Google Workspace Apps

What are the Google Workspace Apps?

Google Workspace (formerly the G Suite) is a selection of apps that aid in productivity and general digital work, including Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, and more. These apps are available to the entire Boston University community as part of each Google account, and all connect within Google Drive. Documents created in any of the Google Workspace Apps save automatically online and can be saved offline as well.

Who Can Use It?

Anyone with a BU Kerberos account can enable and claim their BU Google account to access Google Workspace Apps, or Google Apps for short. To do so, follow the instructions on TechWeb (student accounts are activated by default). Once you have a BU Google account, access Google Drive and the Workspace Apps from your web browser (Chrome is preferred). There is also a free app for mobile and tablet devices available in the App Store on iOS devices or the Google Play store on Android devices.

Explore Google Workspace Apps

Connecting Google Workspace Apps to the Classroom

Google Workspace Apps are great for creating digital materials, whether that's written, visual, or interactive. All Google Apps offer the ability to collaborate: documents can be shared with other users to invite them to view and/or edit your document.

Docs: Text documents are used in every discipline, so being able to create them from anywhere improves the accessibility you have to your work. Classroom materials can be printed easily from the Docs page, from attendance sheets to homework assignments to instruction manuals.

Slides: Presenting course content can be done from any device with Slides, allowing for images and text to combine with shapes and colors to get topics explained and demonstrated effectively. Slides are also easily exportable to PDF documents that can be sent out for later viewing.

Sheets: Spreadsheets are helpful for assignment and exam grading, as well as visualizing data to show to a classroom. Being able to quickly get an average and standard deviation for student grades and compile semester grades into a single page keeps everything organized.

Forms: Polling students or creating small quizzes can help with classroom engagement, especially to gain insights on learning patterns and even attendance. Forms can be made quickly as well as duplicated easily, with results that can be exported for grading.

Features

Have up to 100 users collaborating on a single file.
Keep up to date with live changes saved automatically when anyone edits a document.
Choose from a variety of sharing options to make sure your file is only shared with those you want to share with.

Advantages

Google Workspace Apps offer the ability to create and edit documents right in your browser—no dedicated software required. Multiple people can work at the same time, and every change is saved automatically.

Docs: Craft text documents that can start from templates or a blank page, with access to hundreds of fonts and customization options. You can also import your external documents to make them instantly editable, including Microsoft Word and PDF files.

Slides: Start from scratch or use an existing presentation template, then build out your slides quickly and easily. You can enhance your presentations with videos, images, drawings and smooth transitions.

Sheets: Insert data into a new spreadsheet and get immediate control over it, including the ability to use mathematical formulas for anything from simple summation to complex statistical analysis. Create graphs and plots directly in the spreadsheet that can be copy-pasted right into other Google Workspace Apps. It's also possible to import Excel spreadsheets and export Google Sheets as Excel compatible files.

Forms: Create custom forms for surveys and questionnaires at no extra cost. Select from multiple question types, drag-and-drop to reorder questions and customize values as easily as pasting a list. View form results and entries in real time, and gather everything in a spreadsheet to analyze data right in Google Sheets.

Technology Support for Google Workspace Apps

EdTech offers consultations on using Google Apps. For more information or to schedule a one-on-one consultation, email the EdTech team via AskEdTech@bu.edu.