It seems like in the past few months more programs are coming to the forefront (and getting utilized) that promote online creation and sharing of ideas/products on the Internet with others. A few that our office has been looking at are Del.icio.us, Diigo, and Writely.
Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking tool that I personally use. I have always had trouble keeping track of my archived bookmarks from work and home. This stops that problem completely. I also like the fact that posts are cross-referenced with other users, which allows you to find other similar sites if you browse their lists. The main reason I like this tool for educators is that it helps teachers get students on the same page by pointing them to a common site that includes the bookmarks for the day. This is great in a lab environment for a on-site support person to facilitate the process, as well.
Diigo is a social annotation tool. It works hand in with social bookmarking tools like Del.icio.us. By combining social bookmarking, clippings, in situ annotation, tagging, full-text search of everything, easy sharing and interactions, Diigo provides one powerful personal tool and a rich social platform. Ok- in ed speak - it allows teachers to post sticky notes on Web sites to guide students through the learning process. Way cool!!!
Writely is an online word processor. The best thing about it is that it looks like MS Word, but is online. No software needed... Google liked it so much they bought them out recently.
So, Gates was right a few years back when he discussed placing the Office suite online. I think we are almost there whether we like it or not. For him, the only problem there are other companies that are placing their open-source products online NOW not later like ThinkFree Office Online. I am just not sure how long people will continue to buy MS Office if you can accomplish the same tasks for FREE. As generations shift, more people thinking in that mindset will appear.
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