Bingo Choice Board by EdListen

Bingo Choice Board Template

Directions for Use

1. Make a copy of the template
2. Update the Lists sheet
1. You can easily randomize the lists by selecting a list and then clicking Data => Randomize Range
3. Hide the list sheets to keep it simpler for students.
4. In Google Classroom create a new assignment
5. Attach your version of Bingo Choice Board, and set it so that "Make a copy for each student"
6. When a student gets Bingo have them "Turn-in" the sheet. 

Why Websites Make a Great Platform for PLPs and Why I Don't Use Them

Personal Learning Plans (PLPs) are either loved or hated and it really depends on how they are used.   I personally really like them, because it gives students the opportunity to get credit for those amazing things that they do that they don’t get graded on.  Those that are not so happy with them, think PLPs is just a lot of extra work, and just one more state-mandated activity.

I can’t really blame the people who find them extra work;  I have seen so many PLPs launched where they just took up time and really didn’t provide any viable educational value to the student themselves.   I really tried to change that when I designed the Personal Learning PATH (PLPATH) workflow: https://path.edlisten.com/.    I want to highlight that I consider PLPATH a “workflow” to use when creating PLPs.  The reason for this is because workflows are platform-independent.  This allows the freedom for schools and students to choose their own tool to use to help them build their PLPATH.

This brings me to why I am writing this post.  If you explore https://path.edlisten.com/, you will find that while PLPATH is a workflow, I have created templates using Google Slides, and I think it is important to explain why I chose Google Slides as the platform I used to publish PLPATH templates.

The initial research into a PLP platform led me to consider what information would be valuable and how should that information be presented.   I knew I wanted students to be providing information on Achievements, Goals, and a personal bio of sorts.   Like many in the past, I felt a website with a blog, or blog with some static pages would be a good fit.   There are many pluses to websites; They can be personalized and look very different from student to student.  They are not linear so that each section can be maintained independently.  Most importantly they can be shared with people who have an interest in learning more about the particular student.

Presentation based PLPs allow for personalization and individual sharing, but often become very linear and information can easily get lost.   So why then did I not go with a website/blog platform like KidBlog, Blogger, or Google Sites as my choice for a platform template for the PLPATH workflow?  The answer is distribution.  Websites/Blogs are hard to distribute to students.  At the moment there is not an easy method to provide a student with their own pre-templated website and make sure it is shared with the correct people who need to help guide students in the creation of their PLPATHs.   While for Google Slides I was able to build a quick File Distributor Add-on (https://path.edlisten.com/file-distributor) to help distribute those templates.

While distribution is important when trying to give 1000+ students a template, not losing a dynamic tool for the students is also just as important.   For this reason, I recommend treating the PLPATH Google Slide Template, not as a linear presentation that students start at the beginning, but encourage jumping around and use linking to slide feature to allow for dynamic navigation.    When I first show PLPATH to students I have them personalize their home slide, then I have them skip all the way down to the very last section and start adding achievements.   When creating goals there is a box to add links to particular achievement slides that show evidence toward that goal, and hopefully, some of the “Who Am I?” activities will help the student write personalized goals.   When a student presents their PLPATHs they should not necessarily start at the beginning and go to the end, they should jump around and show the connections between the different sections. 

PLPATH is a workflow of Achievements, Goals, “Who Am I?” activities, and a “Who I Am!” resume.  You can apply this workflow to any platform you find fits best with your environment.   Just keep it fun, dynamic and relevant to the student and I am sure you will find value in Personal Learning PATHS.

Organizing your resources: Wakelet

I recently started a new job, and was looking for a simple method for building a resource website.  I tried Google Sites, but it was going to take up too much of my time to try and maintain it.  After some research and playing around I came up with a combination of using Weebly as a shell and a program called Wakelet for adding resources.

Wakelet is very similar to many bookmarking tools, the difference is that Wakelet is designed to publically display those bookmarks on a profile website, or embed them into another site.   Now adding resources to my public site is as simple as bookmarking.

Tips For Quickly Enrolling Chromebooks

Enrolling Chromebooks can take some time, but if you plan ahead then the process can happen much quicker.  Here are some tips that I have done to help the process along.

Tip 1: Use a usb-to-nic adapter.  Connecting to wifi during the enrollment will slow down the process considerbly.

Tip 2: In the Admin Dashboard set up a network policy so that Chromebooks in your desired Org get a device-based SSID.

1. Open the Google Admin Dashboard
2. Navigate to:  Device management => Networks  => Wi-Fi
3. Select the appropriate Org.
4. Add a device based Wifi
   

Tip 3: Set up an easy to type username / password.

• Place the username into the same Org as you want the devices to go into (See Tip 4);
• The username does not need any special permissions
• Make the name simple to type, like: 121@yourdomain.com
• Make the password easy to type, like: 1234567890
• You can disable the user (or make a more complex password) after the bulk of the enrollment process is done.

Tip 4: Have the devices automatically go into a specific Org when enrolled. 

1. Open the Google Admin Dashboard
2. Navigate to:  Device management => Chrome  => User Settings
3. Select the appropriate Org.
4. Scroll down to Enrollment Controls Section
5. In device Enrollment select "Place chrome device in user organization"
6. If you do any asset tagging, or location tagging, I also suggest enabling the "Asset Identifier During Enrollment"

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Are keystroke automation tools worth it?

• Ones I have used: I have played with the USB Rubber Ducky, and heard of Centipede.  
• What they do: They basically mimic keystrokes, as soon as you put the usb key into a computer, allowing you to skip the repetitive keying in.
• Are they worth it? For our network they were not worth it; mostly because we enter the asset tag and location during enrollment.   We also found that between the Nic-to-USB and the easy to type enrollment user, the process went so quick that the above were not worth it for us.

The very fun Augmented reality (VR): Merge Cube

This is a very fun, augmented reality toy/tool that allows you to manipulate an object as if it was in your hand.   It works with your phone or VR headsets.  The best part is that it only costs $5 on Amazon

How to properly insert google documents from Gmail

Attaching a Google Doc to an email is surprisingly easy, provided you use the correct button.  When you compose an email click the drive triangle instead of the paperclip to insert a Google Doc.

Once you send the document if the recipient doesn't already have permission to view the file it will ask you to set the permissions.   The default is "Anyone with a link can view" but that can be changed in the same window to get more granular share settings. 

or if you click More options

Announcing the Flippity.net Add-on

Flippity.net is a series of web apps that can easily turn a google spreadsheet into a set of online Flashcards or Quiz Show.   There are cards for helping a teacher create random groups, or mix and match activities.   Students accomplishments can be tracked using the Badge Tracker and the Certificate Quiz.   There is even a Spelling Words that can read the word to you.

These great tools from Flippity.net were created and are maintained by Steve Fortna, and now available as an add-on thanks to a partnership with Bjorn Behrendt of Edlisten.com.

Stop motion Animations on a Chromebook

Stop Motion Animation is a great educational tool.  Here is a way you can have students do this on a Chromebook.

1. I suggest one of the IPEVO document camera's. 

2. Go to http://www.gifpal-edu.com to get started creating your stop motion animation.  You have the ability to do onion skinning, or annotate over the frame, but there is a limit of 48 frames per gif.

3. The gif file can be imported into Wevideo if you want to add audio or combine several gifs together to make a longer video than 48 frames. 

Here is the end result:

​

Asus c202 teardown evaluation for school 1:1 program

Our school is getting ready to replace our fleet of 1:1 Chromebooks.   After running the program for 2 years we came to realize the importance of being able to do in-house repairs.  90% of the issues we had with our current devices (Acer 720's) was screen breakage.  We tried the send away method to start, but quickly stopped because having a 2 week turnaround for something we could fix in 3 minutes just did not make any sense. This is why the ASUS c202 really caught our eye when it was debuted at CES 2016.

A big thank you goes out to ASUS and CDWg for getting us a one that we were able to disassemble and see if really lived up to what we were hoping for.  And so far it does.

Teardown

Packaging.

 I actually never thought about packaging until I had to unbox 500 Cromebooks 2 years ago, and now I can't stress enough "Bulk packaging from the manufacturer please!!!".    That said Asus did a good job with the packaging.  Unlike other boxes I have opened, the Asus box flipped open and I was able to take the device out of the box very quickly, and there is no plastic that needed to peel off.

First impression:  

"The keys are blue!!",  It is just one of those things that stands out.  It looks cool, but now that I am trying to type this blog post at night when the lights are off, the lesser contrast of blue keys are actually kind of annoying.  If I can't get backlit, can I at least get glow in the dark indigo keys.  

Keys, aside, I love the construction of this.  The edges are rubberized, and the plastic is matted, so it really gives the feeling it can take a beating.  The bottom has two very long rubberized feet.  As long as they stay on they are very nice.  They keep the Chromebook securely on a desk and make it easy to pick up.

It is a bulky Chromebook and very far from it's cousin the Flip, but for a 1:1 device in a high-school I think it's the right size.

Replacing the monitor:

Being our most common repair we wanted to know how this was done.  I would put this about even with the 720's  in terms of replacing the screen.  The c202 has 2 screws to remove which the 720's don't, but the flat bevel of the c202 was a very smart choice, and well worth the added 2 screws.

1. First peel of the little sticker covers to reveal 2 screws at the top.
2. Then it was a matter of peeling back the plastic bevel, which was snapped on.  Unlike other bevels we have removed, it didn't feel like we were breaking the plastic clips as it was coming off.   The best part was that the bevel was flat.  The 720's which we are all too familiar with removing had an extra bend in molding that covered the hinges.  This bend was always the hardest part to pull out.
3.   
   
4. The screen itself, was held on by a standard 4 screws and it was a pretty standard removal of the screen.   The screws were on the top and bottom, vs the sides like they are on the ACER, which actually means the bottom screws are adding an extra mount point for the hinges, which is nice.
   
   Another thing we have come across in the past is the cable loosening out of the back of the screen, causing it to go dark or black, but not break.  This was understandable considering the lightweight piece of tape the Acers used.  That was not the case with the Asus c202, the tape on the back holding the ribbon cable on, uses some type of industrial strength glue.  

Pulling the bottom apart.

The bottom is attached by several screws around the outside, and 2 that are hidden in one of the rubber foot bars.    Once the screws were out, it actually took me a few minutes to figure out how to separate the device.  I found that if I grabbed in the front, I could pull back the plastic enough to get the process started.

The bottom is also a solid design, so if liquid did spill on the desk with this sitting on it, I don't see any entry point where it could get inside the device.   

Keyboard and mouse:

With the 720's if the keyboard was bad, we just turn it into parts.  That was because to replace the keyboard, meant removing the motherboard and everything form the device.  It was not a fun process.   The c202  was the opposite.  They keyboard and mouse of the c202 came out very easily, and they did a good job of making it a user replaceable item.

When you pull up the keyboard, you will see that it is attached by 2 ribbon cables.  The first time I put it back together I did not have seat the ribbon cable back properly, because the keyboard didn't work.  I can see this ribbon cable possibly being an item we will have to reseat after some wear and tear.

When replacing the keyboard it will be the entire top section of the c202, including the plastic that surrounds the mouse pad.

The mouse detached from the keyboard by 3 screws, again making it a very easy to replace item.

Here is the wide view if the back of the keyboard.   It is spill resistant, so I am thinking that even if something gets spilt on it, only the keyboard would be affected and not the rest of the device.

The Power Adapter

The Acer 720 and the Lenovo n21's both have this dinky power plug.  I am very surprised that we didn't have more broken ones than we did.  The c202's plug was larger, and even place where the cables mount to the power brick seems beefed up.  

The Battery & Internal components

Every Chromebook, I have opened up, has all had a rectangular battery with 2 mount points.    This year with the 720's we have seen a large number for battery failures, because one of the mounts breaks, and then the battery pulls itself apart.   The c202 battery is an L shape, and has 9 screws holding it down.

Another common fail point for any laptops, has been plug that the power adapter plugs into.  If the power cord gets jilted, then the plug can pull off the motherboard.    To fix this takes some steady-handed soldering, or a new motherboard.   What Asus did was put that item on a very small breadboard, that could easily and inexpensively get replaced.   The ribbon cable going over the battery, seems like an odd choice, but only time will tell if it becomes an issue.

Upgrading the ram, or harddrive is not possible with this Chromebook.  Both items are soldered into the larger section of the motherboard.  

The USB key

The packaging came with a 4gb usb key.  The key included the below files, which highlights there on-site repair program, which if we do go with these I will be looking into.  I am also hoping that the 4 gig keep can also be used to make a recovery image for the device.

Here are the files from the USB key (C202 Seeding Kit):

• ASUS C202 Service Flyer.pdf
• ASUS C202 Reviewer's Guide.pdf
• ASUS C202 Data Sheet.pdf

Final Review

Whey they first debuted this device and touted its fix in-house design, I was excited.  Now that I got my hands on the device itself, I have to say they really lived up to the sales pitch.    There is a few places that I can see a potential for common failure, but overall I think the Asus c202 is going to be a very solid Chromebook for schools.

How To: See New Google Form Results At The Top

Google Forms is great at adding data to a spreadsheet, but often all you want to see is the new results and that could be several hundred rows down.   Instead of scrolling down all the way down here is quick formula you can use to create a sheet that always shows the data at the top.

Instructions:

1. In your form results create a new Sheet.
2. In cell A1 enter this formula:
1. =query('Form Responses 1'!1:100002, "Select * order by A desc",1)

Breakdown:

• =query() is a function built into google: more info
• 'Form Responses 1'!1:100002 is the sheet name and range of the form data
• Select * tells the query to select all the columns, This can be changed to Select A,B,C format also
• order by A desc tells the query to reverse the order based on column A
• ,1 tells the query to include the headings.

Also check out:

• Also check out the EZ Query add-on.   This gives you a graphical interface to create simple queries.  At the time of this blog post "order by A desc" is not an option but it is on my road map to include in the future. 

How To: Add labels to a Google chart or graph

Edu on Air: Creating a culture: Google Apps add-on slam

Edu On Air 2015 event page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/c7cndlfsplecdcjfqgf5as1rj3c
#GoogleEduOnAir

My school went 1:1 this year which meant a whirlwind of change. Creating this new culture meant creating or adapting school workflows. I'll showcase the add-ons that have helped me like autoCrat for automated Mail Merges, Choice Eliminator for parent teacher conferences, CheckItOut and Lab Scheduler.  Also my newest add-on EZ Query.

This session is part of Education on Air, the free online conference from Google. Register for free at http://goo.gl/Gkww6N.

The journey of creating a culture.

1. Get everybody on board, starting with the office staff and administration
2. Change common workflows
3. Give teachers time to start using it in the classroom. 

Workflows that I have changed and the tools I used to help me do it.

• Computer Labs: 
• Add-on: Lab Scheduler
• Example: Lab Sign-out
• Check Out Spares: 
• Add-on: CheckItOut
• Add-on: Fuzzy matches
• Example: Spare Checkout Form
• Example: Spare Checkout Form Results
• Activities schedule: 
• Blog Post: =filter() or =query() functions
• Example: FHUHS using filters
• Example: EduOnAir using query
• Plays on website & lobby kiosk
• Parent Teacher Conferences: 
• Add-on: Choice Eliminator
• Incident Report: 
• Add-on: AutoCrat
• Add-on: CopyDown
• Example: Template report
• Example: Form
• Example: Dataset (CopyDown Formula used: =row())
• Print & Digital forms
• Add-on: AutoCrat
• Field Trip Request Form
• Homework Success Referral Form
• Forms, make a copy
• How-To: Infographic
• Examples: Letterhead, PO's
• Forms with lots of data: 
• Add-on: EZ Query
• Add-on: Save As Doc
• Add-on: Fuzzy matches
• Example: Dataset

Author Links:

• EdListen Scripts (me): http://scripts.edlisten.com/
• New Visions Cloud Labs: http://cloudlab.newvisions.org/

Google App Script Lesson for Students: Change Background based on Word Count.

Inspired by a request from +Mark Phillips.   Feel free to use this or a variation of this with your students.   Please do not republish a public version that includes my "Working Example" without my permission.



Goal: 

• Have the class work together to create a Google Document App Script that will automatically change the background color of the document if it reaches a certain number of words. 

Working Example: Word Limit Notifier

• If you would like to see the full code, then create a copy, and go to Tools => Script Editor.
• There is a Group Tasks file that includes completed examples of each groups scripts. 
• Learning how to code is best done by looking at other examples.  However there is always a thin line between looking at other's code to learn and taking it all-to-gather.   I suggest leaving it up on the teachers machine for students to reference.   Just extrapolating the information that is pertinent to them is an important skill in coding. 

Tasks:

• As a Group create a function.
• function getCharacterLimit(){
  var labelTxt = "The length: ";
  var ad = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument();
    var text = ad.getBody().getText();
    var lenghth = text.length;
    Logger.log(lenghth);
  }
• Split the class into groups; each group is responsible for their section of the script.
• Sections / Groups
• User Interface: This group is responsible for creating the menu, dialogues and prompts.  The information they capture will need to be saved as a variable.
• Prompt: "Set Count"  ~ log the result
• Prompt: "Set bgColor" ~ log the result
• Run: "Force Check"
• Alert: "Current Count" ~ Multiline alert that will eventually include "Max Allowed Words:",  "Background Color:", "Word Count:".
• Take it further: Use HtmlService instead of getUi to create the dialogue.
• Documentation
• Menu
• Alert dialog
• Prompt dialog
• Save hidden information: This group will be charged with learning how to save variable information using the PropertiesService so that it can be used the next time the document is opened.
• Save the Set Count
• Save the Set bgColor
• Retrieve the Set Count
• Retrieve the bgColor
• Take it further: Learn to save information as an object using JSON.stringify() and JSON.parse().
• Properties Service Documentation
• Triggers:  Triggers tells the script to do something at a particular time or interval. In the scripts case it will be checking the word count and if it is above the set count then it will change the background.
• Set a trigger to run a function that adds to the log every minute: (1 minute is the minimum amount of time a trigger can launch consecutively. 
• Check to see if the trigger has already been installed.
• Find out at what point the trigger should be installed in the completed script.
• Take it further: Set date triggers, and learn about simple vs programmed triggers.
• Trigger Documentation
• Get the Word Count & Change the Background Color:  There is no program key that gives you the word count, so to complete this you will need to think of ways to accomplish getting at least a rough estimate of how many words.  Secondly you will want to be able to change the background color of the document.
• Get the current word count and write it to the log
• Take it further: Capture other information like character count or how many times the word "The" appears and see if you can log that information also.
• Write a function that will change the background color.
• Take it further: Find other attributes that you can change.
• Documentation
• Document Body
• Attribute
• Bring it together: 
• In a class discussion format, or individually as homework have the students take all the different parts and put them together into a single script.
• Take it further: Add in checks to prevent user error.
• Take it further: Improve the user interface to make it simpler for the end user.

Glossary Of Terms:

• Function: A section of code that can be run by itself.  
• Variable: A word or letter that information gets stored to so that it can be accessed within a function.
• Trigger: An event that fires at a particular time or interval.
• String: Information stored as plain text. (var aString = "";)
• Object: Used for storing information in a complex format. (var someObject = {};)
• Array: This is a group of information that can be accessed one after another. (var anArray = [];)
• API: The different commands that can be run to build your script.
• Comment: A section of the code that does not run.
• Log: A place to store information while you are developing. 

Import things to know:

• Each link of code ends with a semi-colon.  A line of code may take up severs lines on the document, but when it is read by the application, it looks for the semi-colon to know when it actually ends.
• Functions have a format of:   function functionName(){  code goes here }
• Variables can be passed between functions, by placing them inside the ( )'s.
• Periods are used to add a sub-API event to the root API.  DocumentApp.getUi();
• Save and test often.
• Most of App Scripting is based off of Javascript.

Important Links:

• API reference ~ Primary documentation that lists of all the commands that can be run (Also found in the Help menu of the script)
• StackOverFlow.com ~ Scripting forum used to get or provide help with scripts. 
• Issue Tracker ~ Used to list any bugs found in the API's.

Announcing: Lab Scheduler Add-on

Lab Scheduler is a unique resource scheduler designed for schools, that uses periods or blocks to schedule rather than times. This works out well for schools where each day's meeting times change constantly to accommodate, block scheduling, 1/2 days, or assemblies. Schools can set up the Lab Scheduler sheet with their resources that need to be signed out. Then share it with edit rights to their teachers. Teachers then select the resources from the sheet tabs at the bottom and put their name on the specific day and period that they want to sign up. The lab scheduler will continually take out the previous day and add a new one so that once it is set up, it will always be up-to-date.

• Direct link to Lab Scheduler add-on
• Official website
• EdListen Scripts Google Plus Community

 

Announcing: Connected Groups Add-on

Link to Add-on

Creates shared groups between different Gmail accounts.

Connected Groups add-on uses a spreadsheet as a master list to create shared contact groups.  Each person who is shared is called a Manager, each manager can add or delete names from the list, as well as invite other users to become managers and use the shared contact list.   Any changes to the lists get updated to all the managers over the course of an hour.  Managers can choose to sync or not sync.     One possible scenario is a secretary needs to manage a contact group for a school principal.    The secretary is in charge of keeping the contact list up-to-date.  They can install Connected Groups and updating the list will be as easy as adding a name to a spreadsheet.


To see more of my scripts check out: https://sites.google.com/site/edlistenscripts

Workflow Tools for Google Docs In The Classroom, School or Business

I mentioned the basics of Google Docs workflow in my previous blog post: Keys To Building Workflow While Using Google Docs.   This post is about the tools that provide workflow to your Classroom, School or business.

Specific to the classroom:

gClassFolders Sheets add-on

This was an add-on that I created while working to build a workflow strategy for a 1:1 deployment.  It automates the creation of properly shared folders for the classroom.   It creates an All Edit, All View, and individual assignment folders.   Students and teachers no longer need to share items, but rather place them in the proper location.

Doctopus Sheets add-on

Doctopus's workflow involves the teacher sending out a template or blank document to the student for them to work on.  This gives the teacher ownership of the file allowing them to do things such as remove editing rights when the assignment due date is up.    Doctopus has the ability to integrate with gClassFolders, Hapara Teacher Dashboard, and Google Classroom, as well as create it's own folder structure.

Happra Teacher Dashboard ($)

Teacher Dashobard is a 3rd party application that connects with Google Docs.   It too creates shared folders for workflow, but when paired with Chomebooks it gives the teacher extra visibility into what is happening on the device.  Teachers are the only ones with an extra interface, students only see a folder for each of their classes.

Promevo gScholar ($)

This is a direct competitor to Teacher Dashboard with similar functionality.  I personally have not had the opportunity to use it, so I don't know how it compares.

Google Classroom

This is Google's answer to Classroom workflow.   Students use the Classroom interface to hand-in or get assignments and collaborate.   This mimics the hand-out, hand-in type of workflow that you would see in a non-paperless classroom.    This workflow may feel familiar to a teacher transitioning from paper to paperless, however I personally feel that it does not encourage the same live collaboration and file/folder management skills that the other tools I have mentioned do.

Workflow in general
The general workflow can be simplified by using add-ons.   There are many and can be found by opening up a Google Spreadsheet, or Google Form and going to Add-ons menu => Get add-ons.  Below are some that I have used.

• Spreadsheet Add-ons
• autoCrat: This is a popular mail merge add-on.
• flubaroo: Grading online assessments
• formMule: Email Merge Utility
• From Add-ons
• Choice Eliminator (I am the author): This will remove choices as they are selected.  This is great for scheduling.
• Form Publisher: Automatic publishing data collected from a form

Keys To Building Workflow While Using Google Docs

Google Docs is a powerful communication tool, but it changes the workflow one would use to collaborate with a student or colleague.    This means in addition to learning a new tool, it is even more important to come up with new workflows.

The Basics:

Who has access

These permissions use to only be set by the network administrator and most often only at the top most folder level.   With Google Docs this has changed and now permissions are set by the user at the file or individual folder level.   There is also many more permissions that can be set.

• Global Links
• On - Public on the web
• On - Anyone with a link
• On - Domain
• On - Domain with a link
• Off - Specific people
• Specific People
• Only you (Default for newly created files, unless in a shared folder)
• Others - Can edit
• Others - Can comment
• Others - Can view

The default for any newly created file or folder, that is not inside a shared folder, is that only you, the owner, has permission to edit and view the file or folder.   Sharing a folder with an individual or group is one of the techniques you will learn about for building a workflow.   When a file or folder is created inside a shared folder, then it will inherit the permissions of that folder.

One file vs many

Another concept people moving to Google Docs need to wrap their head around is that often they are working on a single file together, rather than copies of a file.

The classic example of this is when sending someone a file.  Previously, when you sent an email to someone, it would be a copy of the file.  If that person made edits and sent it back to the originator, they would now be left with two copies; their own and the edited one. 

With Google Docs that has changed and now documents needing contribution from multiple people are a now editing the same file.   The biggest workflow here is to share documents or use the Drive attachment instead of the normal paperclip attach inside ones email. 

Importance of Owners

Now that people are working on the same file together, who owns the file? and what does it mean to be an "Owner".   While Google files can have many editors, it can only have 1 owner.   The owner has one thing that they can do that editors cannot, and that is delete the file.  The owner is the person that created the file, unless the creator has transferred ownership to someone else.

What happens when?

• An editor deletes a file:  When an editor deletes a file, it basically unshares that individual from the file.   All the other editors will continue to have access as if nothing has changed.
• An owner deletes a file:  This will put the file into the owners trash and all editors will no longer have access.
• An owner deletes a shared folder: The files inside a shared folder may inherit the editing rights, but the owner of the document is still the creator of each individual file.  This means if an owner of a shared folder deletes the folder then:
• The folder and just the files that is owned by that individual will be deleted.
• Files owned by others inside that folder will be unshared from the folder owner.
• Files owned by others will lose their folder association and can only be found by searching.

Incoming vs My Drive

Any file that is shared with you gets put into the "Incoming" folder.   Many try and use this as a place to access the files shared with them, while this works it is not intended to be a working area.   Think of "Incoming" as an inbox on your desk.   It is a place to put everything that needs to be organized.  

"My Drive" is like your personal filing cabinet.  This is the place you work from and keep your life organized.   Files from your "Incoming" folder that you plan to access regularly should organized into your "My Drive".


Keys To Building Workflow:

If you have tried to live inside the Google Docs ecosystem and have only used the share feature, you know that it can get very disorganized very fast.   This is why establishing a workflow is very important.

Shared folders

This will be the heart of your workflow.  Folders allow you to develop a workflow by creating folders and choosing who has edit or view rights to the data that is inside.   Then anyone who has edit rights to that folder, instead of sharing it with the proper people just place the file inside the proper folder.

"Insert files using Drive" not "Attach files"

Most everyone knows that little attach paperclip in Gmail, however just to the right of it is the Drive triangle which is used to insert/attach files from your Google Drive.   

Clicking Insert files using Drive it will open up a dialogue allowing you to choose a file from your My Drive.   When you hit send it will check the share permissions of the attached file and if the recipient doesn't already have rights, it will pop up and ask the sender if they want to make the file accessible by link-only or they can click more and add all recipients as viewers or editors. 

Create templates

Often people will need to create templates.   There is a template function inside Google Docs, but the feature has been buried and there is a simpler method that won't involve much training.   

• Share the template with read-only rights (or place in a read-only shared folder)
• Inform the end-user to go to File => Make a copy

Think search not browse

It use to be that the quantity of our digital materials about equaled our paper materials and we could browse for them inside an organization of folders.   As nice as that seems to be, the quantity of digital materials we are in-charge of has grown substantially and keeping them in a brows-able is not always possible time-wise.    

To make your life easier, think search instead of browse.   While it is still important to organize your files, it is much faster and more inline with Google's design to search for the file you are looking for. Searching even looks inside the file's text so even if you don't remember the exact title, you can look for a key word from the contents of the file and have it show up in the results.

Files can exist in multiple folders

In the paper world it is not possible to place the same piece of paper in two different locations.  Over the years we have come to think of this as a norm, and even in the digital world it was always one file one location.    

With Google Docs this is no longer the case and the same file can exist in multiple folders.   It is this reason why they were called collections not folders when Google first launched the feature.   So when you are organizing think of folders as more of labels attached to a file, rather than a file placed inside a folder.

• Tip: In the new Google Drive interface press SHIFT+Z to open the add-to dialog.

To take this to the next step see my blog post:
Workflow Tools for Google Docs In The Classroom, School or Business

Using the filter button, =Query(), =Filter() functions for Google Form/Spreadsheet Data

Google form data comes into a spreadsheet nicely, but often it is only a small portion of the data that someone would like view.   Below are some functions and tools that make sifting that data much easier.

Filter Button:

• The filter button is a very quick way to only show certain fields.  You can apply multiple filters to the data to show only what you want to see.

Filter Formula (  =filter()  ):

• The filter formula is a more permanent solution to filtering data in a spreadsheet.  The only catch is that it pulls all the columns.   To use the =filter() formula on form data, you should create a new sheet.  Enter the headers into the sheet that match the questions (tip: use =Form Responses 1!A1), then in cell A2 put your =filter() formula.

=filter(<data range to filter>, <criteria>)

=filter('Form Responses 1'!A2:L5042,'Form Responses 1'!B2:B5042="Cat")

=filter('Form Responses 1'!A2:L5042,('Form Responses 1'!B2:B5042="Dog")+('Form Responses 1'!B2:B5042="Rabbit"))

Query Formula (  =query()  ):

• The query formula works like the filter function, however it allows you to choose only the columns you want to view.  This makes it ideal for creation displays of data that is only relevant to the viewer. The catch is that it uses SQL syntax which is not well documented in Google's documentation, but there is plenty on the web.  Additionally this allows you to filter on a column that is not being viewed, allowing for better formatting for printing or viewing.

=query(<data range to filter>, "Select <Columns> where <criteria>")

=query('Form Responses 1'!1:1007,"select A,D where B = 'Cat'")