tip sheet

Tip Sheet: Google Drive

<reflection>A tip sheet is designed to support the functional success of the online student. The tip sheet should be user friendly and tool specific. As I worked with my partner to create this tip sheet we actually collaborated in Google Drive. Even though we never did a synchronous edit (due to time zone differences), we were able to communicate ideas and edits efficiently. Since my partner is an English teacher and I am a minimalist, the number of words in our descriptions of the skills differ greatly. There was also the issue with my traveling in the days leading up to the submission of the project. Connectivity and iPad-tivity issues caused problems during the trip.

This particular tip sheet has an additional significance. I will be using it to train the teachers and students at my school on how to use Google Drive. I anticipate, as the training progresses, user feedback will lead to additional improvements.

Finally, the next generation of this tip sheet will have self-produced video explanations for each skill. My tentative plan is to use Jing to create these videos.</reflection>

Kristen Pham and Alan Campbell

<edit>Google Drive is a multi-faceted interactive tool conducive to collaboration between learner-learner, instructor-learner, and instructor-instructor. Google Drive is the collaborative tool that supports what you want to do, when you want to do it. Set-up your free account today and let the collaborations begin! The Google Drive Tip Sheet has been edited to enhance the previous application descriptions using the work done by my partner, Kristen Pham, as well as to improve the quality of the original screenshots used. I have also combined the opening and closing information from the original cover page into the new introduction. I chose to make the new version of the Tip Sheet into a "one-pager" because the Tip Sheet user will most likely be interacting with the Tip Sheet and Google Drive simultaneously. Scrolling down a one-page Tip Sheet will be more efficient, in my opinion, than navigating through a multi-page version.</edit> 

Learn how to...
  • set-up an account
  • login
  • create and share a document 
  • create and share a presentation 
  • use the chat feature 
  • synchronous collaboration
  • asynchronous collaboration

set-up an account

Go to drive.google.com. Login using your Gmail account. If you do not have a Gmail account, click "Create an account." Set-up your user profile and click "next step". Enhance your profile with a picture if you so choose. Click "next step". Click on "Drive" to access Google drive.

Google Drive Sign-In Page

<edit>Click to enlarge image. 
I inserted the "Click to enlarge image." message in order to ensure users can see the image as well as the references.</edit>

login

Go to drive.google.com. Enter your Gmail email address and password. Click "Sign In". Note: You can choose to "Stay signed in".


create and share a document


Log into Google Drive. Click the  CREATE  button in the upper left corner. Select "Document" from the menu and begin creating your document. Your document will be saved automatically as well as be assigned a unique URL. This URL can be shared just like a URL for a website. In order to name your document, click on "Untitled document". After creating and naming your document decide how you plan to share it, either Private, with Anyone with the link, or Public on the web. Click "Share" and in the dialog box find "Who has access". Click "Change..." if you want to change who can view and/or edit the document. Click "Save" and then click "Done". Note: You retain control your document, so always check these settings to ensure they match your intentions. 
Create a document in Google Drive.

<edit>Click to enlarge image. 
I inserted the "Click to enlarge image." message in order to ensure users can see the image as well as the references.</edit>
Naming and sharing a document

<edit>Click to enlarge image. 
I inserted the "Click to enlarge image." message in order to ensure users can see the image as well as the references.</edit>

Sharing a document  
   
<edit>Click to enlarge image. 
I inserted the "Click to enlarge image." message in order to ensure users can see the image as well as the references.</edit> 

 
Sharing settings

<edit>Click to enlarge image. 
I inserted the "Click to enlarge image." message in order to ensure users can see the image as well as the references.</edit>


create and share a presentation

<edit>You will use the same process used for create and share a document, except you will chose a "presentation" instead of a "document".</edit> Log into Google Drive. Click the   CREATE   button in the upper left corner. Select "Presentation" from the menu, select a design template, click "OK" and begin creating your presentation. Your presentation will be saved automatically as well as be assigned a unique URL. This URL can be shared just like a URL for a website. In order to name your presentation, click on "Untitled document". After creating and naming your presentation decide how you plan to share it, either Private, with Anyone with the link, or Public on the web. Click "Share" and in the dialog box find "Who has access". Click "Change..." if you want to change who can view and/or edit the presentation. Click "Save" and then click "Done". Note: You retain control your presentation, so always check these settings to ensure they match your intentions. 

use the chat feature

Set-up a date and time to collaborate on a project with a colleague(s). Log into Google Drive at the agreed time. Note:  When another collaborator logs in and their icon appears, the chat symbol will also appear to the right of their icon.  It looks like a little speech bubble.  Click on the speech bubble to initiate the chat.  A chat window will pop up at the bottom of your screen allowing you to chat with your collaborator in real time.

synchronous collaboration

A synchronous collaboration occurs in real time. You will need to set-up a date and time to collaborate on a project with a colleague(s). Log into Google Drive at the agreed time. Note: When another collaborator logs in, their icon will appear in the upper right corner of the screen. A cursor will appear on the screen in the same color as their icon.  As you and your collaborator type, you will see the words they type added to your document in real time. Changes are automatically saved in Google Drive every few seconds. In addition, a revision history is available. Click "File" and then click "See revision history".

Revision history

<edit>Click to enlarge image. 
I inserted the "Click to enlarge image." message in order to ensure users can see the image as well as the references.</edit>




Video Reference 
Google. (2012, April 24). Go Google: Hall and Oates. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0hHaQgdypI.


asynchronous collaboration

An asynchronous collaboration occurs anytime. Collaborators access documents at their convenience. Changes are automatically saved to Google Drive every few seconds so collaborators are always using the most current version of the document. In addition, a revision history is available. Click "File" and then click "See revision history".