Learning 2.0: Processing Words on the Web

I see it in my job every day. A student has written a paper in Works, or Word 97, or Word 2007 and then comes to library to print it off. Only the machine they are on does not have the program that they originally wrote their paper in. Sometimes, we can help them if it's a Word 97 vs. 2007 issue. But, if it's Works, out oh.

What's the solution. Well, a solution might be using a web-based tool like Google Documents or Zoho Writer. These tools have many (but not all) of the great features that software like Microsoft Word have.

But these tools have some advantages over the more traditional tools. For example, some colleagues and I are working on a presentation together. Not only am I physically located in a different building than my colleagues, but we are also having a difficult (well, impossible) time getting together because of all of our crazy schedules. Our solution was Google Presentations which will let us work COLLABORATIVELY together.

Another benefit of Google Docs and Zoho are that you can create a document there and then publish it on the web or in your blog. No need to get into HTML and even to use a web editing software.

One thing I have discovered is that some of these 2.0 tools don't have some of the nice features of the more traditional tools. For instance, with Google Presentations, there is no "notes" feature which can be so helpful when working on a presentation.

I think these 2.0 tools have great promise for collaborative work. Faculty, staff, and students working on projects or academic assignments could all benefit from using some of these tools.