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Tag: template

  • Creating Unit Templates in Google Docs


    One of the big shifts forward in our school this year has been the introduction of Google Docs, Google Drive, and collaborating. This also coincides with a drive and a passion to integrate our unit plans and follow the “Less is More” policy (especially in regards to paper usage!). With a Term 4 being a huge success, we are stepping out into 2015 with our best foot forward.

    Part of my role as the “IT Guru” (Computer Wiz, TechGeek, whatever-you-want-to-call-me) is to make sure that

    1. The introduction of new technology happens seamlessly. This means having things up and running in the background before unleashing it to the general populous.
    2. That teachers are introduced to the new technology in a friendly and non-threatening way so as to learn, engage, and use it effectively to enhance their practise.

    Before running my tutorial on using Google Docs and Google Drive, I had to make sure things were set up and ready to be used in the easiest way possible. Ease of use for the end user is high on my list for anything I’ve ever done in regards to IT and teachers. If it is made easy for them, then they’re more likely to want to use it.

    One of the keys to this, was first making a template for the collaborative and integrated unit plan. This would enable other teachers to make a unit plan using a default (and schoolwide) template.

    1. Create a document in Google Docs by clicking on the blue plus (+) sign.
    2. Rename your new file by clicking on the title. Call it “Unit Plan Template” or something similar.
    3. Make your template for the minimal outline of the template. Add in the text, colours, stylings to build up the template with the default text and features. These should be things that are common across ALL unit plans; not just yours. For instance: instead of having “Term 1, 2015”, have “Term X, 20XX” so that others that use the template won’t forget to change the date.
    4. The next part is a little confusing. I suspect possibly because either Google has moved away from using templates, or they’re re-developing how it is to be integrated. Anyhow, this is how you make your template available to others in your organisation.
      You will need to go to “File > New > From template…“. This should load up the template gallery in a new tab.
    5. On the far right you will see the text “Submit a template“.
    6. This will bring up a standard form for you to submit your own.
    7. Click on “Choose from your Google Docs” and find your document “Unit Plan Template”. You can search for it in the search box at the top, or scroll through your recent documents.
    8. You can choose whether to enter a description. This could be quite useful if you’re planning on making a lot of different templates.
    9. You can decide on your own category. I put mine under “Planners”.
    10. The rest I left as is, but obviously you can set a second category if it applies, and change the language should you need to.
    11. Click on “Submit template“.
    12. It may take a while to appear in your list, as it has to be checked that it will work. I’ve never had any issues with this process. Usually within 5 minutes it will be made available to use.
    13. It should appear under your organisations tab for templates. It will also be available under “My Templates“.
    14. It will appear in this place for all the teachers in your organisation, and so they will be able to follow the process of clicking “File > New> From template…” and then clicking on the “Use this template” button.
    15. Once I’ve done that, you’ll see that the document is still in your Google Docs and Google Drive. I like to create a folder called “Templates” in Google Drive and drag the file into it. That way it doesn’t get in the way and is nice and organised. It also means all my templates will be in one spot on my Google Drive. The other benefit of having the file still, is that when you edit the template file “Unit Plan Template“, the change will automatically update for the Template Gallery. Useful!
    16. And you’re done!

     

  • Google Docs for Collaboration

    Using Google docs to create documents is easy. It especially works well when a document is being created by a small team, with each user the document is shared with able to make suggestions or edits.

    Create a New Document

    Open up Google Docs (http://docs.google.com)
    Click on the plus + in the bottom right corner, or open an existing document.

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    Make sure that you change the name of the document! Click on the name of the document and rename it. Click OK to save the name change.GD-3

    Sharing Google Docs

    The first thing you will want to do (possibly) is share the document with others. To do this simply click on the blue share button in the top right corner.

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    Then just simply enter in the email addresses of those who you wish to share this document with.

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    You can change these permissions after you add them by clicking on the words below the “People” input box which says “Shared with……………”

    You are always the owner of any document that you create.
    Can edit are able to completely change the document with the same level as owners
    Can comment allows people to make comments on the side of the document, but are unable to change anything in the document itself.
    Can view allows people to see the document, but not make any comments or edits.

    Some common uses for these roles:

    Can edit: Another teacher that you are collaborating with.
    Can comment: Sharing a unit plan with another education professional who you want their feedback on. This may also include BLENZ Teachers, RTLB, Van Asch Teachers etc…
    Can view: Students who have logged on and you want to show them an assignment that they need to work on the Chromebooks with.

    Sharing is available for ANY Google Doc, not just the Unit Template.

    Commenting and Collaborating

    The great thing about Google Docs is the ability for others to contribute and edit a document. Doing this can take different forms depending on what you want to do.
    On the right hand side, below the share button is the style of ‘editing’ that you can use.

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    • Editing: This is for editing the document in place. This is the default editing mode and makes the changes to the document.
    • Suggesting: This is very useful when collaborating with others. Using this mode, users can make suggestions of additions or changes to the document. Upon doing this, it puts it in a different colour, and puts a ‘comment’ box to the right of the document. It also shows an “Accept” or “Reject” tick box system, in which the other collaborators can either accept the ‘suggestions’ or remove them. This is very useful as it shows up in a different colour, and also allows for draft entries, especially for when you’re not sure or want to put forward an idea for others.
    • Viewing: Quite simply, this removes all editing capabilities, and just allows you to read and print the document.

    GD-8In addition to this, if you have a “Can edit” or “Can comment” status when the document is shared with you, there is a Comments section next to the Share button.
    These allow you to leave a comment for the other editors and commentators that you have shared the document with, or with documents that others have shared with you.
    Comments can be applied to specific parts of the document by first selecting the text, and then clicking on Comments → Add a comment as above.

    Revision History

    The really important part of Google Docs is that it keeps EVERY change you make. It saves automatically, and keeps a record of those saves.

    This means that any changes you make are kept in a log.

    GD-9Click on See revision history. A window will show up on the right which will have a list of major changes and save dates. You can click through these to see the changes.
    If you need a more detailed view of specific changes, you can click on ‘Show more detailed revisions’.
    This will show just about every auto-save in the history of the document.
    Clicking on each revision will restore that version. This allows you to go back to a previous edit of the document, if you or any of your collaborators have made a mistake you wish to go back and remedy.

    Other than that, Google Docs pretty much operates as any other Word Processor. Feel free to explore the menu’s to find out more. Google’s Help menu has a lot of good information about how to use it.