4.Integrating Google Drive into your Teaching A Training Manual -M. S. Xavier Pradheep Singh
Integrating Google Drive into your Teaching
M. S. Xavier Pradheep Singh
Assistant Professor of English,
V. O. Chidambaram College,
Tuticorin, Tamilnadu, India
Mobile: +91 82207773131
Email: pradheepxing@gmail.com
Google Drive is ―a file storage and synchronization service provided by Google‖ (Wikipedia). It allows cloud storage, file sharing and collaborative editing on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. Teachers can use Google Drive for a variety of reasons. This training manual illustrates how you can sign up for Google Drive, create files and collaboratively work on them with others. Most importantly, it offers a lot of tips regarding how you can use Google Drive for teaching and learning.
Starting with Google Drive
Google Drive lets you work from various devices and platforms: web browsers especially Chrome, local drives of your computer, smart phones, iPhones, and tablets. But you need to sign up for Google Drive first in the web browser of your computer.
Signing Up
·You need to have a Google account to access Google Drive.
·Visit https://accounts.google.com/signup to sign up for a Google account.
·Log in to https://drive.google.com/
Installing Desktop Folder
The Desktop Folder for Google Drive is like other folders on your computer except for one big difference: automatic syncing with your Google Drive on the web. So, you can move files into this folder to upload them to Google Drive on the web, and changes made on your computer are synced across devices. To install a Desktop Folder,
·Click on ‗Install Drive for your Computer‘ in the left hand side bar of the Google Drive.
·You will then be lead through a process of downloading, installing and synchronizing the application.
Navigating Google Drive on the Web
The following are the main parts in Google Drive on the web. You need to familiarize yourself with them as they will be referred in the proceeding sections.
Creating Folders & Files
The document editing apps in Google Drive are similar to Microsoft Office applications. So, working in them does not require much expertise. By default, Google Drive in the web has the following preinstalled apps.
Follow these steps to enable offline access on your computer.
1.In your Chrome browser, click ‗More‘ on the left side bar of Google Drive.
2.Select ‗Offline‘.
3.Setting up offline access is a two-step process. First, click the blue button that says ‗Get the app‘. If you already have the app installed, skip to step 6.
4.You will be taken to the Chrome web store. Click ‗Add to Chrome‘ in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
5.Once the app is installed, you will be taken to a Chrome page with the Google Drive app icon. To return to Drive, click the Google Drive icon.
6.On the right side of the dialog on the Offline Docs page, click the blue button that says ‗Enable Offline‘.
Comment
Comments allow you to have a discussion about what one is working on. Comment threads, called discussions, help keep track of comments, address comments to specific people, and respond to and follow comments from email inbox. These can be invaluable for communicating with collaborators about specific parts of the document, as well as making notes about changes made. To add a comment,
·Highlight or select the text, object, or spreadsheet cell you like to comment on.
·From the ‗Insert‘ menu, select ‗Comment‘. Alternatively you can right click and select comment.
·Type your comment in the box that appears to the right of the document.
·You can reply to a comment with a new post, edit or delete a previous comment you have inserted, and resolve the discussion when you are ready to remove it.
Chat
Google Drive enables users to work on the same document in real time. When doing so, users can chat and make edits to the document simultaneously. When two or more people work on document in Google Drive, their Google+ profile pictures appear in the top-right corner of the browser window. [If the person doesn't have a Google+ profile picture, their first initial appears. If the person is viewing the document anonymously, they are assigned an animal name and image.To begin a group chat with everyone viewing the document,
·Click the Chat button in the top-right corner of your window.
·A chat box will appear at the bottom of your file.
·Everyone who is viewing the document will be included in the group chat.
Revision History
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides have a revision history pane that allows you to view at a glance all changes made to a document by each collaborator. It lets you view and revert to earlier versions of your document and see which collaborators made edits to any of these versions. To access revision history,
·Select ‗File‘ and then ‗See revision history‘.
·Click a time stamp in the right pane to see a previous version of the document, edited by the collaborators listed below the time stamp.
·If you like to revert to the version you are currently viewing, click Restore this revision.
·If you like to return to the current version of your document to continue editing, click the X in the upper right of the 'Revision History' pane.
Publish to the Web
Publishing allows you to make your documents available to the whole world. Once you publish your document to a webpage, you get a URL that you can share with anyone you choose. To publish any of your items,
·Open the item you like to publish.
·From the ‗File’ menu, select ‗Publish to the Web‘
·Click the ‗Start publishing‘ button. A link to the published item appears in the publishing dialogue box.
·Send this link to anyone you like to access your item.
Research
The Research tool makes it easy to add information from the web to your documents and presentations. To access the tool:
·From the Tools menu, select the Research option.
·Alternatively, right-click on a specific word and select Research.
The Research tool will appear along the right-hand side of your document. You can start a search by typing into the search bar.
Add-ons
Add-ons are tools built by third-party developers for Google Docs and Sheets. They add more functionality to documents and spreadsheets. To install add-ons,
·Open a document or spreadsheet.
·Click the Add-ons menu and then Get add-ons.
·Browse the entire add-ons store.
·Hover over an add-on to see a short description or to quickly install it.
·Click Add-ons Install Button to install the add-on.
·Click Accept.
·Once the add-on is installed, it is listed in the ―Add-ons‖ menu within all of your files of that file type.
Other Features
1. Auto Save: Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides continuously save your work automatically. So There is no ‗Save‘ button. The last updated time shows near the menu bar.
2.Translate: Google Docs uses Google Translate to help you translate entire documents into one of 64 languages. To translate a document:
·Go to the ‗Tools‘ menu, and select ‗Translate document‘.
·Type in the name of the new document, select the language into which you like to translate
·Press OK.
·A translated copy of your document will be created.
3.Email Collaborators: You can email all collaborators of a document by choosing the ‗File‘ menu and then ‗Email Collaborators‘.
4.Email as Attachment: Since Gmail does not allow attachments exceeding 25 MB, the ‗Email as Attachment‘ facility in Google Drive is beneficial for anyone working with large files. Click on the File‘ menu and then choose ‗Email as Attachment‘.
5.Notifications: Notifications serve as a best way to keep track of the changes in a shared document. Click on the ‗Comments‘ button at the top right corner and choose ‗Notifications‘ to receive email notifications.
To create a folder or file in Google Drive in the web,
·Click on the ‗Create‘ button at the left side bar.
·Choose the app you want to work on.
Document - Google Docs is an online word processor that lets you create and format text documents and collaborate with other people in real time. To create a Google Document,
·Click on ‗Create‘ button in the left sidebar of Google Drive in the web.
·Choose ‗Document‘ in the dropdown menu that appears.
Spreadsheet - Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet app that lets you create and format spreadsheets and simultaneously work with other people. To create a Google Sheets,
·Click on ‗Create‘ button in the left sidebar of Google Drive in the web.
·Choose ‗Spreadsheet‘ in the dropdown menu that appears.
Presentation - Google Slides is an online presentations app that allows you to show off your work in a visual way. To create a Google Presentation,
·Click on ‗Create‘ button in the left sidebar of Google Drive in the web.
·Choose ‗Presentation‘ in the dropdown menu that appears.
Form - Google Forms is a useful tool to help you plan events, send a survey, give students a quiz, or collect other information in an easy, streamlined way. A Google form can be connected to a Google spreadsheet and responses can automatically be sent to the spreadsheet. Otherwise, users can view them on the ―Summary of Responses‖ page accessible from the Responses menu.
The question types available in Google Form are text, paragraph text, multiple choice, tick boxes, choose from a list, scale, grid, date, and time. Image and video can also be embedded in the Form. To create a Google Form,
·Click on ‗Create‘ button in the left sidebar of Google Drive in the web.
·Choose ‗Form‘ in the dropdown menu that appears.
Drawing - With Google drawings you can easily create, share, and edit drawings online. To create a Google Drawing,
·Click on ‗Create‘ button in the left sidebar of Google Drive in the web.
·Choose ‗Drawing‘ in the dropdown menu that appears.
Sharing Folders and Files
Sharing folders and files [documents, images, and PDFs] is easy in Google Drive. You have to just indicate which email addresses or mailing lists have access to a given file. You don‘t have to email them as attachments.
There are four levels of access: owner, editor, viewer, and commenter. Owners can do anything to the file—even delete it—and invite more collaborators. Editors can edit, but only invite more collaborators if the owner allows it. Viewers just see what is going on. Commenters can see it, plus leave comments on a document. To share a folder or a file, ·Check the box next to the file or folder you like to share.
·Click the Share icon.
·Change the sharing settings in ‗Who has access‘ section.
·Choose a visibility option: ‗Public on the web‘, ‗Anyone with the link‘ or ‗Specific People‘.
·If you choose ‗Specific People‘ option, you have to type the email addresses of the people you want to share with in the text box below ‗Add people‘. You can add a single person or a mailing list.
·Choose the access level from the drop-down menu next to each collaborator: ‗Can view‘,‗Can comment‘, or ‗Can edit‘.
·Click Share & save.
Setting up Offline Access
Setting up offline access allows you to view Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings, shuffle folders around, and edit files stored in your Google Drive folder.