I had never heard of Google Docs until someone mentioned it in class the other day and when I looked into it, I used it for an assignment for another class and really liked the format of it. Not to mention, it is another place to store a document other than just on one hard drive or on your personal computer. The ability to share your work and let others edit it or collaborate together on it is the most interesting tool about Google Docs. It could be a useful interactional tool for students and teachers or maybe someone looking to have their work corrected, however, I wouldn’t like some of my personal documents to be viewed by any and everyone on the Internet and those documents I am able to keep private and only giving me access to them (unless a hacker gains access). It’s going to be an odd change that will take some getting used to after using Microsoft Office for 19 years, but to me it seems worth it!

Google Chart Wizard and Google Maps are not necessarily of great education importance to me, however, they are extremely interesting to mess around with. As a communications major, I rarely use charts and statistical values but sometimes seeing an visual image of something puts it into perspective rather than just having words. For presentations that include a lot of numbers and values, I plan on using Google Chart Wizard to enhance those numbers and comparisons. Google Maps, on the other hand, is somewhere I spend a lot of my time, however, this time is not dedicated to educational purposes but leisure activities instead. For me, it is easier to just quickly type an address into my GPS programmed into my car and listen to that for every street and turn I need to make to get to my destination. However, when my family and I are looking for a beach house to stay at during the summer, we use Google Maps often to depict the scenery of the exact house were looking into staying. I also show a lot of my friends when we first meet my hometown on Google Maps. It’s hard for people to understand that I literally live in a place with cows, corn fields, and no stop lights, but when they see a visual, they understand! All of these Google features are interesting and useful for many Internet users and I believe they should advertise these tools more. Like I said, I am an adamant Internet user and had never heard of Google Docs or Google Chart Wizard!