Using Google Docs to Collaborate in Real Time

When someone is introduced to Google Docs, the first and most basic concept is that when you create something with Google Docs, you can access it from any device which has Internet access. A second major concept is that you have the ability to share your creation with someone else. You may grant rights to view a document or rights to edit that document. This concept eliminates the need to e-mail documents back and forth and wonder which one is the most recent.

The video I have embedded here reminds us we can take this concept a step further. Multiple people can view the same document at the same time. Multiple people can make changes to that document at the same time. Imagine a group of people sitting around a table, or even sitting in the middle of the floor, all working on a project together. Google Docs offers that capability, even though the people may be in different parts of the world.




Many who watch this video know the capabilities shown here exist. Yet, in our day-to-day world, we often forget about an easier way to do things are resort to what has been familiar. We do what we have always done. So, the challenge is to start doing smarter things!

Having just watched this video, take a moment to think of a project you have going on right now where you could use what you saw here to make that project easier. Actually using the concept, even once, will make you much more likely to think of real-time collaboration with Google Docs the next time a similar task presents iteslf.

How do you collaborate on projects? Anyone already doing what you saw here? Anyone accomplishing this through concept through Dropbox? Other thoughts?

The Power of One

I saw this on Mr. P's Blog, authored by Tucson principal Steve Poling.



The video reminds me of the favorite quote of a very good friend:

Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much.
-Helen Keller

Can you think of a time when someone has sparked this kind of team work in your organization? What were the results?

The Art of Control Without Controlling

TED talks are lectures of 18 minutes or less heralded as "ideas worth sharing" in the areas of technology, entertainment, or design. For a little more background on the series, you may want to read this entry on Wikipedia. This particular talk should be of interest to the musicians reading this blog. The speaker and former conductor Itay Talgam uses video of six twentieth-century orchestral conductors to illustrate the concepts of control and collaboration. I found it to be a very interesting piece.

Institution Versus Collaboration

This video of Clay Shirky is from 2005. It is about 20 minutes long. He shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning. The takeaways for me were:

1. The explanation of how he put together part of his presentation by using the "tagging" feature of Flickr to allow him to select photos from many photographers. For those unfamiliar with how "tagging" works on Flickr, blogs, Delicious, etc., Shirky's talk shows us why they are important.
2. The blogging revolution and how it is reshaping journalism.
3. This quote from his talk, "If you want to know what technology is going to change the world, don't pay attention to 13-year-old boys. Pay attention to young mothers. Because they have got not an ounce of support for technology that doesn't materially make their lives better."