... Google Drive is the Best!

I have always been a fan of Google drive, but when it first came out, it didn't have all the fancy tools that Microsoft Word did. Eventually, I stopped using it... 

Until this year! My neighbor teacher talks about it and uses it for everything, so I thought I'd try it out. I must say, I'm a major fan. 

Google Drive is awesome for three reasons: 
1. Easy-to-Use
2. Portable
3. Versatile

The Google Docs portion of Google Drive looks and functions much like any other word processing program. Same types of options and same shortcuts make it a breeze to switch from one to the other. You can insert images and tables easily. You can even install customized fonts -- which is awesome since I like to use the same unique font for everything (see my previous post). It does not have every bell and whistle that you may find with a program like Microsoft Word, but it has enough for a basic user like myself. The only complaint I have is that making columns is a little tricky, but possible. 

I love how portable Google Drive makes all of my school documents. You can upload any Word Document, PowerPoint, Excel Sheet, or PDF to Google Drive and open it anywhere. No more lugging out my school laptop to make a small change to something. I organize everything into folders by course and unit, which makes it simple to find everything. If I have documents on my computer for the unit I'm planning, I will quickly upload all the necessary documents to the folder so I can get to everything at home. I create and edit most of my documents at home where I'm free from meetings and interruptions and this is by far the easiest method. 

My favorite thing about Google Drive is how versatile it is. You are not limited to just word processing, but can also create presentations, drawings, and spreadsheets. 

The presentations are great because you can insert videos straight from YouTube! It's as simple as copying and pasting a link. It allows you to play the video within your presentation instead of having to open up a separate browser window. I've embeded videos into PowerPoint before, but would get lag spikes or skips in them. It was never reliable for me. As long as you have a stable internet connection, the inserted videos in Google Presentations work great! 

Drawing is my new favorite document type! It seems like its supposed to be similar to Publisher, but I find it much easier to use. You can create any imaginable graphic using pre-created shapes, text boxes, various types of lines, or inserting images. I love using Drawing to create customized models for class -- I'll share some of these later! It is easy to use and has a ton of possibilities. 

Best part about the Google Suite -- you can insert Drawings into Documents! You can create a customized graphic and embed it into a lab or activity document. So simple. So lesson changing. 

Love it!