it is sometimes easier to have everyone in the same room for a meeting it is not always possible.  Versions of the file are also kept so that changes can be tracked.  This helps when understanding who did what part of the assignment.

Google Docs can also be used in the professional world.  Sometimes when sending out emails with attachments, the files can be too large and the email will not send.  This is a great opportunity to use the sharing feature of Google Docs.  Once a file has been created or uploaded to the owner’s drive, it can then be shared with another email.  The owner can decide whether the recipient of the file can have access to edit or just view the file. 

I believe that Google Docs is a great tool to become familiar with as there are so many great features.  I no longer need to carry a USB stick or even my laptop to school as long as my files are saved to my Google Drive.  No matter where I am as long as I have access to a computer and the internet I can edit my current files and always create new ones.