GOOGLE DOCS FOR USE IN EDUCATION

Google Docs is an answer to every teacher and student working on a collaborative project or individually. All you need is a gmail account and anyone can create or upload files,edit and publish or share with whomever they want. Students and teachers are already familiar with the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Google has all these and more for you to work with @ Google Documents, and best part is that it can be shared with people you choose, to edit online in real time and it is FREE. You do not need to save any of these files on your computer as they are stored online,on Google's secure servers, which means you can do away with your pen drive and access your files from anywhere with an internet connection.
In addition to the word processor, spreadsheets and presentations, one can also create forms and drawings. Imagine working on a collaborative drawing.
Once finished, you can even embed your file onto your class blog for others to find it.
Advantages of using Google docs are many,compared to Openoffice.org and Microsoft Office. But now, Microsoft has come out with an answer to this by introducing the Microsoft Cloud. But Google Docs remain the popular choice in the classroom.
Recommended Reading :
Google Apps In Education
Super Ideas For Teachers

Get Yourself A GMAIL Account

Exchanging email ids with some teachers and professors recently made me write this post. Most had not migrated to a gmail account and preferred an ageold rediffmail or yahoo/msn mail account. Almost all students I exchanged with, have 2-3 mail ids of which the most preferred is a gmail account. Also the most used ! Now, I personally have accounts in yahoo, hotmail & of course, the one I most use is gmail.
Why do I consider the mail most useful ?
Signing up for a gmail account entitles you to sign into other FREE Google tools with the same username and password. For example, once you log in to your account,@ the top left, you will see the other google sites that you can view without having to sign in. These include blogger, youtube, book search, bookmarks, adsense, calender,orkut,docs, reader,photos, sites, groups,images, maps, scholar,blogs,web search,translate,transliterate,and of course, you can log in to GTalk,for a video /audio chat as well. Students can use the collaborative and communication tools such as docs to create presentations and work on projects, even when @ home.
If you still desire to keep your hotmail / msn or any other email accounts, you can choose to view all your mails in your gmail inbox by going to Settings on the right hand corner of your gmail account. Click on Accounts & Import and add email ids from which you wish to import. You also have the choice to send out emails from any of the email ids you have imported in addition to the gmail, by choosing the relevant one @ Send Mail As.
If you are an educator or a student, you will certainly find having a gmail account useful. Signing in automatically shows your google calender, tasks, contacts, friends available online to chat , docs, quick links,etc. Buzz is the new addition very much like facebook,but it can be useful within a group of students or teachers if used correctly.You have the option of customizing your Google page with igoogle where you can add gadgets that you regularly use and choose the theme to suit your mood.You can also archive and save all your mails without deleting any because of the large inbox you get. Adding labels in different colours makes your email managing easier. On the whole, student and teachers and parents will find their time and task better organised.

GOOGLE APPS IN EDUCATION

Innovative Educators are constantly looking for ways to use technology in classrooms around the world. Students are enjoying the fun ways of learning with the use of gadgets and online applications, and of course social networking sites.
Google Apps has on offer an Education edition for those educational institutions wanting to have their own intranet facility in addition. Any school or college can sign on for their own customary logo and use these apps among students, teachers, across subjects, classes, clubs, etc. Google Apps Education Edition offers a suite of useful applications as a cloud computing solution. Users can log on , share and collaborate in real time from anywhere in the world using a PC or an internet enabled mobile phone.

Google Apps Education Edition hosts a suite of collaboration and communication applications.

The Collaboration Apps include
Google Docs where you can share spreadsheets, word documents and presentations.
Google Sites where you can have personal, institutional or team websites searchable on Google.
Google Video Education version that gives users secure video sharing within your domain.

The Communication Apps include
Google Calender,
Gmail, and
Google Talk.
The best thing about this Google Apps Education Edition is that is FREE for all users.
You even get to host your own domain name,eg.,user@school.edu
And there is absolutely no advertising.
Recommended Reading: 
Google Resource Materials For Teachers