Columns in Google Docs

Google Docs Update! Outline Tool in Docs!

Beginning today, you'll notice a new feature within Google Docs that will surely help you and your students stay organized and make navigating Google Docs must easier. Google Docs now boasts an outline tool that will intelligently infer the divisions within your work. Or even better, if you use headings, the outline tool will do the work for you exactly as you applied headings styles throughout your document.

Starting today, you will notice that within longer Google Docs an outline pane will be displayed on the left. The example shown here is from our WUSD Illuminate Online Testing Manual. You can easily remove the Outline Pane by clicking the X. But the true benefits of this outline tool is the ability to quickly navigate a longer document. Clicking on any of the headings in the Outline Pane will immediately take you to that section of the document. Imagine the possibilities within the classroom! You could create a single document for an assignment with each student's name as a header. Students could complete the assignment under their heading. Both you and their peers could then easily navigate the document to provide peer-to-peer feedback. Or, students could practice their technical writing by creating help documents that could be used by your students during the 16-17 school year.

For both of these examples, I recommend manually applying the Headings under the Style Menu on the toolbar. This will ensure consistent formatting within the outline pane. Since the outline tool will also look for natural breaks within your document, the outline in the left pane may include text that you do not want included in your outline. That's easy to edit and change. Hovering over any item in the outline, you'll notice an x and the option to Remove from Outline.

And if you tire of the Outline Tool and have removed it, you can always get it back under the Tools Menu > Document Outline.

I hope you enjoy the added functionality provided by the Outline Tool. I look forward to seeing how you and your students utilize this feature in the future.

NEW! Reading Rainbow Book Report Template

Google Docs recently added some new templates in their template gallery. The Book Report Template created by Reading Rainbow is just one that is worth taking a closer look at. It provides a basic book report structure including prompts to get students thinking about setting, characters, and the plot. The template includes prompts for students to include images that relate to the book and their descriptions. Your students could use the template "as-is" or you could use the template as a starting point to create your own book report template that meets the needs of your students and class. 

If you haven't visited the template gallery before, it is easily accessible via the landing page for docs. You can reach the landing page through the apps launcher and clicking on the docs icon.

Voice Commands in Google Docs

The Voice Typing Tool received a major upgrade this week. It now allows the use of Voice Commands! With just your voice, you can now navigate your document by saying "Go to the end of the line" or "Go to previous paragraph."  Voice commands also supports formatting by saying things like "Increase font size" or "Create a bulleted list." You can even add and edit tables using just your voice.  For a full list of supported voice commands, see this document from Google Support. 

To access voice typing and commands, select the tools menu and choose voice typing.

Voice Typing functions as a toggle switch that turns red when recording.

You can reference onscreen help by clicking the question mark and have all the Voice commands at your fingertips.

New Templates in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides! Oh, My!!

This is an exciting week of new features available in Google. If you visit your home page of Docs, Sheets, or Slides you will notice new templates readily accessible at the top of the page. You can get to the each apps homepage by clicking on the waffle and then clicking on your desired apps icon (Docs, Sheets, or Slides).

Try out some of these preexisting templates to make your workflow more efficient and productive. Students can use them as a starting point as they create different projects.  Within Docs, you can find report, letter, and resume templates and much more! Within Sheets, there are planners, calendars, and scheduling templates. In Slides, you can find templates for student certificates, book reports, and much, much more!

Voice Typing in Google Docs

NEW Voice Typing Tool in Google Docs is being released to our domain this week! When using Google Docs, users will be able to navigate to the Tools menu, select Voice typing and then see a microphone icon on their screen. This icon functions as a toggle switch. When gray, recording is paused. When red, recording is in progress. This tool will record your words as well as substitute punctuation marks that are said. "Isn't this a neat feature question mark" will be recorded as "Isn't this a neat feature?" Do you want to skip a line?  Just say "New Line."

Like any voice recognition tool, it isn't always 100% accurate. But it can provide a powerful tool for students to get their initial thoughts down on paper and then continue editing and revising within the writing process. How might you use this new tool in your classroom?

Please Note: The release of this feature begins September 21. It may take a few days until it appears in your tool bar. For best results, the use of a microphone is recommended.