The current and valid version of this document is shared in google docs. Please reference that document for the most recent changes.

Google Apps

Google Apps should be the first choice for any of your productivity software needs. It works as a word processor, allows the creation of spreadsheets and slideshow presentations. It will allow you to create and access your files from any internet connected computer, and allows the easy sharing and collaboration with other people, including students. Georgia Southern has adopted Google Apps as their productivity software, and has graciously provided their training materials to us. We have two links to help with using Google Apps that can be found under the Teacher Portal on our website. The GSU Learning Center and Google's Professional Learning websites both contain tons of information that will help you pickup on the finer points of Google Apps very quickly. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to give our students a head start using the application platform at GSU, should they choose to attend.

Teachers are greatly encouraged to use Google Apps for all of their work.

Students should ONLY use Google Apps for their work.

Google Apps can be accessed at: http://docs.jchs.com

** Caveat: To maximize the capabilities of Google Apps, it is recommended that you install and use the Chrome web browser when using the application platform. Many bugs disappear when using Chrome.

Microsoft Office

Office is part of our school licensing agreement with Microsoft. It is recommended that teachers use MS Office only when required. It will not allow you to share documents, or access any documents stored on your local computer when you are away. If you copy a document to an external data storage point (such as usb drive ) to work on at another location, it will require you to have MS Office installed on that computer as well. Not all computers will have office available, in particular computers used predominately by students.

Documents that you create in MS Office and intend to share will need to either a) be uploaded to google docs (recommended) b) saved as pdf format.

Open Office

OpenOffice should NEVER be used for creating new documents by anyone. It has been provided strictly so that staff and students can convert any files from the proprietary OpenOffice formats, to the MS Office Formats. For example, if you created a document in OpenOffice Writer, and mistakenly saved it with an .odt extension, then it is only usable by OpenOffice. This is bad. You can resolve this type of situation one of two ways:

1. (recommended) Open the .odt file in OpenOffice, and then use the File -> Save As function, and select "Word 2003/XP Document" option. This will convert the file into a format that MS Office can open. You can then upload it to Google Docs to edit or use MS Office.
2. You can upload the file into Google Apps, and select the option (when prompted) to convert the file into Google Docs format.

**NOTE: OpenOffice will not be available next year. This gives you the rest of this school year (2011-2012) to convert / move any files you have saved in the propriety OpenOffice format.

Misc.

For basic typing needs on documents that don't need to be saved or shared, you can always use Word Pad. It is found under Start -> Programs -> Accessories and comes installed on all MS Windows computers. It is recommended, that for storage, you copy paste your Word Pad document into a google doc for retention and sharing needs.

Documents should not be shared via email. The Google Docs apps will do all of the appropriate sharing for you, and reduces the chances of receiving / sending a virus, or other malicious code. It also makes it FAR easier for people to track your documents, and you can ensure that they have access to them.