Google+Tools

Google Basics
In addition to its search engine capabilities, Google offers a number of free tools that can be used for personal convenience and data sharing. A document designated for sharing can be shared with any number of Google account holders. Additionally, up to 10 people can work on the document at the same time. This provides an excellent common storage resource for groups of individuals working on a project.

In order to access the various tools, you need to create a Google account. To do so, you need to have a valid email address for verification. For instructions on creating an account, click on the following link: [|Create a Google Account.doc].

Once you have an account, you can create and personalize your own Google Home Page (iGoogle) and subscribe to any Google Tool. Please note that it is NOT necessary to have a Google email account to use tools or share documents with other Google account holders.

Google Tools
The following is only a partial listing. The folks at Google are constantly experimenting with new tools.

[|Docs] - Create and share word, spreadsheet, and presentation documents. Files created by MS Word, Excell, and PowerPoint can be uploaded to Google Docs. Files created in Docs can also be downloaded as their respective MS Office document. To learn more, see the **Google Docs in Plain English** video at the bottom of this page.

Want to collect information from a number of people and have it put into a spread sheet? Try using a **Google Form** which is part of Google Docs. To fill out a sample form, click [|HERE]. To see the spreadsheet, click [|HERE].

[|Groups] - Create a group, invite members, and share discussions, pages created for the group, and uploaded files. As the group creator, you determine which privlidges members can have. Each group has 100 MB of storage space. **Hint** - if you create a group for your use only, you also have this storage space thus virtually eliminating the need for carrying around a flash drive.

[|Bookmarks] - Your bookmarks, or only those you select, are stored online so now you can be access them from any computer with an internet connection. This is handy if you work with more than one computer.

[|Calendar] - Create multiple calendars, e.g., personal, school, class, etc., and deside which ones you want to share and with whom. Calendars can also be embedded and subscribed to. An example of an embedded calendar can be found here.

[|Reader] - A very easy to use reader for [|RSS] and [|Blog] feeds. A handy way to keep up with any number of excellent [|edublogs] To learn more, see the **RSS in Plain English** video at the bottom of this page.

[|Scholar] - Search scholarly literature rather than the general web.

Timeline Search - To find a timeline for any subject, add the words "**view:timeline**" after the subject of the search, e.g. **george washington view:timeline**

Google Docs in Plain English
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