File Sharing

Sharing in The Cloud

As discussed in Unit 1, saving and storing files in The Cloud can be a way for you to access them on different computers and across devices. In addition, the files you store in The Cloud can also be accessed by other people with your permission. Services like DropBox and One Drive allow you to share files with those you designate: you can allow access to folders or individual files and they can download those files and upload new files to the folders you've shared. 

Collaboration

Google Drive takes file and folder sharing one step further by allowing collaboration online on shared documents with a suite of document creation tools: 

• Google Docs: word processing 
• Google Sheets: spreadsheets
• Google Slides: presentations
• Google Forms: surveys

The suite of tools corresponds to the main Office programmes, and you can upload Office versions onto Google Drive and open them to collaborate. However, not all features will display perfectly, so it is probably best just to work in the Google versions.

There are many other collaboration tools which you can find online as well as those that might be contained within your Learning Environment, such as Wikis, which allow users to work together on a shared website or document. Although similar to Google Docs, Wikis are more flexible and allow linking more easily, making them ideal for student collaborative projects.

"If you do not have the skills before starting Uni, take every opportunity you are offered to learn." Kas, 2nd-year student