Wiki, Ning, and Google Docs

I've been assigned to think about these Web tools and how I might use them - their advantages and disadvantages.

Well, to deal with a specific problem at my workplace - Google Docs etc. is blocked by the IT department, as is all email except the organization's email. So, for the present, Google's tools aren't really an option.

However, I've used both Google Docs and Groups before. One of the nicest things about these tools is that everything is under one umbrella - Google's. You have a Google account and access to everything else is quick and easy. Google is dissimilar from a Ning in that with Google, you're still dealing separately with separate applications. In a Ning, most of the applications you want are all there on the Home Page.

I do wish there was a Wiki app in Ning - then everything would be perfect.

I do like Wikis for collaboration. Perhaps it has something to do with the way I design Active Learning Projects. Wikis just seem to fit. Co-ownership, co-editing, commenting, asking questions, sharing etc., a group of people all working together "on the same page," simply appeals to me.

Initially I wasn't sure about Nings, but now that I have spent even a short time with one, I certainly see their power. After looking at some of the larger ones, I am wary of them for large groups of people. Navigating through everything starts making this social networking tool, just another impersonal tool.