Getting Started

Activity 1

What is Google Workplace?

Google Workplace is a software platform that runs in the cloud, and on your web browser. It includes a number of "Google Apps" for email / correspondence, calendar, cloud storage, word processing, spreadsheets, and much more.

Staff & students have access to Google Workplace via a school-provided Google account. They sign in with their school email address, and it allows them to collaborate and communicate with peers & colleagues, create classwork and manage the classroom, and perform administrative tasks.

Below is a list of some of the main Google Apps that we will be exploring in this course.

Benefits of Google Workplace

For school environments, Google Workplace is an excellent replacement, or complement, to traditional platforms such as Office (Word/Excel/Powerpoint, Outlook). Some benefits include:

  • Faster, easier, and more reliable access to your work from any device in any location.

  • Overall, the cloud is more secure than running our own servers.

  • No associated costs or maintenance which frees up I.T. staff to focus on bigger things.

  • Your work in Google is constantly saving, and keeping a version history in case you make a mistake.

  • Google has an emphasis on collaboration and sharing, which introduces innovative alternatives for running a lesson.

Task 1. Access your Google Workplace account

Depending on your device and preferences, there are various ways to access your Google Workplace account. Follow the steps for the method most applicable to you. Use the image galleries at the bottom of each method to help you.

Note: If you are using a Chromebook, all you need to do is sign in with your school email address and password at the login screen, and you're good to go!

Method 1. Chrome Sync (Recommended for PC & Mac)

We recommend this method because not only do you sign into Google Workplace, but you also get a consistent web browsing experience including synchronised bookmarks & passwords across your devices, and managed settings and software from the IT department.

Note that the exact steps may vary from device to device.

  1. Open Google Chrome.

  2. Look for the little avatar in the top right corner of the window. Click it, then choose "add" at the bottom of the list.

  3. In the window that appears, give a name such as "School" and click "Add".

  4. Choose "Already a Chrome user? Sign in", then follow the prompts to sign in using your school email address and password.

  5. If prompted to link data or create new profile, choose "link data".

  6. In the next window that appears asking you to turn on sync, choose "yes, I'm in!"

Method 2. Standard web browser sign in

  1. Open your web browser. We recommend using Google Chrome as it works natively with Google's apps, but any browser will work.

  2. Open a Google webpage, such as:

  3. Find the sign in button at the top right corner. If instead you see a round avatar, indicating you are already signed into a personal Google/Gmail account, click it and then click "Add another account".

  4. Sign in using your full school email address, and school password.

Method 3. Using apps (iPhone, iPad, and Android only)

If you are using an iPhone, iPad, or Android device, another way to access your Google Workplace account is by installing the following Google Apps to your device. Note that the Google Workplace course assumes you are using the full web browser (method 1 or 2) for all its resources.

  1. Open your device's app store (eg. App Store, Play Store)

  2. Look for and install the following apps by Google:

    • Google Drive

    • Google Classroom

    • Gmail

    • Google Docs

    • Google Slides

    • Google Sheets

    • Google Chrome

  3. Open one of these apps (eg. Google Drive), and when prompted, sign in using your full school email address and password. This should automatically sign you in to all the other apps.

The Account Window

Once signed in, a round avatar appears at the top right corner of every Google page. This is your account window. It allows you to:

  • Change account settings.

  • Sign into additional Google accounts.

  • Switch between Google accounts that you are signed into.

  • Sign out of all Google accounts.

Task 2. Waffles, Kebabs and Hamburgers

The secret to navigating and exploring Google Workplace is through a number of menu icons, colloquially named after food.

Waffle Menu

Once you are signed into Google, you can navigate between Google Apps using the waffle menu. This is the icon next to your account window with 9 squares - a bit like a waffle.

Clicking on this icon will bring you a menu of available apps to change to. You can also click 'more' to see less common apps.

Open the waffle menu to visit Gmail, which will be the subject of our next task.

Kebab & Hamburger Menu

The Kebab Menu appears all over the place in Google Workplace. Think of it as a "more options" menu. Clicking on it will show you extra options related to what you're looking at.

The Hamburger Menu can be used to open the main menu of a Google Workplace app.

Other ways to access Google Apps

Google Apps are just like websites - so you can bookmark them, Google for them, or type in their URL directly.

Gmail, for example, can be accessed simply by typing in http://gmail.com into your address bar.

Most other Google Apps can be accessed by this web address format: http://appname.google.com.

Task 3. Gmail

Gmail is a web-based email program. Given that we spend so much of our computer-time checking emails, exploring and familiarising yourself with Gmail is a worthwhile investment.

You should already have Gmail open from the previous task - if not, access it via the 'waffle' menu or by visiting http://gmail.com.

Make sure you are viewing your school email and not the email of another account, such as a personal Gmail account.

Complete the form below as you explore Gmail.