G Suite in Action

You understand the basics of G Suite and you use it with your students. But what are you doing with these tools? What kinds of projects can you design with them? How do all these G Suite tools work together? In this workshop we will learn about some lesser known features and explore ideas for connecting the various tools within G Suite to create engaging projects for your students.

Goals for this workshop

To provide a hands-on learning experience that demonstrates the integration and power of G Suite
To provide you with a set of tools and ideas that you can modify for you own use
To spark further ideas about how you might use G Suite
To provide you with a challenge by introducing you to tools you probably don't use
To give you opportunities to ask questions about anything along the way

Collecting and Organising Data

Goal - Create a data sheet using the Buildings and Structures cards

Step 1 - Create a Google Form to collect the data

Drive > New > More > Google Forms
Add the following questions
- Name - Short answer
- Location - Short answer
- Country - Dropdown list (use this list)
- Type - Multiple choice (indicated by the coloured dot)
- Rating - Linear scale 1-5 (How much you’d like to visit there)

Step 2 - Make your form look nice!

Change the header image
Choose options for the colour scheme

Step 3 - Populate the data by filling in your form at least 15 times

Use the cards to enter the data

Missing data from a card? Google it!

Manipulating Data

Goal - Analyse the data you collected by looking at it in different ways

Step 1 - Create a Sheet from the data you collected

From the Results tab, click the small green Sheets button

Step 2 - Tidy up the data

Check for missing data
Freeze the top row
Freeze the left column
Add an additional calculated column called GeoName to combine Name and Country
- Join these together using this formula [=A2&", "&C2]

Step 3 - Add a Chart

Either manually or using the Explore Button, add a chart to the Sheet that visualises one aspect of the data

Step 4 - Filter the Data

Create a filter row in Row 1
Experiment with filtering the data
- Filter by country
- Filter by rating
- Filter by Type

Step 5 - Set up Filter Views

Create and save a filter view for the following criteria
- All countries starting with an I
- All places rated 3 and above
- All the towers in the USA

Step 6 - Summarise your data with a Pivot Table

Select the data in your Sheet
Data > Pivot Table
Arrange the data to show all places grouped by country
What other ways could you view this data?

Add Ons for Sheets

Goal - Learn about various AddOns available for Google Sheets

Step 1 - Install some AddOns

Add-Ons > Get Add-Ons
Install Rowcall
Install GeoCode by Awesome Table
Look at the list… anything else sound interesting to you?

Step 2 - Try Rowcall

Sort the list into new Sheets based on Type

Step 3 - Try Geocode by Awesome Table

Add Lat and Long to each location using the combined GeoName column

Plotting Data on a Map

Goal - Learn to visualise data by seeing it on a map

Step 1 - Import Data to a Google My Map

Drive > New > More > Google My Maps
Import the Sheet onto the Map

Step 2 - Add more information to each marker

Use the camera icon to add at least one photo to at least 5 locations
Change the marker colour by styling the data by Type

Bringing it all Together

Goal - Use Google Sites as a portfolio of work

Note: to view/check any of your work in Sites you need to use the Preview mode

Step 1 - Create a new Google Sites

Drive > New > More > Google Sites
Change the Header to an image of your choice
Create the following pages
- Form
- Sheet
- Map
- Streetview

Step 2 - Embed a Google Form

From the Insert tab, add the Form you created to the Form page

Step 3 - Embed a Google Sheet

From the Insert tab, add the Sheet with your collected data to the Sheet page

Step 4 - Embed a Google MyMap

From the Insert tab, add your completed MyMap to the Map page

Step 5 - Optional Challenge! Embed a Google Streetview image from Maps

From Google Maps, find one of the places listed in your collection
Enter Streetview mode and find a good view if your location
From the 3-dot menu, choose Share or Embed image
Choose from small, medium, large or custom size, copy the embed code
Go to Sites and use the Insert > Embed tool to paste the code into the embed field

Step 6 - Reflect on what you’ve learned today

On the Home page of your site, write a brief reflection on what you learned today

Step 7 - Publish your finished product

Before you finish up, check out the themes and personalise your Site
Add pictures or other decorations if you wish
Try using the 4 panel layout from the Insert > Layouts section to create a visual navigation for your portfolio.
Publish the Site so that only specific people can view it (If you prefer to keep it "private" just don't list anyone)

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