Docs/Sheets/Slides

Google Docs/Sheets/Slides

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are Google's word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation apps. They (and Drawings, Forms, Keep Notes, and Sites) live in Google Drive, so if you've been avoiding Google Drive, now is a good time to change that practice. (Want more motivation? Google Docs can open Microsoft Word documents stored in Google Drive; Sheets can open Excel files; and Slides can open PowerPoint files--so if you find yourself on a computer that doesn't have Microsoft Office but does have a network connection you can still edit your Microsoft Office files in a pinch.)

Why use these?

One word: collaboration. For each of the "big three" of Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you can have multiple people working on the same document without needing to email copies back and forth. And because these live in Google Drive, you can get to them from wherever you have an internet connection, on whatever device you happen to have (phone, tablet, notebook, desktop).

In each case, Google keeps a version history so you can see who has made what changes to a given document, and undo them if necessary.

Sharing a File

In the file you want to share, click the blue Share button. You can add people by typing their names (they can be Viewers, Commenters, or Editors). You can also change the document settings to make it visible to anyone at AMBS, anyone at AMBS who has the link to the document, or anyone in the world who has the link to the document. (Before you share a file, though, consider instead sharing the folder that contains it.)

Caveat

Though everyone at AMBS has access to Google Docs, AMBS policy is that student work should be submitted in Microsoft Office formats. Those teaching classes at AMBS may reject work submitted in other formats, including Google Docs/Sheets/Slides.