Google Apps Tools - Add-ons

With Durfee expanding its use of Google Apps, I will be providing some tools and tricks to both help ease the transition and get the most out of its use.

In this post, I will discuss add-ons, which are third party applications which enhance using the Google Apps suite by adding functionality. Different add-ons have been developed for the different Google Apps applications. Once you install an add-on, you can manage it and turn it on and off.

To install an add-on:

1. Open a document or spreadsheet 
2. Click the Add-ons menu and then Get add-ons.
3. You can browse the entire add-ons store, or a particular category using the dropdown menu in the top-left corner. Hover over an add-on to see a short description or to quickly install it. To see a full description with ratings and user reviews, click the add-on.
4. Click Add-ons Install Button to install the add-on.
5. For most add-ons, a message will appear requesting access to specific data that the add-on needs to work. Read this message carefully and click Accept.
6. Once the add-on is installed, it’ll be listed in the “Add-ons” menu within all of your files of that file type. You can turn on the add-on in any of these files and other people working on the file will be able to see and use the add-on as well.

Here are a few excellent add-ons you may want to try:

EasyBib - Docs
Allows students to easily create a bibliography for your research paper. Automatically cite books, journal articles, and websites just by entering in the titles or URLs. Format citations in MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, and over 7K other styles. When students finish creating their bibliographies, they click Generate Bibliography to alphabetize citations and add them to the end of the paper.

Flubaroo -  Sheets
A free tool that helps you quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-blank assignments. Flubaroo computes average assignment score, average score per question and flags low-scoring questions. It shows you a grade distribution graph, gives you the option to email each student his/her grade and an answer key. It also lets you send individualized feedback to each student.

Save as Doc - Sheets
Converts any Google Sheets spreadsheet into a Google Document for improved legibility of lengthy cell text entered manually or through a Google Form submission. Basically, it will make Google Forms submissions readable!

Add Reminders - Sheets
Manage your task list in a shared spreadsheet. This spreadsheet can be a simple personal task list or a project-management interface that requires team-wide coordination. Add Reminders lets you receive email reminders before dates in a specific column of your spreadsheet are reached.

Thesaurus - Docs
If students are writing papers, this is a very useful feature. The thesaurus will look up words to show on the right.

Table of Contents - Docs
Google Drive can insert a Table of Contents but it is placed inside the document. This add-on puts it in the sidebar where it is extremely useful.