Let's open our laptops and move on to Page Larry. School is in session and Google is ready to make things easier for students with Google Docs Add-ons for Students Google Docs for Students:These 5 Will Help You Write a Paper Google Docs Add-ons for Students:These 5 Will Help You to write a word on paper The process for students has long been the domain of Microsoft Word, but the recent release of add-ons is making Google Docs an attractive free option. Read more . New features have been introduced and some old ones have been refined.
Not only is it free and cross-platform, but the Google Drive suite has become quite powerful recently. Now you can even use it offline on PC or Mobile How to Use Google Docs or Drive Offline on PC and Mobile How to Use Google Docs or Drive Offline on PC and Mobile The downside of cloud-based services and apps is that you always need to be online to use them. Here's how to take Google Drive offline and what to keep in mind. Read more . Students are the future, which is why Google is adding student-centric features. The cool part? They are useful even if you are not a student.!
Perhaps the most exciting new addition is the ability to dictate into Google Docs in Chrome and have it automatically transcribed. Google is no stranger to the world of speech to text - it's one of the best features of Google Keep 4 Google Keep Tips and tricks for better notes, lists and to-dos 4 Google Keep Tips and tricks for better notes, lists and suggestions - Two Read more -and so it seems a natural choice. The feature only works in Google Chrome, probably using the Chrome Web Speech API.
To access it in Chrome, open a new doc> Tools> Voice Typing . Click the microphone icon next to your document when you're ready to speak.
Voice typing is supported in 40 languages, with punctuation support for English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian. The punctuation voice commands are:“Period”, “Comma”, “Exclamation Point”, “Question Mark”, “New Line”, and “New Paragraph”.
In my test, it worked quite well. Chrome's Web Speech API isn't as good as the results you get with mobile phones, but it's still better than nothing. That said, I can't imagine I could write an entire article with dictation. Can you write an entire article using voice dictation on Mac? Well, I just did (and this is it) Can you write an entire article using voice dictation on Mac? Well, I just did (and this is it) What you are reading right now is an example of the dictation program and it talks about Apple in action. It can be useful for short passages, but can you write a full article with it? Read more.
Also, the Strong Language blog found that voice typing is wise. It won't transcribe multiple swear words, although there are some context-based solutions to this.
Overall though, this feature seems incredibly useful. It would give students with disabilities the opportunity to dictate their essays. Students can also instantly record and transcribe lectures. However, it depends on the laptop's microphone, so you may want to use an external microphone with a good range.
For more information on voice typing, see the Google Help page.
Although Excel is better than Sheets Excel vs. Google Sheets:Which is better for you? Excel vs. Google Sheets:Which is better for you? Do you really need Excel? Both desktop and online solutions have their advantages. If you're having trouble choosing between Excel and Google Sheets to manage your spreadsheets, let us help you decide. Read More Advanced users swear by Excel, so Google makes it easier for spreadsheet novices to understand data. The new Explore feature is all about automatic analysis of visual data.
Let's say you have a template to manage your finances. 15 Useful Spreadsheet Templates To Help Manage Your Finances 15 Useful Spreadsheet Templates To Help Manage Your Finances Always keep track of your financial health. These free spreadsheet templates are just the tools you need to manage your money. Read more . As you make changes to the table and add entries, the data keeps changing. If you're not a numbers person, it can be overwhelming. The “Explore” tab provides relief, processing all those numbers and turning them into neat bar charts, X-Y charts, and other visual analytics.
All of this visual data is presented in a panel to the right. It updates automatically as you add new entries to your sheet. And if you want one of these visuals on your main sheet, click the little “Insert Chart” icon next to any element.
Those who study statistics and economics probably won't gain much from this. You can make your own cool graphics. But for those like me who suffer from deer in headlights syndrome when looking at a number sheet, this new feature is a godsend.
As we recently found out in our mega showdown, Google Docs trumps Microsoft Word for research Google Docs vs. Microsoft Word:The Death Match for Research Google Docs Vs. Microsoft Word:The Death Match for research. Online solutions are becoming the norm. We decided to see how Microsoft Word compares to Google Docs. Which one will do the best investigative work? Read More What was once just a browser tool is now also available on mobile phones, specifically for Android.
To access it, tap Edit (pencil icon)> More (three dots icon)> Research . The video above shows how to activate it.
Research on mobile opens a panel within Google Docs that acts like a mini browser. You can do a Google search to find information, copy and paste text from the panel to your Doc, and even search and insert images directly from the web.
However, two things that I love about the desktop version of Research are still missing:finding items from my personal Google Drive files and looking up synonyms and definitions. Let's hope it arrives on mobile soon..
Not everything Google introduced is a revolutionary new feature for students. A lot of work has also been done to make old favorites more useful.
Renewed templates: Google Drive already had many templates to make your life easier 24 Google Docs Templates That Will Make Your Life Easier 24 Google Docs Templates That Will Make Your Life Easier Templates can save you a lot of time. We've compiled 24 time-saving Google Docs templates for work, health, home, and travel. Get on with your projects, instead of struggling to put documents together. Read More All three apps have new templates and a great interface to explore and apply them. You can find templates in Docs, Sheets, or Slides, and as always, check out templates for students and teachers.
Renewed edition: Last year, Google introduced editing-based suggestions that allow teachers or those giving feedback to change content, while keeping the original words. In a collaborative document, it sometimes gets confusing to detect changes. So Google Docs now has a "See New Changes" feature that shows you everything that's different from the time you left that document.
Renewed shapes: Using Google Forms Effectively Supercharging Your Google Forms and Getting More Out of Them Supercharging Your Google Forms and Getting More Out of Them The humble Google Forms have many uses. With the availability of plugins, you can find more ways to take advantage of their usefulness than ever before. Read More Google just updated Forms to look better than ever with new color templates and backgrounds, and also made it easier to insert different question types, images, and text formats.
In addition to the many new student-focused updates, Google has also released something for educators. Google Classroom makes teaching easier now. Google aims to make teaching and studying easier as Classroom launches. Google aims to make teaching and studying easier as you get started in the classroom. The new free tool should help teachers quickly create and organize assignments, provide feedback, and easily communicate with their students. Read More
The new Share to Classroom extension for Chrome allows teachers to turn the screens of everyone in a class to the same web page with a couple of clicks. And students can also share their screen with everyone else. On the Google Classroom blog, a third grade teacher recounts her experience in the pilot:
Winner.
If you use Google Drive regularly and have a suggestion for students, go ahead and drop a line in the comments below. I'll go first:Go to Tools> Preferences and add automatic text expanders What is text expansion and how can it help you save time? What is text expansion and how can it help you save time? If you could save even a small fraction of the time you spend typing, you could save hours of your time each week. That's exactly what text expansion is for. Read More For example, I use the letter "q" followed by an abbreviation or acronym. So typing “qga” expands to “Google Android” and “qsgn” is “Samsung Galaxy Note”. Simple and incredibly useful..
What's your favorite Google Drive feature?
