The Best Add-ons for Google Drive

Recently, the Big G released a new feature for Google Drive: Add-ons. Anyone familiar with Google's Chrome Browser already knows a thing or two about add-ons. The simple "what's what" of add-ons is that they let you add apps or extensions to your program so that they can do even more. Google even has a web store for the little buggers, allowing you to install them with a single click. Now, they've come to Drive's Docs and Sheets apps (Google's cloud-based answer to Microsoft's Word and Excel). But what does this mean for you? What add-ons might actually be useful to you?

Calculator

Quick! What's 2+2? You probably got that one pretty fast. But what's 26533+5847? 5594x2495992? 69689/543? You might not have gotten those ones as fast. Anything more than simple math probably requires you to break out the old calculator. The Calculator add-on for Docs lets you do just that. It does everything it needs to do.

Template Gallery

A well-typed resume looks nice. A well-typed resume on a template looks much nicer. Offering templates for such things as Course Schedules, Exercise Logs, and Budget Planners, the Template Gallery add-on for Docs has a pre-made template available for just about any thing you need to type. Struggling with making a table to make a calendar? There's a template for that. Sign-up sheet? Template. Meal Planner? You know what I'm about to say.

Thesaurus

Mayhap you wish to augment your repertoire of words, whether elegant or colloquial  Or maybe you just want to stop using the word "neat" over and over again so you don't sound so repetitive (dandy is a neat word for "neat"). The Thesaurus add-on does everything it needs to do: Synonyms and Antonyms. Nothing superfluous or verbose.

Chromebook vs. iPad

1:1 programs and technology integration is a recent trend sweeping the nation. Schools seek to use technology to augment the learning process. Indeed, many resources exist online that help students of all ages and grades with learning new concepts. I myself take notes over PDFs, as I find it a much more efficient process that the classic pen-and-paper. A question that every school district needs to ask is "What device to use?". Though my school uses iPads, I recently have had the opportunity to use a Samsung Chromebook to test its capabilities vs. the iPad's. Here are the pros and cons of the Chromebook that I have found so far:

Pros:

• Deep integration with Google Services
• Full keyboard
• 2 USB Ports (1 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0)
• 1 HDMI Port
• 1 Standard SD Card Slot
• Ability to expand to an external hard drive or flash drive
• Chromecast Support
• Chrome App Store
• Ability to use extensions
• 11.6 inch screen
• Ability to plug in a full keyboard and a mouse

Cons:

• Little to no ability to annotate .PDF files
• Bulky
• Trackpad is difficult to use for larger hands
• Somewhat flimsy plastic frame

Overall, I find that the iPad is currently the better option for schoolwork. The touchscreen allows for very user-friendly interaction, and it has a much wider selection of applications available. Still, some features such as USB ports and the full keyboard are sorely missed features on the iPad.