Creating a Digital Document from a Handout with Google Docs
Google Docs is becoming one of the most widely used document creation tools in schools. Whether it is students completing classwork and homework assignments or teachers creating handouts or administrators creating meeting notes. It has become a ubiquitous tool in education and slowly is making its way into industry as it replaces or augments Microsoft Word. As Google adds new features commonly found in document creation giants like Microsoft Word and Adobe PageMaker, its usefulness can’t be denied. As teachers are being forced to convert to online tools due to school closures related to COVID-19, many teachers are finding the need to create handouts and materials that are computer and web based. While many students have Google Docs as part of their school systems, many teachers are turning to Google Slides to make handouts. However this method doesn’t lend itself well to students filling out the handouts effectively and these documents don’t always print well. In this article we will explore how to create digital documents in Google Docs that can be created easily, filled out by students electronically and printed when needed all from a single document.
Watch our Youtube Demonstration of this method
Step 1 – Determine What Information Needs to Be Recorded
In this first step before we begin making any kind of document, we need to decide what types of information will be recorded in the handout. Will the handout be used to record written responses, will pictures need to be placed in the document, will a list need to be created? Depending on the type of information that is recorded by the user, mostly students, will determine how we build our handout. In most cases handouts are used to record written text such as statements, sentences, paragraphs or web addresses. If we will need to have the user put in pictures, we will need a structure that will allow for this.
Step 2 – Beginning to Build the Document
Figure 1 – Header
We will begin by adding in some of the basic parts of the document, such as the title and headers if needed. If this was a classroom handout, we would then want to create somewhere for students to put identification information when the handout is printed. This can be accomplished using a small table that is two columns by three or four, depending on the number of items needed (Name, Class, Hour, etc.). In the first column we will put the information such as Name, Date and Hour in their respective cells. Our next step will be to change all of the borders to 0pt. You will then click in a cell and in the upper-right corner choose the bottom border edge using the drop-down menu and change the bottom border to 1pt. This should give you a table that looks life Figure 1.
Step 3 – Building out the Bulk of the Document
Next, we will use the table structure with borders hidden to create the document structure. In our last step, we built out the structure of the header, we will use the same methodology to create a structure to put our drawing problems into. This is done, by creating the needed tables and columns which for this case is two by eight. In our first two rows we will place the number and directions for the first two specific problems. Next we will jump down to the third row and add in the directions for the second two problems. We can then use the drawing tools available in Google Docs to create the necessary drawing problems for the second two problems.
Now we have a completed handout that can be used by students on any hardware platform and can be printed and completed on paper if necessary. While this method does take more time to setup, the end result is a much more flexible method that can be used in both a digital and traditional classroom setting. Additionally these handouts don’t have to take up space in filing cabinets, they can be stored on a cloud drive or they can be downloaded to local storage for later use.
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