Google Drive

Working collaboratively online is something that is very new to me, as I’ve never used Google Drive or anything similar to it. I had previously heard of Google Drive but I was unaware of the networking capabilities it had, instead of just being a place for cloud storage. Looking back at high school where doing group power points were like a weekly thing, Google Drive could have been useful. Instead of each individual having to do a section of the power point then sending it to one person to put all together, Google Drive could have cut out the extra work for someone. Using Google Drive the way we used it this week in order for a whole class to collaborate, would have made high school much easier.

            I can see how Google Drive could be a valuable tool for me to utilize in my other classes just because it makes it easier for groups to get work done. Instead of having to plan a set time to get together to work on a project, everyone could just do their portion of the work on Google Drive whenever is convenient for them and their schedules. Another way I could see Google Drive being useful is by using its cloud storage feature to save important documents and power points. Instead of having to carry around a flash drive and having to worry about losing it, it can just be stored in “clouds” on Google Drive and be accessed on any computer at any time.

            I’m sure that there are other sites that allow users to collaborate similar to the way that Google Drive does, but I’m unaware of them. Before having to use Google Drive this week I didn’t know it could allow people to collaborate in small groups or even large classes such as ours. I have heard of other websites that offer cloud storage online, but I’m not sure that they allow others to collaborate like Google Drive.

            In addition to use in the class setting, I can see many other uses for Google Drive. Since Google Drive allows many people to have access to the same document, it could be used for people to sign up for events or times for appointments. Another way Google Drive could be useful is by using it as a bypass for email, where employees could all have access to the same spreadsheet and just add to it and then it would be visible to everyone instead of having to email it after adding their changes. Regardless of its uses, I can see networking sites like Google Drive becoming an important tool to be used in the business world soon.

Being able to edit and manipulate digital photos has really become an ordinary thing in our generation due to the easy access to editing programs such as Photoshop. But like everything, editing and photo shopping pictures has gradually shifted from just fixing minor awkward nuances of a picture to drastically changing what the picture was meant to portray.

                For the most part, being able to edit or altar a photo can be a very useful in many different situations. I’m sure all of us have had the most perfect picture ever only for it to be ruined by everyone having red eyes, or just one person having their eyes closed. Being able to make everyone’s eyes a normal color again by editing may seem like just a simple thing, but it is really practical that instead of having to retake the picture, it is just an easy fix on the computer. Another good and ethical use for digital photo editing is to be able to enhance and make old black and white photos look new again. For instance, my grandpa had some old photos of his grandparents and his parents that he had found, but they were in such terrible shape they were almost unrecognizable. After me and my sister scanned them and edited them, they were probably much better quality than when they were first made.

                While there are many good times and situations to edit photos, there are also some times that it is used to manipulate people by changing the whole meaning of a photo. For example, in this photo below, a college student posted a picture where she had photo shopped a tornado into a picture behind her apartment in order for people to believe there was a tornado nearby.

 

This picture pretty much sums up why editing photos gets such a bad reputation and when editing photos is not appropriate. Just by seeing this woman post this on her Facebook page could cause panic throughout her neighborhood for no reason at all. This picture gained such a reaction, it was shared 250 times and even showed on the local news before it was found out to be fake. After many different people saw this photo and found out it was edited, I’m sure it ruined their ability to automatically see a photo and believe it’s real.

                Tampering with and drastically changing a picture gives photo editing a bad reputation, but its benefits and usefulness for fixing minor things is why it’s considered a piece of productivity software.

Before the start of this semester, my use and understanding of the Microsoft Excel program was at a very limited level. Between this class and a couple of my other classes this semester, I have really began to understand how to use Excel and how it can be such a useful resource. Excel can be used for many important things in life, such as creating a budget for a family or businesses and even to show statistics in graphs.

                While I don’t really have a big use for Excel right now in my life outside of school, I can see a few ways how it could be useful to plan my finances. I could see myself using Excel to create a budget to show the amount of money I’m earning for my income as well as for expenses such as gas clothes, and school. I could also use some of the formulas we have earned to budget, for instance I could say that I want to save 10% of my income for the future and created a separate column just for that data. Another way I could Excel in my daily life could be to create a schedule of when I have to be at school and work. By entering this data in to Excel I could easily be able to find time frames where I have extra time available to do homework or spend time with my family and friends. Even though my use of Excel right now is limited to school, I can see how it could be used to organize and plan my finances and allow to save money for the future.

                Even though I don’t use Excel much right now, it is going to be a very important and frequently used tool for me in the future. I am an Accounting major, so as I continue in school to get my degree it is going to be something I use frequently in order to learn the nuances of accounting and finance. After I get out of school, Excel will be even more useful to me in order to create budgets and do taxes for clients using different styles and formats to make it easier to read. It is very important that I am able to retain my knowledge of the Excel program in order to be able to use it in my career field. But I am fairly sure by the time I graduate from Lenior-Rhyne, I will be using excel pretty frequently.