Overview

Included with your enrolment and accessible via your Google account, is a shared college-wide 100TB Google Drive cloud storage and use of the integrated Google applications.

Google Drive and the available cloud storage can be used to store and save files online which can be simultaneously accessed across multiple other devices, such as a smartphone, tablet or separate computer, and further shared with other collaborators.

The integrated Google Applications - Google Docs, Slides and Sheets - form Google Drive’s Office Suite, similar to Microsoft Office, and are also stored and accessible via Google Drive, where they too can also be simultaneously accessed across multiple devices, while offline and shared with collaborators.

For mobile and/or tablet users, you can also download the Google Drive application, freely available on iOS and Android, whereby you can access any files stored on Google Drive, including the ability to use any of the integrated Google Applications.

Where possible, the TEL Team strongly promotes and recommends the use of Google Drive and integrated applications, as opposed to Microsoft Office and OneDrive.

Accessing Google Drive

Information and guidance on how to access Google Drive and subsequent integrated applications can be found via the following Web Browser and Mobile or Tablet sub-chapters.

Web Browser

Users signed into multiple Google accounts and not using separate Google Chrome Profiles, may need to switch Google accounts before continuing.

Having accessed your OCA email account, first navigate to the Google homepage and select the Google Applications Menu - (grid of nine dots), located in the upper right corner and as demonstrated in the Google Homepage Interface chapter - followed by the ‘Drive’ option.

Selecting the Google Apps Menu, you can also access any of the integrated Google Applications - Google Docs, Slides and Sheets - to create a new or access an existing project.

Mobile or Tablet

Students using a mobile and/or tablet to access Google Drive should first download the Google Drive App, available for free on both iOS or Android.

With the Google Drive App downloaded, you’ll next need to sign in using your OCA email address, where once signed in, you’ll have access to any existing file(s). To access your files using any of the integrated Google Applications, you’ll also need to download the respective Google Docs, Google Slides or Google Sheets application, whereby you’ll then be able to access and edit them as standard.

Students using a mobile and/or tablet can also access Google Drive using a web browser, but may encounter compatibility issues and is therefore not recommended.

Google Drive for Desktop

Use Google Drive for Desktop to automatically synchronise specific files and/or folders available on your desktop with the online cloud storage available on Google Drive. This can be particularly helpful for those;

Preferring to back up their work online;
Access their work via a different device, such as a different desktop, laptop or mobile;
Access Google Drive files offline and without an internet connection;
Prefer to use non Google supported software, such as the Microsoft Office suite.

To begin, download the Google Drive for Desktop software, and follow the Install and set up Google Drive for Desktop instructions. Once installed, the following Google Support pages also provide guidance regarding how to Access your Files and Manage your Files.

Integrated Google Drive Applications

The integrated Google applications are similar to Microsoft Office, and provide word processing - Google Docs - slideshow - Google Slides - and spreadsheet - Google Sheets - functions, available immediately within your web browser, and without the need to download and install any additional software.

All three applications also support offline editing, whereby they can be edited without an internet connection, versioning and collaboration. The use case for each application has been outlined below;

Google Docs: Word Processor, similar to Microsoft Word, and can be used to compose documents. For more information and support regarding Google Docs, please visit the Google Docs Support page.

Google Slides: Presentation software, similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. For more information and support regarding Google Slides, please visit the Google Slides Support page.

Google Sheets: Spreadsheet software, similar to Microsoft Excel. For more information and support regarding Google Sheets, please visit the Google Sheets Support page.

For further information regarding any of the integrated applications, please visit the following Google Support page.