Log 2. Reflections on working collaboratively using Google Docs

Using Google docs has not been a key tool for me. It has proven to have some useful elements to it but with that, some elements that have put me off using the programme altogether. It has been a love hate relationship!

My project has a lot of documentation that I need to use, interviews, research, data, workshop sheets etc and I found Google docs to be confusing. I find I like to keep things simple and using Google docs really did not feel that way. I did not fully understand the point of storing data away from my computer when I would have to go onto my computer to access the internet anyway? These were my first initial reactions to using the programme. Of course I realised that if I didn’t have my USB with me or didn’t have access to my own personal computer Google docs had all my stored documentation that I could access quickly and effectively.. Once I had learned all of its features!

Being in a partnership for my project L I found using Google docs to have some beneficial qualities because it meant being able to see everything in one place, we both emailed each other all the relevant documents for back up and project findings but it made sense to have it all in one storage place where we could both access it. On the other hand you do have to be connected to the internet to use this programme so I have to make sure my USB stick is with me at all times in case the internet goes down or I cannot connect to a network at a particular time. Which in theory has lead me to believe that having my USB with me is most probably the safer option.

It made sense that Laura and I could share documents without having to worry about what word format each other had on our computers and this point is probably the one I found to be most useful because occasionally I have difficulty with saving documents /data on USB and sending or opening them depending on what format was used. It is also helpful that it is up to me to choose who can view these documents and what they can see so it is not in any way intrusive.

All in all Google docs has proven to be a tool that I can use and have used to store work for Laura and I to share, However, I have had difficulty adjusting to this way of working because I do not see myself as any sort of computer wizard and unfortunately when it comes down to computers I like to stick to what I know and if it isn’t broke, why fix it? I do feel that Google docs may benefit me later in my career perhaps when I have more patience to explore it? But in conclusion as I referred to earlier the idea of having to be on the internet to access my documents does not make sense to me when I can just save them to my computer or USB instead.