Google Sheets adds new features

Spreadsheets are an everyday tool for some of us. Google sheets has often been criticized for having less features that MS Excel, but this really is no longer the case. Google has quietly been making changes to sheets to make it more versatile for gSuite users.

You can now rotate the text in a cell in Sheets (Format > Text rotation). This is especially useful when you need to fit long header names into thin columns, or when you simply want to fit more text on a single screen.

Another feature added this week is the ability to format text with accounting number formats. The currency symbols as well as numbers, decimal points and repeated characters can be formatted to line up correctly.

Late last year they added alternate row colors as a feature. Select a range of cells and choose (Format > Alternating Colors). Options for color combinations are loaded in a side pane.

These are just a few of the new great features that have been added to Google sheets. Don't forget to check out a range of cool Add-ons (Add-ons > Get Add-ons) which add features that even Excel does not have. My favorite is Power Tools.

Power tools adds some really handy features such as the ability to change case, split data into first and last names and even the holy grail of spreadsheets ... remove duplicates. Make sure you check out Power Tools.

Comments

Power up Google Classroom with Private Comments

One of the most powerful elements of Google Classroom is the private comments feature, which works with assignments only. Comments become conversations with students, allowing for more back and forth discussion than can happen with verbal feedback. Every student can have a voice and communicate their ideas or struggles with a task. To use private comments, open an assignment in Classroom, and there you will find a space for private comments. Any comments left here will be seen only by you and the individual student. One of the challenges to using private comments is knowing who the comments belong to. Here’s a workaround from Alice Keeler : Students start all comments to you with your last name You start all comments to students with your initials This helps in filtering those comments in Gmail, or searching. It also lets you quickly see who responded last in the roster: You can also use links in private comments to give students more informat...

Magically Make a Copy

By: Kristie Hughes Do you have to constantly tell your students or other people to make a copy of your document so that they can edit their own copy? Well, you can force this to happen just by changing the link of the file. Go up to the top of your file (google doc, slides, etc) and go to the end of the URL. Delete the word "edit" and everything after it. Type the word "copy" in it's place. Then click return. When you give this link to other people, it will automatically prompt them to make a copy of your file. In fact, they won't even be able to see your file, until they click on the Make a Copy button. Now, you don't have to worry about anyone changing your original file, or reminding people with view only rights to make a copy to edit.

I want to Shoot My Screen!

OK so now I have your attention! If we re-arrange the words a bit "I want to take a shot of my screen" aah yes screen shots but what are they good for? Many websites while allowing students to do drill and practice and take quizzes, they lack the ability to save or record scores or results. Have the students take a screenshot of their results and submit via google classroom as an attached image. Screenshots are a way of capturing a picture of your screen, be it your chromebook, a desktop computer or even your cell phone. The secret to unlocking this feature is to know the magic key combinations or button presses for your particular device. Windows - The old standby is Alt + PrnScn which copies the entire screen to the clipboard. You can then paste it into your favorite editor to save as an image file. Windows 7 and above - Included in your list of apps is one called the Snipping Tool . Add a shortcut to your toolbar and when invoked this app lets you take a scree...

Tech Tuesday Tips

Search This Blog