Well, only because we have to ;)
Seriously though, the vast majority of Edubloggers are MS users and the vast majority of Word docs, presentations and spreadsheets are produced as .doc, .ppt or .xls files.
So, now when you upload or link to any of these documents to edublogs – your readers will, courtesy of ThinkFree Viewer, be able to simply view (as well as download) the file online in a rather neat fashion.
Update: This is now a plugin, so go turn it on :)
April 11, 2007 at 2:59 pm Permalink
Fabulous feature James – love your work.
It’s worth getting up every day just to see what’s new in edublogs ;->
April 11, 2007 at 7:35 pm Permalink
Sounds great, James.
Thanks for all your innovative hard work on behalf of all of us teachers using your network.
Kevin
April 11, 2007 at 8:31 pm Permalink
It’s your network, not mine :)
April 11, 2007 at 8:53 pm Permalink
Ahh
But that reaction of yours to my comment is one of the very reasons why I like what has been created here so much and why it feels as if we have a voice in what is taking place. You are most kind and open, my friend.
Have a great day
Kevin
April 11, 2007 at 11:50 pm Permalink
What’s so important about this system is that we are not locked into campus systems that operate only for those who maintain their email identifications. What happens to all the good work after graduation day?. Here at least we can maintain our stories and histories of exchanges once they become really necessary…
April 12, 2007 at 12:09 am Permalink
Thanks for continuous improvements. This feature is great…
April 12, 2007 at 1:32 am Permalink
Great feature James.
I created a non-educational blog recently and used wordpress. I was horrified to see all the features I have taken for granted were missing. Thanks again.
April 12, 2007 at 1:49 pm Permalink
And with Premium you can set up a whole network of your own using the same technology away from campus IT [insert mischievous chuckle].
In terms of the improvements and features compared to, say, wordpress.com – we can do it because we’re catering only to teachers and learners and not the world as a whole.
Thanks again for the nice comments – now go tell some other people :)
April 13, 2007 at 1:00 am Permalink
That’s awesome! And to think, I’d just created a thinkfree account and linked to it for my own students. Nifty!
April 13, 2007 at 4:41 am Permalink
Thanks for this from me too.
April 13, 2007 at 8:45 am Permalink
Never “blogged” until today. I hope to put it to good use at school.
April 13, 2007 at 1:33 pm Permalink
James, thank you from the bottom of my heart; this is just what I needed for a school project. It could not have come at a better time.
April 13, 2007 at 2:21 pm Permalink
very cool! I even enjoyed the contents of the powerpoint
April 13, 2007 at 2:39 pm Permalink
Heh, it’s a bit dated but I still stand by pretty much all of it :)
April 14, 2007 at 1:40 am Permalink
BEST NEW FEATURE YET! I and my readers love it! Thanks!
April 14, 2007 at 9:54 am Permalink
Awesome. I’ve already got plans for this…
I’d like to see the transcript of that presentation as well… was having a discussion along those lines here a while back.
April 14, 2007 at 10:27 am Permalink
You’re all too kind – here’s the paper: http://incsub.org/blog/2005/blogs-anywhere-high-fidelity-online-communication
And the ‘official’ pdf: http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/brisbane05/blogs/proceedings/22_Farmer.pdf
April 15, 2007 at 12:48 pm Permalink
More and more useful every day. Thank you
April 15, 2007 at 3:16 pm Permalink
James,
We at ThinkFree are big fans of anyone connected in any way with education. So, it was great to see ThinkFree Viewer used in such a creative manner.
I would love to hear more about your experience with the Viewer, and get your feedback. Drop me a line when you get a chance.
Thanks,
Jonathan
April 24, 2007 at 8:43 pm Permalink
Great stuff. Really very useful; I tend to make my blog a repository for all sorts of stuff, but have found the lack of ppt a disadvantage. I’ll have a go at this – thanks!
April 26, 2007 at 3:57 am Permalink
Excellent! Impeccable features! Awesome!!!!
April 26, 2007 at 10:42 pm Permalink
good works.
May 24, 2007 at 6:51 pm Permalink
i hope i can avail of this