My longest, and potentially most enriching, relationship has been with Google.
A friend of mine sent me an invitation to my Hotmail account to sign up for a Google account when I was 16 years old. Six years and over 10,000 received e-mails later, I have been faithful to my original Google account while making several more. I had a Google account before the days of Google+, GChat, Google Chrome, and Google Apps.
Google Apps made having a Google account an indispensable requirement for internet interactions. Without having to purchase or install software, Google account holders have the abilities to to utilize a vast collection of programs and file storage that run best in a web browser. The term "Google Apps" encompasses many different communication tools, productivity tools, and highly customizeable personal elements. Personally, I cannot even begin to describe the benefits of Google documents alone. Having the ability for multiple users to collaborate on and edit one document simultaneously that is saved forever in an external location is simply genius. The multi-user functionality of Google Apps is not limited to text documents alone. Many users find the group-share abilities quite useful in calendar, spreadsheet, and presentation formats.
In a work environment, educational or not, Google Apps have many, many uses. When student teaching, I saw that my placement school used Google Apps all of the time to make group communication more efficient. Instead of sending around a sign-up sheet for professional development groups, forms were made to divide the groups on Google. Google Apps facilitated group sharing in easy to use and efficient ways.
Having a Google account means that you have access to many different tools for communication and productivity all in one place. If you haven't already, I would highly encourage you to explore Google Apps and consider how you could benefit from everything that Google has to offer.
Interested in learning more? Check out 7 Things You Should Know about Google Apps!
(Image source)
Wow, Ms. Wall! You're a loyal Google-groupie! I have had a Google account for just over a year, and I honestly hadn't used it much until I began Graduate School. I first created a Google ID to G-chat/video chat with some friends who were raving about the Google features. I wasn't initially aware of all of the perks that came along with my account. I have been using my Yahoo e-mail account for 5 or 6 years (and was perfectly content to stay), but having had more experience with all of the "Apps" you talked about, I may be a total convert! I agree with your praise and amazement at the Google Docs application. That has truly saved valuable time and effort when working with groups on school projects and papers. It is pretty incredible where technology can take us. Because I'm still fairly inexperienced in the world of Google, I may come to you if I need help or have questions! Thanks for your post and the information.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to ask; Do you have any favorite features, or helpful hints for the novice Google users?
ReplyDelete