Presentation for the 2018 Cedar Falls Christian Writers Workshop, Cedar Falls, Iowa I have been using Google Apps for over a decade. During this presentation, I will show my audience ten Google Apps that I use, and recommend to them. I have a lot of screen shots but plan to go online.

1. Going Google! Ten Google Apps for
Productivity & Sanity
CWW 2018 -- Cherie Dargan,
cheriedargan@gmail.com

2. Overview
1. What IS Google Apps? Where do you find them?
2. Tips for using Gmail and the calendar more effectively to track deadlines
3. Secret Weapons: Google Docs and Google Drive. Set up folders in Google Drive to
organize information, keep project documents backed up online, and give you
access to them from any place with WiFi (no flash drive required)
4. Create Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations with Google Docs
5. Ways to use Google Photos (hint: you might not know you have this)
6. Other Apps you may not have seen or used before to keep track of information.

3. What’s Google Apps?
In Gmail, look up at the upper right
hand corner--You will see a little set
of dots, arranged in a table.
Google Apps are the applications
(programs or Apps) in the Google
family. Click on MORE at the bottom
of the screen for more Icons. Each
Icon represents an Application. So,
about 2 dozen apps!

4. Why should you use Google Apps?
● Maybe the better question is -- why NOT? It is free! It gives you
space to create, store, present, and share materials.
● You can collaborate with others on projects and comment on their
documents with Google Docs
● Create a blog or website for FREE. Connect with others on Google+
● You can go anywhere on the planet with WiFi and access your files,
show a presentation, bring up your blog, update your Google Sites
website, show your Photos, make a note, and not have to drag
around a flashdrive.

5. Biggest problems for some of us?
True Confessions, anyone?
● Getting organized--when is that appointment?
● Finding time to work on writing (laundry, dishes, meetings, errands)
● Staying off Facebook (and those adorable cat videos, pictures of cute
grandchildren, recipes, ads for gadgets, etc.)
● Finding the right file -- where did I save that book chapter?
● Filling in the gaps with details from research (what kinds of tractors
did they use in the 1940s in rural Iowa?) Where did I put that
research?

6. True story of a Disaster Averted (Gasp)
I was so proud of my shiny new Rose
Gold laptop! I had my Blogging
Workshop materials on both Google
Drive, a flash drive, and the desk top,
for easy access.
We went into the meeting room a few
days before to try out the equipment,
and everything worked well!

7. ….Google Drive to the rescue!
Then, the day of the meeting, we didn’t know that
someone had already hooked up the HDMI cable
to something else--which is why we couldn’t find it
to plug in my laptop. My librarian friend kept
looking, but it was time to start.
Panic? No. I used the built-in computer, logged
onto my Google account, & used the copy on
Google Drive. Problem solved!

8. First, you need a Google/Gmail account!
Notice that I have
SEVEN Google
Accounts
to manage!
But it’s okay: it’s like
having keys to more
than one house.

9. Need help? Visit GCFLearnfree.org

10. How to set up a Gmail account--step by
step directions

11. What’s Google Apps? A Reminder…..
In Gmail, look up at the upper right
hand corner--You will see a little set
of dots, arranged in a table.
Google Apps are the applications
(programs or Apps) in the Google
family. Click on MORE at the bottom
of the screen for more Icons. Each
Icon represents an Application. So,
there are about 2 dozen apps!

12. So which Apps do I use?
Gmail
Google Calendar
Google Drive/Docs (Drive:
storage. Docs: Create Docs,
Spreadsheets & Presentations--
plus Forms)
Google Groups
Blogger
Google Sites (I have FOUR websites,
all done with Google Sites)
Google+ -- Social Networking
Google Maps
Photos

13. Gmail--#1
● Easy to Search for specific
messages, with search bar at the
top. Search by person’s name,
keyword.
● Can use stars to flag important
messages or color code
● Small embedded Google
Calendar reminds me of
upcoming events
Lots of built-in tools: Important shows
you the most urgent email to look at,
which helps me focus
Categories also help: Primary, Social,
Promotions and Updates. Each
category opens up a set of messages.

14. Categories of Messages: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, Forums

15. Categories--Gmail sorts for You
● Primary -- personal mail
● Social -- from Social Media (Facebook, Linkedin, Goodreads,
Google+ groups, etc.)
● Promotional --sales, political, subscriptions, etc.
● Updates--breaking news, information on online purchases,
etc.
● Forum -- messages from any Google Groups

16. Other categories
● Spam -- never have time to look at it? Just go in and
select all and trash from time to time.
● Sent -- your sent messages--handy, if
If You need to recall what you said!
● Trash --yep. Take out the trash.

17. Google Calendar--#2
● Get organized!
● Spend a few minutes each week, entering your upcoming
events.
● You will get a better idea of your free time vs. work time.
● Flexible: you can view it for the day, four days, a week, a
month, or even a year.

18. Google Calendar, cont.
● SCHEDULE time to write/work.
● Add DUE DATES for projects.
● I have multiple calendars--color coded!
● Remember my seven Google accounts? (Each calendar goes
with a different organization--the Ruth Suckow website, the
Cedar Falls Authors Festival website, the League of Women
Voters, etc.)

19. Month View

20. Weekly view

21. How to Create an Event on a calendar

22. Google Calendar, cont.
● You can SHARE calendars with family members or friends.
● With busy families, this is a wonderful feature!
● Mobile friendly: you can check it on your smartphone or
tablet.
● You can go back and edit entries to add details.

23. Google Drive--#3
Think of it as a virtual flash drive--a really BIG flash drive!
● Create folders for your projects and keep copies there, as back up.
● Add folders for important family documents (I have folders for old
family history documents, Addresses & Phone numbers, past writing
projects, Condo Plans, Health, Retirement, Trips, etc.).
● Can use the search bar at the top of Drive to find a document.

24. My set of Folders in my main Google Drive, with recent Docs on top

25. Search function helps you to locate documents quickly

26. Google Drive, cont.
● As mentioned, create Folders to organize your files
● Then, open folders and upload documents that belong in each
one
● Once uploaded, you can also change your mind and move files
● You can also upload a whole folder of materials at once

27. Google Docs--#4
● This is the CREATE SIDE and it is worth noting a few things:
● You can download Google Docs to Word (or upload Word
documents and edit them with Google Docs)
● You can download Google Spreadsheets to Excel (or upload Excel
files and edit them with Google Sheets)
● You can download Google Slides to Powerpoint (or upload
Powerpoint presentations and edit them with Google Slides)

28. Secret weapon #1--You can work ANYWHERE, Create
Documents, Presentations & Spreadsheets
With Drive, you can work on projects online without saying, “I don’t
have my flash drive!” or “This computer doesn’t have the software I
need!”
Google docs SAVES automatically and you can do spell check, insert
footnotes, etc.
I now PREFER to show presentations with Google Slides.

29. Work
Anywhere!
Classroom,
office, hotel,
& home
office

30. Secret Weapon #2: Google Forms
Google Forms is a magic tool, because it lets you create--
● A survey
● A quiz
● A worksheet
● A contact form
● A membership form

31. Google Forms - Survey
● Gather information with a survey--you send out the link, or
even embed the survey in your email. Link: they navigate to it
and embedded, it goes straight to them.
● You can see all of the responses together, or one at a time
● The Form dumps responses to a spreadsheet (Excel)
● You can use it to create membership forms, “Contact Us”
forms, etc.

32. Google Forms - Survey, cont.
Send the survey IN an email, so users
don’t even have to navigate to the
website
Send the survey LINK -- they will go to
the survey website and complete it
Embed the code for the survey and post
it on another website

33. Example

36. Collaborating with Google Docs
Why would you want to collaborate? Many reasons--
● Doing a presentation together?
● Writing an article together?
● Need feedback on an article?
● I have had numerous requests from former students, a
nephew, and friends to look at a document, give feedback &
return.

37. Shared
with
me

38. Collaborating with Google Docs, cont.
● Here’s how it works--
● They share a document with you: you get an email message.
● You go to your Google Docs; there is a place for Shared with
me. Click on it and see a list of documents shared with you.
● You open & insert comments, questions.
● Share it back to them, they open it & read comments, make
changes, suggestions.

41. My experience with Google Docs &
feedback
● Very useful for giving feedback to writers on drafts.
● I used it to give feedback on early drafts before grading.
● If multiple people add comments, they will be color coded.
● Great tool to work with others across some distance.
● I have used it with several big writing projects and found it very
useful.

42. Google Keep--# 5

43. Keep is sometimes compared to Evernote
They are both organizational tools--places to add short notes, to do
lists, etc.
You may be putting notes on your phone: what happens if you
don’t have your phone handy? Keep is a web-based resource.
Have app for IOS, Android, Web, so go to your APP store.

44. A quick look at my Keep

45. Google + -- #6
Google + is Google’s Social networking Tool
“Calmer” than Facebook (not as controversial)
More like LinkedIn -- focus on topics, careers, and professional
Has really taken off in past two or three years

47. Social Networking Tool

49. Blogger -- #7, A Tool to Create a Blog

50. Blogger + Blogspot
Blogger has been around since the early 2000s: it is the platform that lets you
create a blog, and write a blog post. Blogspot is a company that hosted
websites. Google bought both companies.
What does it cost to create a blog? Nothing. What does it cost to maintain a
blog? Nothing.
ONLY if you want a unique URL (like my www.geekygrandma.org)

51. A new Post

52. List of Posts

54. Blogging Basics on Blogger: Another View, with Sidebar

55. Blogger Posts get Shared Automatically on Google Plus

56. Google Sites -- #8

57. My four websites--all on Google Sites
● www.ruthsuckow.org -- this is the oldest site. Google for Non
Profit account got us more web space.
● www.geekygrandma.org -- my website/blog and a lot of fun.
● www.cfauthorsfestival.org -- the website for the Cedar Falls
Authors Festival.
● www.lwvbhb.org -- the website for the local League of Women
Voters.

58. Why use Google Sites?
Free! No monthly fee to host a website.
My only cost -- $12 a year for a custom domain (www.lwvbhb.org)
Easy to create a website, maintain it. Lots of cool features and
ways to customize it
Great for personal or author websites, clubs, and small nonprofits
without professional IT Dept.

63. Google Groups -- #9
What is it? Google Groups is a way to send an email to a group of
people without having to remember every name and email
address.
So, it protects people’s privacy in some respects. It creates a way to
send email that can be easily tracked by users, if they are looking
for the January minutes or a budget report, for example.

67. Google Groups -- my examples
League of Women Voters of Black Hawk and Bremer Counties
lwvbhb-members@googlegroups.com
lwvbhb-board@googlegroups.com
Supper club
cf-supperclub@googlegroups.com

68. Members of a Google Group

69. Google Photos--#10
Years ago, when I had a Galaxy phone, I remember stumbling across photos
on what was then called Picasa Web Albums -- some photos that I never
thought would be online. (People had given my family checks in sympathy
cards when my father passed away). Once I calmed down, I realized that they
were private, and I could delete them.
So, in the early days, I downloaded photos onto my computer by connecting
my phone with a USB cable while in the Picasa photo app for PCs.

70. Picasa -- Great for Cropping Print Screens

71. Cherie’s Google Photos -- sets of photos, with dates & places

72. Tools--Photos, Albums, Assistant, Sharing, and Photo
Books

73. Think of Google Photos as a cool way to archive
classic old pictures! Some of these go back to the
late 1990s.

74. Can insert image from Google Photos into slide
show

75. Google Photos finds all of the photos on your connected
device (phones or tablets) and automatically uploads them

76. Share groups of photos with your contacts

77. Which of these tools could you use?

78. Summing up,
It starts with a Gmail account!
Explore these ten apps and you will
become more productive (and yes, stay saner!)
I will post the final version of this presentation on my Slideshare
account, https://www.slideshare.net/mrsdargan

79. Questions?
Cherie Post Dargan, Retired Professor of Communications
cheriedargan@gmail.com
(319) 610-1805 (Cherie's cell phone)
Geeky Grandma: Writer, Blogger, Geek & Family Historian --
www.geekygrandma.org
www.bloggingbasicswithcherie.blogspot.com