Editor’s Note: I’m pleased to introduce Nick Whitney’s first post and screencast on the Help Desk blog. In his first screencast, Nick demonstrates three different Add-Ons for Google Docs. I’m super proud of the time and effort Nick put into this assignment. The final result clearly demonstrates his commitment to producing a high quality and easy to follow tutorial. Nick works in the Help Desk period 6 and is available to assist students, teachers, administration, and staff with any technology issues they may be experiencing.

Authored by: Nick Whitney, BHS Class of 2017- 1st Year Member of the Help Desk 

Below is my first screencast on Google Add-Ons. Add-ons are free, easy to use tools offered in Google Drive which extend the capabilities of Docs and Sheet. In the screencast, I demonstrate three different Add-Ons that I feel are very beneficial including Translate, Thesaurus, and Hello Sign. My favorite thing about Add-Ons is that users do not need extra software installed, nor do they have to switch between multiple windows or tabs because every Add-On appears directly on the Google Document.

Translate

This was my favorite Add-On because I found it simple and easy to use. With this product a user is able to translate a word, sentence, paragraph, or an entire essay into a variety of different languages in seconds. Translate works with five different languages including English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. This Add-On also allows you to set the languages you use the most as your default translations which will save you even more time! Translate is an especially helpful Add-On for people just starting to learn a new language.

Thesaurus

This was another useful Add-On that allows the user to find synonyms as well as antonyms for any word. As with Translate this Add-On was simple and easy to use. I found this Add-On very useful when writing papers for different classes and needed to use more advanced vocabulary.

Hello Sign

Hello Sign is an Add-On that will allow a user to draw an electronic signature and then drag and drop the signature into the document. The add-on supports individual or group signatures. A limited number of free signatures is offered before a user is prompted to upgrade, but it’s still a great add-on for quickly signing documents

Check Out My Screencast Shown Below!