This class focuses on exploring, evaluating and learning how to use the latest tools and applications on the Internet. Students will explore their interests and build an online portfolio (blog) to demonstrate what they can do using innovative web based tools. Some of the tools and applications may include: Marketing and Business, Professional Networking, Virtual Environments, Bookmarking, Social Networks, Multimedia, Photos and Digital Images, Employment and Jobs, Collaboration, Video-Sharing Sites, Podcasts, Wikis, Blogs, Content Aggregation and Management, Organization, Games and Entertainment and more. This course is for anyone who wants to increase their internet skills and knowledge and understand current web tools.


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

February 11

Google's Mission:
 to organize the world's information

Today's Topic - Google Drive
  • Spreadsheet
  • Presentation
  • Google Plus
Google Plus

Google+ is a social networking and identity service that is owned and operated by Google Inc. Google has described Google+ as a "social layer" that enhances many of its online properties, and that it is not simply a social networking website, but also an authorship tool that associates web-content directly with its owner/author.  It is the second-largest social networking site in the world after Facebook. 540 million monthly active users are part of the Identity service side, by interacting socially with Google+'s enhanced properties, like Gmail, +1 button, and YouTube comments. In October 2013, Google counted 540 million active users, of which 300 million users are active in "the stream".
A Google Plus account is based upon a Googleprofile.  You control which bits of information are visible to the world. You can build a personal bio, share information like your address, phone number and e-mail, and add in links to your personal or professional Web sites. Google lets you decide which audiences can see each section of information. Don't want the whole world to know where you live? You can choose to share that information with select groups of people or keep it private. If you're sensitive about your private information, you can build a Google profile using only your name -- Google doesn't require you to include additional information.
In Google Plus, a circle is a collection of people with whom you want to connect. Your Google Plus account comes with three pre-defined circles: friends, family and acquaintances. You can create your own customized circles. It's up to you to categorize people. You can put people into more than one circle. For example, if you work with Josh Clark but you also consider Josh a friend, you can put him into your friends circle and a customized coworker circle. Circles let you share information with specific groups of people while excluding everyone else. They also let you read content from those groups while ignoring all the rest of the information on Google Plus. Putting someone in a circle doesn't mean they'll follow you back -- a circle can be a one-way relationship. In this way, Google Plus is a lot like Twitter -- you can follow people even if they don't follow you back.
Now back to your profile. Your Google profile becomes your "about" page on Google Plus. People on Google Plus can click on the "about" tab on your profile to learn more about you. They can only see the information you've elected to share. Since sharing has multiple levels of privacy, you can customize this as much as you like. For example, you may want to share your address with the people in your friends circle. With a couple of clicks, you can designate who can see the address. If you like, you can even share information with specific individuals rather than an entire circle. Or you can create a circle just for a small group of people with whom you trust that information.
The main activity on Google Plus takes place in the stream. The stream is a lot like the wall on Facebook -- it's where you'll see status updates from the people you've chosen to follow in your circles. You can share your own status updates with specific circles or even individual users. Want to let your friends know what you're up to without alerting your boss? That's easy -- just choose your friends circle when you post your update. If you choose to make a status update public, anyone who has put you into a circle will be able to view it. It may also come up in search. Tagging someone in a status update is easy too -- you can either type @ or + at the beginning of the person's name and Google Plus will help you select the right person.