This means you and your students can use these tools to do any kind of writing assignment, take tests and quizzes, and create slideshow presentations all inside the same platform.īy the way…you have probably also heard of Google Classroom. So Drive is not just a place to store things it’s also a place to make things. Google Forms is a survey creation tool (like SurveyMonkey). Google Sheets is a spreadsheet tool (like Excel). Google Slides is a presentation tool (like PowerPoint). Google Docs is a word processing tool (like Microsoft Word). Many of these perform the same functions as tools you’re already familiar with:

If you’re familiar with Dropbox, think of Google Drive as doing the same basic thing.īut here’s where Google Drive starts to completely kick Dropbox’s butt: Once you’re inside Google Drive, you also have access to a collection of tools you can use to create things. It’s accessible from wherever you have Internet. So you can upload a file into Google Drive from your home computer, then open your Drive on your work computer and get into that same file. Think of the word “Drive” the same way you’d think of the hard drive on your computer, except it’s cloud-based, meaning it exists online. The most basic way to describe Google Drive is that it’s an online file cabinet where you can store documents and other digital files. I’m going to start simple here, because I have heard people get Google terminology all mixed up. My mission today is to show you Drive’s awesomeness, and to convince you that you need to be using Google Drive and its tools not just for yourself, but with your students as well. I’m guessing there are more of you out there, people who have this vague sense of what Google Drive is, but who have largely dismissed it as not worth your time. I am here to tell you that Drive is so, so worth it. I ignored it for so long, and now I’m all Tom-Cruise-jumping-on-a-couch crazy about it. You get to know him a little more, and then suddenly you want to know everything about him, where he grew up, how he likes his coffee, how he got that scar over his eyebrow… Then one day he says something funny, and you realize he’s kind of cute. You think he’s okay looking, but you don’t really pay much attention to him. First, Google Drive was like the guy you know for a while as a friend. Our relationship was slow to get started. I have fallen in love with Google Drive. But it was not love at first sight.

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