Google Drive is a powerful tool that can be leveraged to enhance student learning, but it's not just about storing files - it's about harnessing the potential of educational apps to engage and motivate students.
Research shows that students who use educational apps on Google Drive tend to have higher levels of engagement and motivation, particularly in math and reading.
By integrating these apps into their workflow, educators can provide students with interactive and immersive learning experiences that cater to different learning styles and abilities.
Educators can also use these apps to create customized learning paths and assessments that help students track their progress and identify areas for improvement.
Organization and Productivity
Google Drive's organization features make it easy to prioritize and organize data, allowing users to clear a cluttered hard drive and eliminate the threat of losing documents due to a computer crash.
With Google Drive's automatic saving feature, users can rest assured that their data will be safe even if their device breaks. This sense of preparedness is especially valuable for students and professionals who need to access their documents at any time.
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Google Drive's mobile app ensures that users will always have access to their documents, making it easy to stay organized and productive on-the-go.
Google Drive's suite of organization features, including its ability to store documents within folders, makes it easy to arrange information logically and quickly locate documents later.
Clearing out the hard drive of your home computer or laptop by filing all text documents into Google Drive's cloud is a great way to introduce your child to the importance of keeping an organized filing system.
Google Drive's revision history feature allows children to see the changes they made to a document over time, teaching them the value of tracking their progress and learning from their mistakes.
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Educational Apps for Google Drive
EasyBib is a must-have add-on for writing teachers, allowing you to insert citations directly into Google Documents in MLA, APA, and Chicago Style.
If you're a PowerSchool Learning LMS user, you might not need Goobric, but it's still a great tool for those using Google Classrooms and Doctopus Add-On for Google Sheets.
Kami is a useful app for annotating PDFs and boosting learning, especially for educators like Stephanie Rothstein from the Santa Clara Unified School District.
Pear Deck is a great way to transform lessons into formative assessments using tools you already know and love, making it a valuable addition to your Google for Education toolkit.
How to Enable
To enable add-ons for Google Drive, you need a Google Drive (or GSuite) account. Many of these tools have several options: add-ons, extensions, and more. All of them add features to Gsuite tools.
To get started, go to the Google Workspace Marketplace and search for the add-on you want to enable. Make sure you have a Google Drive account, as some add-ons require it. For example, Geogebra can be used with Google Drive, so make sure you have an account before signing up.
You can also access some add-ons through the Google Admin console. For instance, School Information System (SIS) integrations can be set up with just a couple of clicks.
Some add-ons, like EasyBib, can be enabled directly within Google Drive. You can insert citations directly into Google Documents using EasyBib, which is available for MLA, APA, and Chicago Style.
Here are some popular add-ons for Google Drive:
- Geogebra: a math tool with teacher-created tools that can be used in Google Classroom
- Google Voice Typing: can be accessed through the Read Write Toolbar for teachers
- EasyBib: a citation tool for Google Documents
- Lucid Charts: a graphic organizer tool with many templates that can be used in Google Drive
Note that some add-ons, like Google Voice Typing, may require you to use Google Chrome and have a Google account.
Drive & ADHD
Google Drive can be a game-changer for kids with ADHD. It makes it easy for them to share their work with parents and peers, allowing them to receive constructive criticism and refine their work.
Children with ADHD often struggle to keep their work organized, but Google Drive's cloud-based storage system can help. By saving work to the cloud, kids can upload a work-in-progress for an upcoming project or book report, and have someone review it later.
One way to use Google Drive with kids with ADHD is to have them do peer reviews with friends. This can help them get feedback on their work and make revisions. They can also use the chat function to get input from others.
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Google Drive's organization features can also be a big help for kids with ADHD. By creating folders for each class subject, kids can store important study materials and other resources in one place. This can help them feel less disorganized and more in control.
Here are some tips for using Google Drive with kids with ADHD:
- Create folders for each class subject
- Store important study materials and other resources in each folder
- Use the chat function to get feedback from others
- Do peer reviews with friends
- Use the cloud-based storage system to upload work-in-progress documents
Docs
Docs is a powerful tool for creating and sharing documents in the classroom. With Google Docs, you can collaborate with students and colleagues on the same document, making it a great way to work together on projects.
You can use version history to track document changes and revert to any previous version of the document. This is especially useful when working on group projects or when multiple students are contributing to a single document.
The documents autosave in real-time, so you don't have to worry about losing your work. You can also export to a variety of formats, including Microsoft Word and PDF.
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To make assignments more engaging, you can set up a peer review system, where students provide feedback on each other's work by suggesting changes and leaving comments in Docs. This helps students develop their critical thinking and communication skills.
Here are some key features of Google Docs:
- Collaborate with students and colleagues on the same document
- Use version history to track document changes
- Autosave in real-time
- Export to a variety of formats
- Set up a peer review system
- Share documents with multiple settings, including publishing student work
With these features, Google Docs is an essential tool for any educator looking to create engaging and collaborative learning experiences in the classroom.
Classroom Management and Sharing
Google Classroom is a one-stop digital solution for all classroom needs, launched by Google in 2014. It lets teachers and students collaborate easily, making flexible learning from anywhere possible.
You can share links to everyone in your Google Classroom instantly with the Share to Classroom tool, which is a handy add-on. This helps get everyone on the same page in no time.
Google Classroom offers features that make classroom management a breeze. These include ease of accessibility from any device, easy communication and sharing, and digital organization of assignments and course materials.
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Some of the best features of Google Classroom include:
- Ease of accessibility from any kind of device i.e. computer/ tablet/ smartphones.
- Easy to communicate and share information and resources with students.
- Digitally organize, distribute, and collect assignments and course materials
- Easily able to differentiate instruction, resources and assignments for learners.
- Give students timely feedback on their assignments.
- Ease of analysing data from assessments to ensure students are understanding learning objectives.
Math and Science Tools
Gmath is a math app game that teaches exponents and has cool graphing features, allowing you to hand write formulas and convert them to a new chart or formula.
This math app game is perfect for teachers who want to share interactive lessons with their students.
Equatio for Google makes math and science more accessible for every student.
You can use Equatio to create math expressions, graphs, and statistical charts, and even share them with your students.
Gmath offers additional tools, including Math Expressions, Graphs, and Statistical Charts, making it a comprehensive math app game.
Here are some of the key features of these math and science tools:
These tools can be linked to your account, allowing you to use them in your classroom and share with your students.
Read and Write
Read and Write is a game-changer for kids learning to read. This tool is a must-use for younger kids and English Language Learners (ELLs).
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You can highlight words on a web page and then pull those highlights into a new document, or take the words and put them into a vocabulary list. This is super helpful for kids who are still learning to read and write.
The tool also has a feature called Hover Speech, which reads the speech for you. This is a great way to help kids who struggle with reading aloud.
Another useful feature is the Dictionary, which looks up the word and provides a visual dictionary picture. This is especially helpful for kids who are learning new vocabulary.
You can also use the Translate feature to convert words into the language of your choice. This is a great tool for kids who are learning a new language.
Additionally, the Simplify feature removes ads and other items from a web page, leaving only the text to read. This is a great way to help kids focus on the reading material.
Here are some of the key features of Read and Write:
- Highlight and pull words into a new document or vocabulary list
- Hover Speech reads the speech for you
- Dictionary looks up the word and provides a visual dictionary picture
- Translate converts words into the language of your choice
- Simplify removes ads and other items from a web page
Note that not all of these features are free, but the free version is still a must-use for kids learning to read.
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Sources
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