I have written previously about Google Docs in my posting regarding Microsoft Office Replacements. If you have not read it, check it out because there is a great video that explains the benefits of Google Docs and online collaboration. Google Docs inlcudes word processing, spreadsheet with graphing capabilities and presentation modules. Not only does Google Docs make the files more accessible, but it tracks revisions of the, too.
Google Apps is a collection of Google's online applications that include Google Docs, Talk, Gmail and Pages. However, in order to take full advantage of it you needed your own domain name that you were willing to dedicate to use with Google Apps.
Now Google has a new version called Google Apps Team Edition that makes it even easier to work online more securely with your co-workers or classmates that have the same email domain address. Learn about Team Edition in two minutes with the following video:
If this is not cool enough, Google Docs integrates directly within Deki Wiki. Spreadsheets, graphs and charts can be embedded directly into wiki pages. In addition Google also offers a forms function that allows you to create a web form where the data is collected within a Google spreadsheet.
With the team edition you have to supply your own email service or use Gmail and access your work mail with it like I do. BTW, Gmail provides over 6 GB of space for your inbox and it is growing every day.
I've created a team edition account and will start introducing the service to other staff. I think it will offer a great way for staff, students, volunteers and faculty to work together online and when combined with Deki Wiki, it will be that much more of a powerful tool.