Crane's Thing #13

Zoho versus Google Docs - This post will compare these two on-line productivity tools and describe some of their advantages.  Zoho was very easy to sign up for, and its Writer productivity tool is free.  The features had a very familiar look and feel to them that was very similar to Microft Word software.  The button and features were alike enough that there were no issues in manipulating the document or saving it.

I did not have to sign up for Google Docs since I access it through my gmail account and have used it before.  Of course, Google has now integrated Google Docs with Google Drive, their new cloud storage powerhouse.  Once again, the features are very similar to their counterparts in Microsoft Office, so creating documents is very easy.  Below is a sample document that I created for this post.

In this example, you can see how an on-line document can be very versatile and advantageous to use in the classroom for a group project.  All of the group members can add content to the document, even at the same time.  This sample document shows how a group of students could divide the work into sections, and then collaborate on the conclusion.  I have personally used Google Docs for a class project, and it was very beneficial.  With group members leading busy lives, it was hard for us to find meeting times to collaborate.  With Google Docs, we would add content to the group project at whatever time was convenient for each of us.

Although both Zoho and Google Docs are very similar and easy to use, I will continue to use Google Docs because it is quickly accessible with all of my the other Google tools that I already use (including this blog!).  Of course, I'm sure that is why they make it so convenient ... so you will always stick with them!