Week 11 (Aug 2-9)

Learning 2.0 @ HKUST Week 11 Activities

Online Application Tools I: Slide Sharing and Online Office

Web2.0 tools emphasize the beauty of sharing and collaboration. This week we will look at some online applications which allow instant sharing and updating of documents like Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

I. Why do we need these online tools?

1. You can create and share documents over the web without the need of installed desktop applications.


2. It allows multiple users to edit the files simultaneously and you don't need to worry about the versions you are working on.


3. You don't need to worry about different software versions or file types when you email documents or use them on other PCs. (e.g. doc and docx)

II. Slide sharing tools

Slide Sharing websites

'Slide sharing' or 'presentation sharing' websites let you upload or create slide shows which you can share with your friends, followers or anyone on the web. You can create, upload, download, view, tag and use your or other presentations anytime and anywhere.

These slide sharing websites also allow you to share your work by linking your presentation to other online social media like Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, etc. You can e-mail your slideshow or embed it on your website or blog. Through commenting or linking other’s presentations, you can easily connect with other contributors.

The most popular slide sharing tool is called SlideShare

Use of slide sharing of libraries and other organizations:

1. OCLC Research

http://www.slideshare.net/RLGPrograms/presentations

2. National University of Singapore

http://www.slideshare.net/nuslibrariesssrt

3. University of Michigan Taubman Health Sciences Libraries

http://www.slideshare.net/umhealthscienceslibraries

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III. Activity

1.Go to Slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net/), search some slideshows using ‘Library’ as your search term.

2.Further limit your search for videos uploaded within this year.

3.View the slideshow and post ONE to your blog

4. Click 'Blogger' icon on the left hand side

5. Log in your blogger account and allow access

6. A new post is then created for you and click ‘blog this’ to publish.

7. After that, look at the slide on one of your colleagues’ blogs and leave a comment.

Note: If you want to upload or create your own presentations, you have to sign up.

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IV. Online office tools

Apart from sharing presentation files or PowerPoint files on the above websites, some of the web-based applications also provide you a platform to work on your office documents. You can create Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and online survey forms online. These platforms allow you to share different documents to other for viewing or updating simultaneously. It is a convenient tool for team working, especially if you have some documents for a group of colleagues to work, edit and manage together.

To learn more, please visit:

Google Docs Tour: http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html

Zoho Writer Screenshots Tour: http://writer.zoho.com/html/screentour.html

Enjoy and have fun!