Productivity for Professors: Part Two, Calendar
This is the second posting in a series of 7 blog postings, in which I explain some of the productivity tools that I use (or have used) and would recommend to university faculty members.
These are the other items in the series:
Email | Calendar | Collaborative Editing | To-Do Lists | Blogging for Professors | Reading Blogs | Exercise and Nutrition
PART 2: Calendar
Topics in this Part:
2.a. Using Google Calendar
2.b. Using "When Is Good?" for meeting planning
2.a. Using Google Calendar
I use numerous Google calendars to organize my various tasks. If you have a Google ID (such as the one you used if you use Gmail as explained in Part One of this series, you can set up a Google calendar very easily. Some of the advantages of Google calendar are as follows:
2.b. Using "When Is Good?" for meeting planning
When is Good? is an interesting tool for meeting planning. It is in beta right now, so some features are missing, but it's a good start on something for which there is a definite need.
What this tool does is allow a meeting planner (say, me) to set up a series of times that are good for me to hold a meeting. Then I invite all the other meeting attendees to click on the times that are good for them to meet. The web application determines the times that are good for everyone to meet.
Here is a screenshot of the process AFTER 4 people were done choosing times for a conference call. The green times are those that we were all in agreement about. (The 3 other names are listed under the calendar.)
These are the other items in the series:
Email | Calendar | Collaborative Editing | To-Do Lists | Blogging for Professors | Reading Blogs | Exercise and Nutrition
PART 2: Calendar
Topics in this Part:
2.a. Using Google Calendar
2.b. Using "When Is Good?" for meeting planning
2.a. Using Google Calendar
I use numerous Google calendars to organize my various tasks. If you have a Google ID (such as the one you used if you use Gmail as explained in Part One of this series, you can set up a Google calendar very easily. Some of the advantages of Google calendar are as follows:
- Your calendar can be viewable by the public using a simple browser - no desktop software is required. I put the link to my calendar on my public web site and encourage students to use the calendar to find good meeting times.
- You can make meetings and appointments public or private, even on a public calendar. You can show private times as "busy" or you can leave them off the calendar entirely.
- You can share permissions on your calendar with other Google users, allowing them to add items to your calendar, etc.
- You can create multiple calendars and view/manage them from a single calendar window. These multiple calendars can have completely separate settings. Below is shown the calendar turn-on/turn-off area:
- You can add external, non-Google calendars, such as other people's .mac or ical calendars just by knowing the public address of that other calendar.
And here is the example showing two calendars at once:
2.b. Using "When Is Good?" for meeting planning
When is Good? is an interesting tool for meeting planning. It is in beta right now, so some features are missing, but it's a good start on something for which there is a definite need.
What this tool does is allow a meeting planner (say, me) to set up a series of times that are good for me to hold a meeting. Then I invite all the other meeting attendees to click on the times that are good for them to meet. The web application determines the times that are good for everyone to meet.
Here is a screenshot of the process AFTER 4 people were done choosing times for a conference call. The green times are those that we were all in agreement about. (The 3 other names are listed under the calendar.)
<< Home