Google Docs/Apps

I think the applications offered by Google sound promising. Before watching the video, I will admit that I was biased towards Google because I have used their programs in the past and they are all extremely easy to use, very organized, and have lots of potential. After watching the video, I definitely can say that I would have used Google Docs in the past had it been available. It would make editing drafts of documents much much easier. I think that this application would be useful in a lot of scholarly applications, as well as publishing companies. Basically, any field that involves an update of written text could benefit from Google Docs because it would aid in the organization and syndication of material. As a whole, I think utilizing a variety of the Google Apps would make the organization of an e-portfolio a lot easier. However, my personal interpretation of these programs is that they themselves are not a medium for creating an e-portfolio, but they are rather just a means to organizing various documents and information into one source. I would consider them to be excellent organizational tools, and they are definitely worth considering when creating an e-portfolio or embarking on any kind of project worth documenting for that matter. I definitely do not undervalue the service that Google is providing, but would it be too much to ask for them to compile all of these applications into one program called Google e-portfolio? It may be different using this set of tools in practice, but when I first looked at Dr. Barrett’s diagram of how one could use the variety of applications it looked to be extremely crowded and visually distracting/confusing. There wasn’t a linear process; there were no common “steps to success” or “plug and chug” formula.