Introduction to Google Docs: Access and Interface – Google Docs (Senior 4 ICT) | Ganzaa

Google Docs

Lessons

Senior 4 · ICT

Google Docs

5 lessons

Lesson 1 of 5

Introduction to Google Docs: Access and Interface

22 min

Four copies of one report

Four S4 students, Keza, Mugisha, Uwase and Gatete, have one week to write a group report on water use in their sector. Keza types the first draft in a word processor and emails it to the others. Mugisha adds a section and sends back report_v2.docx. Uwase corrects the spelling in the first draft, not the second, and sends report_v2_edited.docx. Gatete, travelling home on the bus, starts a fourth copy on his phone. By Friday there are four files, each with some of the work and none with all of it.

The problem is not the students. It is the way the file is shared: every email attachment is a separate copy. An online word processor keeps one copy in one place and lets everyone work on it. Google Docs is the most widely used example, and it is free with a Google account. This unit builds on the word-processing skills you learnt in S1 and S2 and adds what is new: working in the cloud and working together.

Definition

Word processor: an application for creating, editing, formatting and printing text documents. Examples: Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer.

Online (cloud) word processor: a word processor that runs in a web browser and stores documents on the provider's servers rather than on your own disk. You reach your documents from any device that can sign in.

Google Docs: Google's online word processor, opened at docs.google.com. Its documents are stored in Google Drive, Google's online file store, and count against the storage of the Google account that owns them.

Google account: a username (usually a Gmail address) and password that sign you in to Docs, Drive, Gmail and other Google services. A school may give you an account on Google Workspace for Education.

Two ways to share a draft

The diagram compares the two ways of working. With email (A) each attachment becomes a separate file on someone's computer. With a shared Google Doc (B) there is only one file, and everyone who has been given access opens that same file.

Opening Google Docs

Google Docs needs no installation on a computer: it runs inside a web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari. On a phone or tablet you install the free Google Docs app. There are three common ways in.

From the Docs home screen. Go to docs.google.com, sign in, and under Start a new document click Blank, or pick a template.
From Google Drive. Go to drive.google.com and click New → Google Docs. The document is created inside the Drive folder you are viewing, which keeps files organised from the start.
By address. Typing docs.google.com/create in the address bar opens a new blank document at once.

There is no Save button to remember. Every change is saved automatically to Drive within a second or two, and the document stays where you left it. A new document is called Untitled document until you rename it: click the name at the top left and type a title that says what the file is, for example S4B Water use report, Term 1.

The editor at a glance

The screenshot shows a blank document in the Google Docs editor. Google has restyled the screen since this picture was taken (the toolbar is now rounder), but the parts are in the same places.

Part	Where	What it is for
Title box	Top left	The document's name in Drive. Click it to rename.
Menu bar	Under the title	Every command, grouped: File (new, open, make a copy, download, print, version history), Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Extensions (called Add-ons in the 2020 screenshot) and Help.
Toolbar	Under the menu bar	One-click buttons for the commands used most: undo, print, zoom, styles, font, size, bold, colour, link, image, alignment, line spacing, lists, clear formatting.
Mode menu	Right end of the toolbar	Editing, Suggesting or Viewing (lesson 5).
Ruler	Above the page	Shows the margins and lets you drag paragraph indents and tab stops.
Document outline	Left edge	A clickable list of the document's headings (lesson 2).
Share button	Top right	Gives other people access to the document (lesson 5).
Comments	Top right, beside Share	Opens every comment and suggestion in the document.

Kevin Stratvert: Google Docs Tutorial for Beginners. Watch the first part, on creating a document from the Docs home screen and finding the menus and toolbar, and compare the screen with the table above. Note where the Share button and the mode menu sit.

Desktop or online?

Google Docs does not replace a desktop word processor in every situation. The table compares it with an installed application such as Microsoft Word or LibreOffice Writer.

Feature	Desktop word processor	Google Docs
Where the file is kept	On the computer's disk or a flash disk	In Google Drive, on Google's servers
Saving	You press Save (Ctrl + S)	Automatic, after every change
Working with others	Send copies, then merge them by hand	Several people edit one file at the same time
Earlier versions	Only if you saved copies yourself	Kept automatically in the version history
Without internet	Works fully	Only if offline access was switched on beforehand, in Chrome, Edge or the mobile app
Cost	Some are paid (Word), some free (LibreOffice)	Free with a Google account; storage is shared with Gmail and Drive

Offline work. On a computer, offline editing works in the Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser with Google's Docs Offline extension, after you switch on Offline in Drive's Settings while you are still connected (not in a private window). Changes made offline are uploaded when the connection returns. A single file can also be marked File → Make available offline, and on a phone the Docs app offers Available offline for each file.

Getting a copy out. File → Download saves the document in another format: Microsoft Word (.docx), OpenDocument (.odt), PDF (.pdf), Rich Text (.rtf), plain text (.txt), a web page, EPUB or Markdown. File → Make a copy creates a second Google Doc you can change without touching the original.

Worked example 1: how many copies?

Five students each improve a report once, one after another, by email: each downloads the attachment, edits it and emails the new file to the other four. How many separate files end up in their mailboxes, and how many with one shared Google Doc?

Email. The first draft plus five edited versions is 6 versions. Each version is sent to the 4 other students, so the mailboxes receive $6 \times 4 = 24$ attachments, of which only the last 4 are up to date.

Google Doc. One file. The five students open the same document, and the version history keeps every earlier state, so nothing is lost and nothing is duplicated.

Worked example 2: choose the download format

Situation	Format	Reason
A cyber café will print your CV and must not change its layout	PDF (.pdf)	A PDF looks the same on every computer and cannot easily be edited.
A teacher wants to edit your report in Microsoft Word	Word (.docx)	Word opens .docx natively, with headings and tables kept.
The school lab uses LibreOffice Writer	OpenDocument (.odt)	.odt is LibreOffice's own open standard format.
A program needs only the words, with no formatting	Plain text (.txt)	.txt keeps the characters and drops all formatting.

Warning

Sign out on a shared computer. On a computer at school or in a cyber café, your open Google account gives the next user your documents, your email and your Drive. When you finish, click your profile picture at the top right and choose Sign out, and never tick "Stay signed in" on a machine that is not yours.

Offline is not automatic. If you only switch on offline access when the connection has already dropped, it is too late: it has to be set up while you are online.

Tip

Press Ctrl + / for the shortcut list. In any Google Doc, Ctrl + / (⌘ + / on a Mac) shows the common keyboard shortcuts, and Alt + / opens the tool finder, where you type the name of a command, such as "page numbers", instead of searching the menus for it.

✦

Hands-on: your first Google Doc

Sign in at drive.google.com with your Google or school account.
Click New → Folder and name the folder S4 ICT. Open it.
Inside the folder, click New → Google Docs. Rename the document Lesson 1, my first Google Doc.
Type three sentences about what you want to learn in ICT this year. Watch the top of the screen: the cloud icon beside the title shows the changes being saved to Drive.
Find each part of the editor in the table above on your own screen.
Use File → Download → PDF document (.pdf), then open the downloaded PDF to see what you made.
On a shared computer, sign out.

Check: your document is in the S4 ICT folder, it has a clear name, and you have a PDF copy.

Practice

Define online word processor and give one example.
Give three ways to create a new Google Doc.
Why is there no Save button that you need to press in Google Docs?
State the menu that contains Download, Make a copy and Version history.
A student wants to edit a Google Doc on a computer at home, where the internet often fails. What must she do, and when?
Six students edit a report one after another by email; each sends the new file to the other five. How many attachments are sent in total, counting the first draft and six edits?
Your uncle runs a printing shop and asks for your poster "in a file that will not move when I open it". Which download format do you send, and why?
Evaluate this claim: "Google Docs is always better than a desktop word processor."

Show answersHide answers

A word processor that runs in a web browser and stores documents on the provider's servers, so they can be opened from any device after signing in. Example: Google Docs.
Click Blank on the Docs home screen at docs.google.com; New → Google Docs in Google Drive; type docs.google.com/create in the address bar. (A template from the home screen also counts.)
Every change is saved automatically to Google Drive a moment after it is made.
The File menu.
Use Chrome or Edge with the Docs Offline extension and switch on Offline in Drive's settings while she is still connected, before the connection fails.
First draft plus six edits = 7 versions; each is sent to 5 people: $7 \times 5 = 35$ attachments.
PDF, because a PDF keeps the same layout, fonts and page breaks on every computer and is hard to change by accident.
Not always. Google Docs is better for group work, automatic saving and version history, and it is free. A desktop word processor works fully without internet, keeps files on your own disk and, in the paid versions, has more advanced layout tools. The better choice depends on the task and the connection.

Quick check

Four students must write one report together this week, and they are often in different places. Which way of working avoids having several different versions?

Key points

Google Docs is an online word processor: it runs in a browser and stores documents in Google Drive, so one file can be opened from any device and saved automatically.
Create a document from docs.google.com, from New → Google Docs in Drive, or at docs.google.com/create; rename it at once.
The editor has a title box, menu bar, toolbar, ruler, outline, mode menu, Share and Comments.
File → Download gives .docx, .odt, .pdf and other formats; offline work must be switched on while you are connected.

Sources and credits

Google Docs, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Steps and menu names checked against How to use Google Docs, Create, view, or download a file, Work on Google Docs, Sheets, & Slides offline and Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs, Google Docs Editors Help, Google (linked for reference, not copied).
Photo: Kagugu Classroom, One Laptop per Child, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Screenshot: Google Docs blank document February 2020, FormularSumo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Video: Google Docs Tutorial for Beginners, Kevin Stratvert, embedded from YouTube.
The scenario, diagram, tables, worked examples, hands-on task and practice items were written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Four copies of one report

2Two ways to share a draft

3Opening Google Docs

4The editor at a glance

5Desktop or online?

6Hands-on: your first Google Doc