Week 12: Social Tools and Cloud Computing

Today we began by learning about cloud computing, which means that we can save and use applications on the web without having to actually use the same computer to access that information.  The whole idea is that we know that cloud computing is there without really knowing how it works.  One such example is Google Docs.  We went over how to open up Google Doc and actually use it.  We also discussed Social Bookmarking and one site that we went over is Delicious.  Delicious allows for people to bookmark web pages and save them, so that they can be accessed on any computer.  Delicious is very organized in that it lets people tag their bookmarks so that they can easily find a certain bookmark in the future.  Delicious functions similar to the tabs on our computer, however, the Delicious web page can be accessed from any computer, which is very convenient.

Social tools are very helpful for teachers.  Teachers can share web pages, websites, and information through Delicious.  Everyone can view each others bookmarks and this allows for easy sharing.  Teachers can take advantage of this and help each other out.  As a teacher, I would like to use Delicious to bookmark web pages about lesson plans.  Then I can share these pages with other teachers who can also benefit form the information.  Additionally, Google Docs can be used to interact with students as well as parents.  Also, students can collaborate and work on group assignments using Google Docs.

This article is an interesting one, because it discusses Google Docs and the competing apps from Microsoft.  It introduces topics and then explains which features fare better.  This article goes along with what we learned in class about Google Docs and the real time collaboration that Google Docs is famous for.