Office 2.0
Don’t want to buy one of the big boys’ office products? No problem! There are several very good alternatives on-line (for free!) that provide some other great functions for teachers/students.
Zoho
Zoho is the most complete office program I’ve come across as yet. Although google’s is more well known, Zoho (in my humble opinion) offers a more complete line of products with an easier interface than googledocs. If you’re already working with a desktop office program most likely you can upload it to zoho (or switch it back to the desktop program after finishing it in zoho). In addition to the office products they also offer a polling application as well as a wiki.
In terms of teaching the great thing about on-line office programs, including zoho, is the sharing feature. By selecting the share option, students can allow others to either view and/or edit their document, allowing for collaboration outside of the classroom as well as regular dialog between student and teacher.
GoogleDocs
This is the big daddy of on-line office suites. As with most on-line office apps, it’s not as robust as their desktop counterparts, but the sharing and collaboration abilities help balance this out. Documents in this application can work very much like a Wiki, with the ability to go back to previous versions.
Slideboom
This is a more specialized feature, allowing you to take your PowerPoint presentations to the web. Upload a PowerPoint and this site will make a smooth, slick version great for using/sharing on-line. Again, you can choose to share or even embed.
