Tools for School Research Task (Part 2)

• Explain what is does and how it might be used
• Include a series of screen shots that describe how to use it
• Tell us if the tool can be used on a smart phone or tablet as well as a computer
• Find one example of another product that does a similar job
• Post this information on your blog

Look at this link
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Google+

• Is a social networking  layer that may compete with Facebook
• The Google+ project will do some of the same general things as Facebook, such as sending messages to friends, sharing links, chatting, and sharing pictures, but the big difference is that with Google+, you can choose who you want to share these things with.
• Unlike with Facebook where posting a link will show up on your profile for all of your 500 “friends” to see, Google+ lets you create a circles of selected friends/colleagues/family whom you want to see the post --> makes things more private & facilitates for group work
• Possible problems: you have to be over 18, if friends don't also have an account it's pretty useless
• Can be used on smart phones via app

How to use it:
1) Circles are a way of sharing things with particular groups of people as opposed to sharing with everyone in your contact list. Simply click and drag people who you want to be in the same circle.

2) Hangouts is a way of webcamming and chatting with a group of people, either specific buddies or entire circles. Go to hangouts and choose to join or create hangouts.

3) Instant upload is a handy feature that automatically uploads photos taken on a smart phone to a private album on Google+, which you can then choose to share or not.

4) Sparks is a way of following any particular topic. Just search and add interest to your list of sparks.

 5) Huddle allows you to chat with multiple buddies in a single group-chat.

Windows live skydrive

• is a file hosting service that allows users to upload files to a cloud storage and then access them from a Web browser
• it uses Windows Live ID to control access to the user's files, allowing them to keep the files private, share with contacts, or make the files public
• publicly-shared files do not require a Windows Live ID to access
• Gives you storage on the internet for pictures, videos, documents
• Useful tool for school work --> people in a group can access the same file off skydrive, as opposed to having multiple copies on USBs
• large capacity (25GB) & free --> compared to Apple's 20GB which requires pay
• simple and straightforward design
• can be accessed on phones & computers as long as their is access to internet
• Alternatives: Google Docs, ADrive, MediaFire

How to use it: 
1) Open the Skydrive site

2) Sign in with your Windows Live ID, or click "Sign up" and register for a new one

3) Click "Create folder"

4) Name the folder and choose whom you want to share it with.

5) Drag the files you wish to store directly into the Skydrive folder or instead click "Upload" and browse for files

Typewith.me

• is an online document collaboration tool which allows users to work on the same document at the same time --> useful for students in a group
• it is free, easy, simple to use and doesn’t need any registration
• includes basic editing tools, such as bold, underline, italic and strikeout as well as allighnment options, bullet points, undo and redo functions
• includes import and export features and allows users to save document revisions
• built in chat so users can discuss the document while editing it
• Alternative programs: iEtherPad, ThinkFree Online Office, Live Documents, etc
• Can be used on smart phones

How to use it:
1) Go to www.typewithme.com & click the "Click to Create a New Document" button

2) The document is labelled public however nobody can see it unless you share the URL with them

3)  Toolbar:

Click on the menu option to display font, authorship,colors,and live numbers.
Click on import/export button to upload the docs you want to work on and you can export your saved docs as well .Typewithme accepts several file formats.

Click on saved revision to see your previous saved documents

Click the time slidebar button to go back and watch a recording of the document being under edition .The yellow stars refer to points that have been saved.

4) Share with other users by clicking "invite" or "share this" or by sharing the URL. Each collaborator selects a color to indicate changes they have made .You can engage in a friendly chat with your collaborators using the chat window in the right side bar .There are two buttons under the sidebar allowing you to hide/show the side bar or switch to the full screen mode