Computer Lesson: Office on the Web

LESSON 11 Office on the Web LESSON GOALS Explain what \"office on the Web\" means. Identify the benefits and limitations of online office programs. Enumerate some popular and free online office programs. Encourage the use of online office programs for schoolwork and group projects. The...

LESSON 11 Office on the Web LESSON GOALS Explain what \"office on the Web\" means. Identify the benefits and limitations of online office programs. Enumerate some popular and free online office programs. Encourage the use of online office programs for schoolwork and group projects. The Internet has changed the way we live. Furthermore, it has changed the way we work. Do you know that people today have the option to not go to an actual office or meeting place every day just to work or do a project? This is possible if you have an office on the Web. What Is an Office on the Web? An office on the Web is an online office suite which is a set of cloud computing application software. It allows users to perform essential tasks through a system of interrelated programs. It com perform essential task applications into one system, eliminating the need to open and use a lot of programs. You can log onto this system wherever there is Internet access and regardless of the kind of computer or operating system you are using. It lets you store different kinds of data in an online account. It also allows you to collaborate with other people wherever they are by providing you with the means to communicate and share files. The office on the Web has become indispensable to people who work from home, but it has also proven to be very helpful and convenient to everybody else who uses computers for doing tasks-especially students like you. Here are some common components of an online office program: Word Processor - used to compose, edit, and format any printable material or document. Spreadsheet - an application that simulates an accounting worksheet and is often used for processing financial information. Presentation Program - used to display information, usually in the form of a slide show. - Database - a collection of related files or records that provides data for various uses. Personal Information Manager - used as a personal organizer, it can manage addresses, personal notes, calendar dates, reminders, lists, and more. E-mail Client - an application used to manage e-mail. **Benefits and Limitations of Online Office Programs** What follows are some of the benefits of using an online office program: ** Centralized Storage** Using an online office program allows you to store different types of data in one location. You don\'t need to open several programs at once to access your files when you need various data simultaneously. This allows for improved organization and higher productivity. ** Convenient File Sharing** Online office programs let you share documents with your groupmates or friends without having to send them the files one by one. At the same time, you also have the power to choose the people whom you want to have access to your files and restrict everybody else. ** Easy Access** Online office programs let users access documents from any computer with an Internet connection. If your group is working on a presentation, for example, an online office program allows all members of the group to access and edit your slides anytime and from anywhere. You won\'t need to go back home if you leave your laptop behind. You can access your online files from the school\'s computer lab, the nearest Internet café, or on a friend\'s computer-anywhere with an Internet connection. ** File Backup** We are used to storing files on our computer\'s hard drive or on a removable disk. However, if your computer fails or your removable disk gets lost and you have no backup, your precious documents are gone forever. An online office program allows you to store and save your documents on a remote server, letting you have an instant backup of your files. - **Low Cost** While there are lots of online office programs that require you to pay monthly fees, there are many others which can be used for free. Thus, all you need to spend on is electricity and Internet connection. Furthermore, online office programs spare you from having to go out all the time save on transportation and food expenses. On the other hand, there are drawbacks and limitations when it comes to using online office programs. The following are some of these: - **Need for Connectivity** Since everything is online, Internet access should be readily available. if, for silable to you, you cannot access the should be readily available Unavailable to you unless you have saved them on your computer. This can be a cause of stress and delay if you do group your computer without Internet access, you cannot view the latest edits or changes made to your documents by your group mates. Need for Speed Many online office programs require a high-speed Internet connection. If you have a slow connection, you may encounter problems in accessing data. ** Limited Features** Since online office programs combine different applications into one program, these applications often have fewer features than their offline counterparts. Nevertheless, software companies and developers continue to work on the quality of online office programs to make them as efficient and as convenient to use as possible. **Popular and Free Online Office Programs** 1. **Thinkfree** Thinkfree (www.thinkfree.com) has three main components: Write (a word processor), Calc (a spreadsheet), and Show (a presentation software). Like other free online office programs, Thinkfree is known for its efficiency and compatibility to Microsoft Office. 2. **Zoho Office Suite** ([[www.zoho.com]](https://l.messenger.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zoho.com%2F&h=AT2MqihFjYiznaJLEP0PECCmRjmRtbcLKhWvO_FjeZwuxYXexRowPJQdPhz7xhn9_ce0sns1_b0bLq0B4LzHQVLHPoaqUZIYZQeSHH5VlajKLObupuPYpKMZKyd_tdVzgi3e3w)) badstvo basic applictions: a Word processor and a spreadsheet. It applicatioll other extra applications, including a project management software, a presentation software, a manbase manager, and a notes organizer. One of its datable features is its selection of Word templates, such notable fation forms and stude familiar Microsoft whot as extensive as Thinkfree or the familiar Microsoft Word 3. **Feng Office Community Edition** (www.fengoffice. com) is a full-featured online suite with programs office such as document management, e-mail, and project management applications. Launched as a project called OpenGoo, its name was changed to Feng Office Community Edition in 2009. 4. **Google Docs Editors** is one of the most popular online office programs. It has a word processor (Google Docs) and a spreadsheet (Google Sheets) for its basic applications, but it also includes other features such as for making forms (Google Forms) and presentation creators (Google Slides). These office programs of Google are popular among users because of their simple and easy-to use interface. ROUNDUP An Office on the Web is an online office platform that combines various computer applications into one system. It provides users with centralized storage, a convenient way to share files, easy access, and file backup at a low cost. There are drawbacks, too, however. It requires Internet connectivity at a high speed, and it has limited features. Despite its limitations, online office programs have great learning, organizing, and processing tools for professionals and students alike. LESSON 12 Online Storage LESSON GOALS Explain what Google Drive is. Create, share, and edit docs. Discover the main features of the Google Drive word processor. Identify the ways Google Drive can be used for learning. **What Is Google Drive?** Google Drive is a free online word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and form productivity and data storage platform. It allows you to create, store, and share storage well start from nothing or upload already existing documents to your Google Drive account. Google Drive is a popular tool for Web workers as it liberates users from having to open various programs on their desktops, and therefore gets the job done easily and efficiently. The main perks of using Google Drive are: 1\. There is no need to download and install any software. Google Drive is a one-stop shop that lets you do all your tasks as soon as you have an account. 2\. Files are stored online and are accessible from any computer with Internet access. 3\. You can share your work with others easily. No need to e-mail files back and forth between your group mates. Google Drive allows you to edit the same document together online or at the same place, avoiding messy attachments or version misunderstandings. Publishing is easy as well. 4\. Your files are automatically saved, as well as when you click the Save button. You don\'t have to worry about losing files due to hard drive failure or a virus. Your files are stored online, but you can also create a local backup copy by saving the file to your PC. Files can be saved to a user\'s computer in a variety of formats. 5. Your revisions are tracked as Google Drive stores a copy of the latest version of your document every time it is saved. Thus, you can go back to any previous version and compare previous versions to see the difference. How to Create, Share, and Edit a File Creating a File 1 Open a Google account at [[https://accounts.google.com/]](https://l.messenger.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faccounts.google.com%2F&h=AT2MqihFjYiznaJLEP0PECCmRjmRtbcLKhWvO_FjeZwuxYXexRowPJQdPhz7xhn9_ce0sns1_b0bLq0B4LzHQVLHPoaqUZIYZQeSHH5VlajKLObupuPYpKMZKyd_tdVzgi3e3w) 2\. Once you have a Google account, go to your Google Drive homepage ([[https://drive.google.com/]](https://l.messenger.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2F&h=AT2MqihFjYiznaJLEP0PECCmRjmRtbcLKhWvO_FjeZwuxYXexRowPJQdPhz7xhn9_ce0sns1_b0bLq0B4LzHQVLHPoaqUZIYZQeSHH5VlajKLObupuPYpKMZKyd_tdVzgi3e3w)) and select New. 3\. Select the kind of file you want to create, such as doc for documents,.pptx slides for presentations,.xls sheet for spreadsheets, or.gform for forms. 4\. A new file of the type you selected will open. Sharing a File 1\. Open the document you want to share. 2\. Select Share on the upper right corner. 3\. Enter the e-mail addresses of your recipients in the People field. 4\. Choose Viewer, Commenter or Editor depending on the kind of access you\'d like them to have. Recipients who are \"Viewer\" can view past versions of your document and also make changes. Recipients who are \"Commenter\" can add comments but cannot edit, while those who are \"Viewers\" can see only the most recent version and cannot make changes or comments. 5\. You can choose to notify your recipients by checking "notify people" and filling in the message box. 6. Click Send. **Editing a File** 1\. Go to your Drive list and select the document you want to edit. 2\. Once it is open, start editing. All changes will be automatically saved and immediately visible to the people you invited to view or edit. No need to click Save multiple times. 3\. To review the changes you made, click File, and then click See version history by selecting the Version history button. This will display the revisions made to the document, indicated by date and time. Click on the revisions you want to view. If you want to restore a particular revision, select the revision, and click \"Restore this version\". **Google Docs** Google Drive has four main applications: a word processor, a presentation, a spreadsheet, and the main features of the most commonly used application of Google Drive: the Word Processor. It is also known as **Google Docs.** **Microsoft Word Feel** If you have used Microsoft word, google Docs will have a familiar feel as it supports a lot of the features of Microsoft Word such as use of standard fonts, bulleted and numbered lists, indentation, tables and graphics, paragraph, styles, word count, and more. **Check Spelling** Unsure of your spelling? Make sure you verify by using the Check Spelling feature. A misspelled word is automatically underlined in red, and a suggested word/ correct spelling will appear. You can also right-click the underlined word to display a list of suggested spellings and simply click on the word with the correct spelling. **Translate** Do you want to convert the language of your whole document to use Arabic or French instead? Selecting \"Translate document\" under the Tools menu lets you do that and there is more than thirty languages available. **Shortcuts** Google Docs uses most of the standard shortcuts used in word processors. Here is a list of useful shortcuts: **Ctrl-C: Copy Ctrl-S: Save Ctrl-V: Paste** **Ctrl-Z: Undo Ctrl-X: Cut Ctrl-B: Bold** **Ctrl-A: Select all Ctrl-I: Italics Ctrl-U: Underline** **Ctrl-3: Full justify Ctrl-Shift-8: Bulleted list Ctrl-Shift-L: Left alignment** **Ctrl-Shift-E: Center alignment Ctrl-Alt-M: Insert comment** **Ctrl-Space: Remove formatting Ctrl-F: Find** **Google Drive in the Classroom** Google Drive is an effective tool for learning and is often used by students and teachers. Here are some of the reasons why: 1\. Students can collaborate in their own time and do homework wherever they are. 2\. Teachers can monitor student progress and give guidance while students are still working on an assignment. 3\. Students can easily receive feedback not just from teachers but also from fellow students and even parents. 4\. Teachers can publish announcements on upcoming assignments. 5\. Teachers can create, update, and share lesson plans with students