Use Los Rios Google Apps to Create an Image Gallery and Share via Desire2Learn

This is cross-posted on GregDesires2Blog

The Google Drive application can be used to create an online image gallery with thumbnails that link to higher-quality images.

Use Los Rios Google Apps to View PowerPoint

This is cross-posted on GregDesires2Blog

Though Desire2Learn includes an inline file viewer that displays PowerPoint presentations within the browser, there are still situations where students will need or want to download the presentation file to a local computer. For those who are off campus and do not have access to Microsoft Office, one option is to use Los Rios Gmail and Google Apps. A PowerPoint file can be uploaded to Drive and Docs, and Google will convert it to the Google Presentation format. It can then be viewed within the browser and downloaded as a PDF file for printing.

Personal Gmail vs. Los Rios Gmail: Appearances Differ

Though how Los Rios Gmail works is basically the same as a personal Gmail account, the appearance of the Mail page differs in a few ways:

1. A personal Gmail page has the Google logo in the upper-left corner, and a Los Rios Gmail page has the logos of the Los Rios colleges in the same location.
2. A personal Gmail account includes a profile photo but Los Rios Gmail accounts do not.
3. The links to Google tools at the top of the browser window are not the same, as the Los Rios Google Apps domain does not include access to most of the tools included in a personal Google account.
4. Though Los Rios Google Apps includes the Google Calendar tool, Gmail labs are not allowed (this means the Google Calendar gadget cannot be included on the Gmail page.

The Mail page for a Los Rios Gmail account

The Mail page for a personal Gmail account

Forward Los Rios Gmail

I created a video showing how to set up forwarding for Los Rios Gmail to another email account. This is especially for students who were used to the automatic forwarding that occurred with our previous student email system.

And Other Google Accounts

I did some testing with using a Google Form and some coworkers and discovered that before sharing something that requires Los Rios authentication (like limiting a form to Los Rios people or certain users), the recipients should be warned that they should be logged out of other Google accounts before clicking on a link to a Los Rios Google item that requires authentication.

Some of our users will learn the neat trick that the Google Chrome browser has where you can different users active on the same computer (but in different browser windows).