Smart Canvas For Google Workspace
It’s no secret that Google Workspace is one of the best collection of productivity and collaboration tools worldwide.
And with everything getting smart these days, Google Workspace just got smarter with the introduction of the Smart Canvas.
The Google Smart Canvas update introduces a whole suite of features for applications like Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets.
This presents a great opportunity for individuals and organizations looking for even more flexibility within this Workspace ecosystem.
Some of these features have already been implemented but others are scheduled to be rolled out later this year.
After researching these exciting new features, I believe they hold great benefits for teams from all forms of institutions whether corporate or educational.
Although some great 3rd-party extensions provide other functionalities to some Workspace apps, the Smart Canvas update presents incredible new interconnected features.
Check out this article, If you’d like to find some great Google Slide extensions or add-ons for teachers.
We’ll be discussing some of these features and how they can be used to further increase productivity and collaboration in schools and among teams.
Smart Chips In Google Docs
No. This isn’t a piece of hardware. Google Smart Chip is essentially a popup snippet that appears after users type the “@” symbol in a Google Doc, Slide, or Sheet file.
This snippet provides a search menu that enables users to easily search and add people, files, meetings, and building blocks.
Most users already know how to use the “@” command in Google Docs. This simply enables users to add people from their contacts into their documents.
Anyone viewing the Google Doc file can then click on the name of the person who was added to the document, to view their contact information which includes their name, address, email, and phone number.
The Smart Canvas update comes with additional functionalities that enable users to add files, meetings, and building blocks using the same “@” command.
Files already saved in your Google Drive can easily be accessed using this command.
This comes with a huge advantage as users no longer need to switch tabs to view these documents but only to simply click on the document name to preview the contents of the file right within their Google Docs.
These can be Google Slides, Forms, Sheets, or any other type of Google Workspace file.
Checklist for Google Docs
Leverage Google Docs’ new “Checklist” feature to easily assign action items. Easily create a to-do list and assign a list item to individual members.
This feature can be used by workplace teams, teachers, and students. Using this feature, teachers can easily assign a task to a specific learner directly on the Document.
This feature is made for both mobile and web versions of the Google Docs application.
Assisted writing for Google Doc
With the new assisted writing feature, users are prompted to change certain words in order to avoid using a gendered term.
Examples including using artificial or synthetic instead of man-made or using chairperson, instead of, chairman or police officer instead of, policeman.
This feature also warns users of offensive terms and the overuse of passive words in your writing.
Emoji Reaction in Google Docs
We all love emojis as they allow us to express ourselves without the need to write out how we’re feeling especially if the other person is unable to see our physical reactions.
With so many forms of reactions available, they’ve become a part of our conversations and serves as a means to communicate faster.
Fortunately for all Google Workspace users, Google’s Smart Canvas update includes the Emoji Reaction feature.
This will enable collaborators to easily react to any update by other users or themselves on the Google Doc file.
Google Meet Inside Docs, Slides, and Sheets
We all love video conferencing, or the right statement should be, we all used to love video conferencing pre-COVID.
It made things easier as we could conveniently communicate with teams all over the world at little to no cost.
One of the biggest features of the Smart Canvas update is the ability to combine both collaboration and extensive communication.
Google Meet, one of the most popular video conferencing applications in the world is now going to be available directly in your Google slide, doc, or sheet.
This means team members, teachers, and students, can see each other while collaborating on their documents.
By leveraging this tool, team members don’t need to open Google meet to present their documents.
Instead, they can easily start their Google Meeting directly inside their document thereby enabling simultaneous collaboration.
This makes it perfect for teachers and students to collaborate on their projects in real-time during a video meeting and even assign tasks using the checklist feature.
Create and edit sheets, docs, and slides from Google chat rooms
This feature enables users to easily create and edit Google docs, sheets, and soon slides directly from Google chatrooms.
With this feature, teams can now jump directly from having a discussion to editing and collaborating on a document inside the chatroom.
Teachers, students, and teams can now conveniently collaborate directly from their chatrooms using by leveraging these features.
The Bottom Line
Google Workspace is used by millions all over the world and its functionalities are undyeable. But the new Smart Canvas update comes with even greater functionalities for all teams.
Teachers and students can leverage these tools to make collaboration even better and easier.
Unlike some 3rd-party integrations or extensions for Google Workspace, this update is directly from Google and aims to advance the already extensive functionalities of their applications.
There’re many ways to use these features in our classrooms and peers. Let’s leverage the full power of Google Workspace to make collaboration easier.
