Google+Docs

By Tracy Sevin, Mercer Area School District toc

Google offers many online tools. Learn how to take advantage of using these in your classroom! These tools will give your students the ability to work outside of class and on the same project simultaneously!

=Getting to the Google Docs Home Page= 1. Sign in to your Google Account (sign in at the top right-hand corner of the google home page). 2. Across the top, click on the "more" button. 3. "Docs" will be one of the options. 4. You will now be on the Google Docs Home Page. From here you can click on any of the documents in you list to view or use the Create New button to start a new project.

=﻿Google Forms=

Accessing Prior Knowledge

 * []

How did I do this? 1. I created a new form by clicking "Create New". 2. I copied this link above from the bottom of the form I made and pasted it into this screen. 3. I opened the spreadsheet from my list of google docs. 4. I highlighted the column I wanted to look at. 5. I chose "Word Cloud" from the list of gadgets (found under "Insert").

Quiz to Check for Understanding
[]

How did I do this? 1. Follow the directions above. 2. After highlighting the column I want to check, choose "Format" and "Change Colors with Rules". 3. Choose a key word, phrase, or number that is correct and choose the color you would like that answer to appear. 4. Do this for each column.

Collecting Data
[]

How did I do this? 1. Follow directions above. 2. Highlight cells with numbers you would like to average. 3. Choose "Insert", Function and Average. 4. Do this for each column. 5. Highlight column and choose Insert and Chart.

Hints for Forms:
1. If you want others to have access to your spreadsheet, you must change the "Share" options. 2. If you need to edit the form, go to the spreadsheet and choose "Form" and Edit form. 3. The pencil on the form allows you to edit. 4. The double boxes on the form allow you to duplicate a question (handy if you only need to change one word). 5. The trash can deletes the question.

=﻿Google Calendar= 1. You can open the calendar to anyone you would like to have add to the events. 2. You can choose to only let people see the schedule. 3. If you would like to display this on your wiki, blog, webpage, etc, you need to copy the "embed" code and paste it onto your page. 4. You can add to your embedded calendar by clicking on the + sign at the bottom of the calendar.media type="googlecalendar" key="sevintracy%40gmail.com" ARG0="&ctz=America/New_York" height="600" width="800"

=﻿Google Presentation= []

How did I do it?

1. On Google Doc Home Page, choose "Create New", and Presentation. 2. Create your presentation. Go to "Share" on right-hand side and change the settings to public, anyone with link can edit. 3. Copy the link at the top of this pop-up window, and paste into website. 4. If you don't click the "Anyone with link can edit" button, then it can only be viewed by people who click the link. This option could be used for class notes. 5. You can upload and download documents and powerpoints by clicking "File" and using those options.

=﻿Google Documents=

[]

How did I do it? 1. Follow the directions above for creating and working with Google Presentation. 2. Make sure you make your Document public and allow anyone with a link to edit. 3. Having different users assigned different colors for editing helps. 4. Uploading and downloading options still apply.

=﻿Hints for Using Google Docs with Students=

1. If your school does not have Google Apps for Educators (free for schools), then set up a website and post links. Be sure to make links public and editable. 2. Assign students colors, it helps everyone identify who is doing the editing. 3. Downloading and uploading options exist. If a student starts a project in one place, and needs to work in another, the project can be uploaded and available anywhere the internet is available. This also eliminates the problem of compatability. 4. There is a revision history that can be accessed. This helps teachers keep track of who is doing what, and if something is accidentally erased, it can be retrieved again. Look for this under "File".

=﻿More Fun with Google=

1. Go to the google search page. (google.com) 2. Click on the "more" button and choose "even more". 3. Don't be afraid to check out any of the options here, there are way too many cool things to look at! 4. I like the "Labs" area. These are new things google is trying out. We will look at just a couple of these.

[] A new way to search.

[] Forms a timeline of news events.

[] Look at the surface of Mars. Work with topo maps.

[]# Translate any language into English, or from English into another language.