Google Drive Basics

Google Drive Overview

Drive lets you keep all your work in one place, view different file formats without buying extra software, and access your files from any device.

Accessing Google Drive

In this lesson, you will learn how to access Google Drive and how to upload a single document or folder into Google Drive. This will allow you access to all of your information from a "central hub" location. In future lessons, you will learn how this will allow you to communicate with other stakeholders within your organization.

Lesson Goal: Everyone within your domain will be using Google Drive to increase communication and maintain a more collaborative operating and learning environment.

Upload Files and Folders

~Steffanie Willis, ITRT, DCPS

Clicking on the link will take you to the Google Learning Center for this video.

Create Folders and Manage Files

By creating folders and managing individual files on your Google Drive, you will be able to better organize your information and save valuable time when searching for a document or folder containing the information you need.

Lesson Goal: Increase knowledge and efficiency of Drive organization to better locate tools when needed.

Organize and Manage Folders

~Steffanie Willis, ITRT, DCPS

Clicking on the link will take you to the Google Learning Center for this video.

Delete or Restore Files in Google Drive

If you are currently using a USB device, you have probably experienced the heartbreak of accidently deleting a file. The heartbreak occurs when you realize that file is gone FOREVER and cannot be retrieved. However, Google Drive stores every deleted document in the "trash" tab and it is there until you choose to delete it. Although your computer will do this for you as well, saving documents in your trash WILL take up valuable storage space on your computer and drastically reduce your computer speed. Since we have unlimited storage through the G Suite for Education, you never have to worry about storage again. These documents will remain there until you choose to delete them. Caution: Once they are deleted from trash, they are GONE!

Lesson Goal: Learning how to delete and restore files will better organize your drive and allow you to retrieve information more efficiently, even if that document has been deleted unexpectedly.

Deleting and Restoring Files in Google Drive

~Steffanie Willis, ITRT, DCPS

Clicking on the link will take you to the Google Learning Center for this video.

Adding Stars to Files and Folders

Adding a star to a file or folder provides quicker access to the most important files within your Drive. Choosing which files and folders earn a "star" rating is up to you and will help you access those more efficiently.

Lesson Goal: Save time by quickly retrieving important documents that you have stored on your Drive.

Adding Stars to Files and Folders

~Steffanie Willis, ITRT, DCPS

Clicking on the link will take you to the Google Learning Center for this video.

Accessing Recently Used Files

Utilizing the "recent" menu option in Drive will save you valuable time when going back to a document you were previously working on.

Lesson Goal: To more efficiently use Google Drive to save time in the classroom.

Recent Files

~Steffanie Willis, ITRT, DCPS

Clicking on the link will take you to the Google Learning Center for this video.

Congratulations!

You have completed the first module of the

CIP~Google Drive~ PD Course.

Complete the Form below to receive 3-PD hours for your work in learning the basic function of Google Drive.

If you need any help learning how to take a screenshot, please check out the videos linked below. You'll need to know how to do this to complete the form.

Taking a screenshot on a PC/Laptop

Taking a screenshot on a Chromebook