Google Docs Add-Ons - A New Feature

If you open a Google Doc or Spreadsheet you will find a new option in the menu bar named Add-Ons. An Add-On is a way to add functionality to Docs and Sheets through integration with 3rd party apps. It's similar to the Google Chrome Apps store. 

There are many useful tools to Add-On to Google Docs to improve the efficiency of working in Google Docs. You'll find Add-Ons to help you get your own work done, and also for use in the classroom.




To grab an Add-On, select the Get add-ons... option from the Google Docs menu bar on any Document or Sheet. You will be taken to the Add-ons store where you will find many useful Add-Ons to choose from. 

Many of the Add-Ons are well suited for the type of work teachers and students do, such as Hello Sign for utilizing electronic signatures, and Table of Contents. With so many Add-Ons to install and explore I decided to narrow the results and take a closer look a Add-Ons labeled for education. At the time of this writing, there are three. 

EasyBib

The EasyBib Bibliography Creator provides Google Docs users with direct access to citation formatting. Users can create citations, format them, and insert them directly into a Google Document. this one click access is an extremely useful way to streamline the process of teaching students about acknowledging the relevance of the works of others. Watch this video to learn more.

Text Help Study Skills Highlighting Tools

Highlighting just got more efficient with the use of the Text Help Highlighting Tools. This Add-On provides the functionality of collecting and organizing highlighted text that is displayed in separate document for use. This trick to using this tool could be the need to think about and define the organizational structure of a piece of writing prior note-taking so the colors can be used effectively. One way to teach students to think about organizing notes as they highlight information is to  help them define the organizational structure of a piece of writing through a well-designed rubric.  

Kaizena Shortcut

The third option labeled for education as a Google Docs Add-On is a shortcut to Kaizena. When users choose this feature their document leaves Google Docs and opens in Kaizena for even more options. Since this Add-On requires more than one click to access, I haven't yet fully explored it, but you can learn more about Kaizena by watching their tutorial. 

I'm looking forward to learning more about Add-Ons and watching them develop.