Google Drive

This week I got to experiment with Google Drive and all it has to offer.  A huge advantage of drive is that you can access it anywhere in the world once documents are stored just by logging in to your Google account.  This is great for people who travel, work a lot from home, or for those that can't collaborate face to face every day.  Teachers, this is also awesome for organizing your class files, assignments, etc.  Drive allows you to store, share and send documents, as well as work on a document together at the same time (if you have editing rights to it).  In reference to my last statement, when someone sends (shares) a document to another individual, the owner can choose to allow the recipient to view, edit or comment on the document(s).  If working together, you can see the changes happen right before your eyes.  Everything in Drive is in real time.  Your documents are autosaved while you are working so you don't have to save them manually every time you make a change.  In addition, there is also a "revision history" section that allows you to revert back to an older version if you don't like the updated changes that you made to a document.  You can go back and forth as much as you want from version to version because it continues to save as you go.  This is a pretty cool feature, especially if you mess up a lot like I often do.

In many ways, Google Drive mirrors Microsoft Office in the respect that it has many word processing functions inside of it (i.e. Presentation = PowerPoint, Document = Word...you get the point).  When uploading a file that is saved on your computer, you can keep it in the original form or convert it to one of the processing tools inside of Drive (if you convert it, you have a lot more options on editing).  Drive also allows you to create a form, which lets you to make a questionnaire, survey, test, etc.  This is an awesome feature, especially for teachers!  A drawing is another item you can create for diagrams, charts, etc.  This feature is pretty cool for brainstorming and "webbing" activities for research or writing projects.      

For an introduction to Google Drive, watch the video below:

I am going to talk a little bit more about my top 2 features in Drive: 1.)  Creating a Form and 2.) Creating Folders, Organizing and Sharing Documents with your students (and colleagues).

Creating a Form

As stated earlier, creating a form allows you to make a questionnaire, survey, test, assignment dropbox, etc.  You are allowed to choose your background and the format of your questions (multiple choice, text/paragraph response, checkbox, etc.).

You can then choose how you will receive the results (spreadsheet format, etc.)

Click on the example to view a questionnaire that I created for back to school night. (Tip: if your URL is too long for people to remember, shorten it by going to tinyurl.com-  my URL for the example is now tinyurl.com/KParentSurvey- try it out)

To watch a video on creating a form, click the video below.

Want something to help you grade your quizzes/tests?  It's free!  It's called Flubaroo...check it out!

Creating Folders, Organizing and Sharing Documents

I am pretty meticulous about organization.  I also have multiple classes so creating a folder for each class is a must for shared articles, assignments, etc. for each individual class.  In addition, google allows me to create separate contact lists and put them into groups so each class can have their own e-mail list for sending out and receiving information.

The video link below is really good at explaining how to break up your classes into sections, upload and create assignments, grade assignments, etc...  It also shows you the student view.  Click here for google drive for teachers video! (The other video link at the bottom on organization is pretty good too)
   

Want more information on creating documents?  Click here

Want more information on sharing documents?  Click here

Want more information on files, folders and organization?  Click here