Web 2.0 practical project

Web 2.0 practical project

One of the courses that I’m currently studying is Management Information System (MIS).  The first project that we did in this subject was to choose one tool from Web 2.0 and train our classmates about this tool usage.  Another project is Web 2.0 practical in which we have demonstrated how we use these tools using Google sites. Also, we have to create our own blog; this blog that you are viewing is actually a part of this project.  In this post I’m demonstrating my reflection on these tools. I organized them from my most favourite tool to my least favourite.

1. Google Docs:

From the moment that I viewed the list of Web 2.0 tools that we can use to choose a tool for our training, Google Docs caught my attention only from reading the description about it. I chose it and trained my classmates on how to use it. I liked it the most because of it major usefulness to me as a student.  I have always been the group leader in group projects, so my group members send their work to me to approve it, and then I send it to the member responsible for organizing our work. This is a long process. Google Docs allow the users to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets and more and share it with other people. Now as a group we can create a document for example and work on a report together without being physically together. We can comment on each other work, edit the work and chat together. Also, we can see a history of our work and restore older versions. It allows us to work together more effectively and efficiently. When I will be an employee I’m going to introduce it to the company that I will work for, if they are not using it.

2. Google Chrome:

I really liked Google Chrome and now it’s my default browser instead of Internet Explorer. It’s faster and more organized . Also, it has more features such as Chrome web store, which allow you to download applications in your Chrome such as games, themes, Business tools, Entertainment tools and much more.

    3.Google search:

I can’t live without Google search. I use it for college and in my personal life. I love to search for any subject that I want to know more about.  Now I can use it more efficiently with the techniques that I learned to use such as searching in a certain domain or a file type.

    4. Twitter:

I never imagined that I’m going to like to use a social website. I like it because it’s simple as the main thing is the tweets which are messages with maximum 140 Character. I like it as I can follow tweets of not only my friends and family, I can follow people or groups that are useful to my life. For example, I’m following Parenting.com which sends tweet including links to parenting and pregnancy articles. This is very useful to me as I’m pregnant and will be a new mom soon. Also, I’m following UAE Barq which sends tweet about UAE news and it’s a trusted source.

5. Google Picasa :

I like it because I can organize and edit my pictures in an easy and simple way. You don’t have to be a professional to use it. I like creating photo collages the most in Google Picasa.

6. Social bookmarking: (delicious)

I like using delicious as it help me to store links in stacks and share it with others. This is useful when writing a research report as a group because it allows us to share useful links together.  Although you can search for different topics and see stacks of people all around the word, I don’t think that I’m going to use after college.

7.  Blog:

I really enjoyed creating this blog. Even though it’s a part of a project, it’s very enjoyable in contrast to other project.  It’s a good way to share what you want with others such as events in your life and your interests.  However, it requires time and commitment. For that reason I’m not sure that I’m going to continue to post in my blog after this project especially that I will be busy being a new mom. I might create a new blog in the future.

    8. Google Calendar:

Although I liked Google Calendar a lot as it have many nice features, I don’t think that I’m going to use it very often. The reason for that is that I don’t depend on Calendars very much in my life.  After college I will stay at home for a while until my baby become approximately 6 months and then I will start searching for a job. That’s why I don’t think that I’m going to need Google Calendar very much. I will use it mainly for hospital appointments.

    9. Gmail:

As same as Google Calendar, I think it’s very organized and contains many features, but I don’t deal with e-mails very much. However, I definitely switched from hotmail to Gmail and I put my Gmail in my CV.

    10. Google earth:

Google earth is a very useful tool and contains many amazing features. I like searching for places and view pictures and informations about these places. However, maps and directions are some of my week points.  It’s very hard for me to understand and I don’t like them, so sometimes I got dizzy when I use it. 

11. Google sites:

Google sites allow you to create a site in a very simple way. I don’t think that I’m going to use it after college.

12. Google Reader and Facebook:

These two tools that I didn’t like at all and I didn’t use them after the training.

Overall, this was a very useful project as it introduced us to many tools that are beneficial to our personal or professional life. Even  if I didn't use or like all of them, it might be useful in the future. It's one of my best projects in college and I enjoyed it a lot.