Google Drive ...What's the Big Deal?

If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you know that our district has Google Apps for Education for our employees and our students. When we first began to use Google Apps for Education, the office suite was known as Google Docs. During our transition, Google changed it to Google Drive. It has been my opinion that the impact of the possibilities haven't hit our teachers yet. So today I want to examine that impact.

First some history, Google Docs allowed us to create a new word document, spreadsheet, presentation, or drawing. Of course all online and easily shared for collaborative purposes. Then along comes Drive adding the possibility to add Drive to our computer so we could easily drag the file to the Drive app on our machine and it sync to our cloud account.

Recently, Drive changed yet again. When you click the red create button in drive, you will notice that you have an option to connect apps when using Google Chrome. Yes, you read that correctly...apps. To. Drive.

So the impact of this should be the realization that we can add software to our account in the cloud giving us the ability to edit many different file types anywhere, anytime we have Internet access. Google Chrome really begins to act as an operating system.

If you have a Google account, I hope you will explore the possibilities.To get you started, here are a few of my favorites.

1. Powtoon EDU

Powtoon allows you to create presentations, greeting cards, and more using an easy "drag and drop" interface. Each slide is treated as a scene and you just drag and drop characters and props onto the slide, add text, and assign animation. Powtoon is exported to YouTube which you can then embed.

2. Pixlr

Pixlr is a free full featured photo editor similar to programs such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Tools include red eye reduction, spot heal tool, drawing tools, and others. Software also contains filters and various adjustments. Connect it to your Drive account and give it a whirl.




3. Lucid Chart

Lucid Chart is a collaborative mind mapping software that allows you to create visual representations flowcharts, diagrams, and charts. It is super easy to use by dragging and dropping the shapes onto the screen and then typing. You connect the shapes by clicking on one and dragging the mouse to the other. Lucid Chart is free for educators in K-12. Click here to find out how to sign up for the free account.

4. WeVideo

WeVideo is the free full featured video creator. You can use still images and or video. Upload your media, drag and drop on the timeline to arrange the story, select your style, add audio, and publish. It is really is that easy. Did I mention that you can collaborate on that video as well. WeVideo adds a folder to your Drive called "WeVideo_Folder_your_email_address. To share a project, click on the name of the video in the folder and select share. So share it with collaborators and edit away. You can publish your finished product to YouTube or to Google Drive.

5. HelloSign

HelloSign is paving the way to a paperless classroom (or office) by providing an easy way to sign documents or get documents signed. No more printing, signing, and scanning documents. Open the file, add your signature (or text, date, checkmark, or signature request). HelloSign emails the document and it is legally binding. HelloSign also allows you to create reusable documents by creating a template for those documents you use most often.

6.  Simplebooklet

Use the free account to create brochures, flipbooks, presentations, etc. It is very user friendly allowing you to create your work from scratch or by uploading a PDF file. You can add text, images, videos, and more. You share your work by embedding on your site or by sharing the unique URL for your book.