|
Why and How to Use Google Accounts,
Google Documents for Brief Hybrid Workshops*
Almost-BHW about Google Accounts and Docs (FridayLive! March 9,
2007) - includes 5 minute eClip produced by and featuring
Cindy Russell of UTHSC.
TLT Group Tip Sheet about Google Docs
NOTE: Disclaimer*
Using Google Docs in TLT
Group Workshops about BHWs/BHTLMs
In workshops and related resources, the TLT Group helps
people learn how to collaboratively find,
adapt, or create the elements of a Brief Hybrid Workshop and
make them usefully accessible. We urge
participants to acquire and
learn to use their own Google Accounts
and Google Documents in advance, at least to be able to copy
and rename a Google Document and invite a small group of
colleagues to become "collaborators" and
jointly modify a Google document. These skills will be
essential for publishing a "home base" Web page that
contains links to the resources that will be used when
preparing for, running, and following-up a Brief Hybrid
Workshop. [Also see
TLT Group Tip Sheet]
Why Use "Change Owner"
Feature for Google Docs?
Why do we want to be able
to copy a Google Doc and "Change Owner" for it?
Because we want to be able
to give each working team (3-7 people) one copy of our Brief
Hybrid Workshop Template - the
Some Assembly Required Version. This Google Doc Web
page maps out the half-dozen essential categories that must
be included in any BHW or BHTLM. It also offers a limited
number of multiple choice options in several of those
categories. It should be easy then for each team to begin
right away working collaboratively on their copy of this
Google Doc. They need only choose the items they want to
keep for their own first BHW and delete the other options.
Of course, they can also collaboratively edit the document -
inserting their own title, purpose, audience, and other
descriptive info as they reframe and focus this assemblage
of BHW elements.
Check Often:
"New Features" Menu on Your Google Docs Home Page
Once you get a Google
Account, you can sign in to Google Docs at
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin
[You will need the email
address that you used when setting up your Google Account
and the password you set at that time. By entering that
email address and password, your browser should then be
directed to the Google Docs home page where your own Google
Docs - the ones you created and the ones on which you have
been invited to be a collaborator - are listed and available
to you for editing, publishing, etc.
From that location, you
can edit a Google Document, create a new Google Doc, share
one with collaborators, jointly edit and improve the
document, publish it as a Web page, etc.
 Or
you can send your browser to the "New Features" page
directly at:
http://www.google.com/google-d-s/whatsnew.html
Here is a sample Google
Page that you might see just after you log in to the Google
Docs Website. I've added an orange arrow to direct your
attention to the "New Features" Tab.
"Changing Owner" Feature of Google Docs
A. Limitations
What have we learned about
limitations for Changing Owner of a Google Doc?
Not all Google Accounts
are created equal. Neither are all Google Documents created
equal. If you are the initial owner of a Google Doc and you
wish to give a copy of that doc to someone else, you can
easily do so. If that person has any kind of Google Account
at all, then you can easily promote that person to become a
"collaborator" with full editing privileges. However, you
can only use the "Change Owner" function if you are the
current owner of the document and the person to whom you
want to transfer ownership has a certain kind of Google
Account. The potential owner must have an email address
associated with his/her Google Account that serves as the
username AND THAT EMAIL ADDRESS MUST HAVE THE SAME DOMAIN AS
THE CURRENT OWNER OF THE DOCUMENT. For example, the
smoothest transaction happens when the initial owner has a
GMAIL account (i.e., has an email address affiliated with
his/her Google Account in the format NameSurname@gmail.com
AND the person to whom you want to change the Doc ownership
has a Google Account with an email address with the same
domain - e.g., ending in "GMAIL.com)
B. Changing Ownership
of One of Your Own Google Docs
 
Notice that near the right
end of this page [above] there is a "New Features!" option.
If you click on that you will see a list of many new
functions that have been added to Google Docs and are now
available to you. One of these, currently near the bottom
of the list, describes how to "Change Owner" of a Google Doc
as follows:
Here is an excerpt from
that page as of 5/6/2008
"Creating and Saving:
Changing ownership of a doc
"If you'd no longer like to be the owner of
a document or presentation, or if you'd like to delete a
document or presentation but make sure that people you've
shared it with still have access to it, you can give someone
else ownership of the document.
"To change a document's owner from the Docs
list:
-
Check the doc you'd like to change.
-
Click More Actions and
choose Change Owner
-
Enter the email address of the person
you'd like to own the document
-
Click Change Owner "
-
You will now be a collaborator on this
document and the document has a new owner
Please note, you cannot change the owner of a document
to someone outside of your domain.
This capability is very
attractive for one of the features of the way we now
organize AND RUN OUR WORKSHOPS IN WHICH WE TRAIN BEGINNERS
TO DEVELOP AND USE BRIEF HYBRID WORKSHOPS (BHWs and BHTLMs)
*NOTE:
Google offers frequent but unpredictable changes and
improvements to its freely available resources - including
Google Documents and other services available via a free
Google Account. Neither the TLT Group nor any other
organization or individual outside of Google can keep fully
up to date on these changes. So, please don't
expect that the info you get here will address all of the
very latest modifications and features!
Back to top of page |
