As you know, Google offers many apps and features to its users. However, within Google Docs there are options that teachers, or anyone, can use that will improve their workflow. Here are a few recommendations:
Share and Collaborate
It is very easy to share and collaborate with your students. Simply click on the "blue share button" at the top right corner and select the sharing settings and visibility options.
Comments and Suggested Edits
Instead of "marking up" the contents of the document, you can simply "comment" on it in which it will open a dialog on the side of the document. Suggested Edits will allow you to approve or deny any suggestions that someone has made to the content. To comment, simply highlight the content in the document that you want to comment about and click on the "comments" button at the top right corner. To use suggested edits, click on the "pencil" drop down button in the tool bar and select "suggesting".
Revision History
This feature will allow you to see who has made changes to the document. Simply click on 'File' on the menu bar and select "See Revision History" from the list. A window will open on the right side of the document displaying the username and the changes they made to the document.
Add-ons
This is a new feature of Google Docs that allows you to have more power in your documents. Simply, click on the "Add-ons" option in the menu bar and browse the gallery of add-ons. Most of them are free and can enhance your document experience. A few to mention are EasyBib, a citation tool, and Google Translate and Kaizena, a voice commenting tool
Research Tools
Google gives you the option to research within your document. There is no need to open another browser or tab. Simply click on the "Tools" menu option, then "Research Tool" from the drop down menu. Then you can perform an image, scholar, quotes Google Search, look up words in the dictionary, and more.
Image Editing
Google allows you to edit images directly within the document. You can resize, drag and drop, add a border, and wrap text the image.
Insert Special Characters
No more looking up or remembering the ASCII value of a symbol! Google provide an option within documents to insert special characters into the content of the document. Simply, click on "Insert" on the menu bar, then select "Insert Special Characters" and the table below will be displayed.
Download As
Google offers its users an option to download the document to their computer. Simply, click on the "File" on the menu bar, and select "Download as", then you will be able to select the format you want to download to.
