Microsoft Office vs. Google Drive

During my entire thirteen years in the public school system, I never used Google Drive, so this was a new experience for me. In both Google Docs and Google Slides, there is a limited toolbar which I think is hard to navigate.  There are fewer tabs which I thought would make it easier, but I could rarely find what I was looking for on the first try. It's also a very small, thin toolbar which added to the difficulty of it.  Microsoft Word has a large toolbar with many tabs and subdivisions, and I also prefer the visuals included in Word's toolbar because it is easier, in my opinion, to find what I need.  Another difference is Microsoft Word has the ability to adjust the size of images by typing the dimension I want into a box, and Google Docs doesn't have that feature. Instead, I had to measure it on the ruler at the bottom of the toolbar. The one thing I favor in Google Docs is the choice of font types; some of them are very creative and I think they would make documents more interesting for younger students.  Overall, I prefer Microsoft Word, but I think with more use I could get used to Google Docs.

I recently downloaded Microsoft 2016, so I noticed several changes in PowerPoint. There are more options of transformations and animations, and they are better than the simple ones in Google Slides.  One of the biggest complaints I have about Google Slides is the inability to choose patterns as backgrounds like in PowerPoint. With Google Slides, I can only change the color, but, like I said, I am unfamiliar with Google Drive, so it might be an error or mistake on my part. I cannot figure out how to put sound in Google Slides, but PowerPoint makes it pretty easy. I have found that animated .gifs work much better in Google Slides than in PowerPoint which was a bonus. Once again, I prefer Microsoft PowerPoint over Google Slides. Although, I do like that multiple people can edit a project on Google Drive when needed.

In a classroom, I would teach students how to use Microsoft Office and Google Drive.  I like that Google Drive can be accessed from any device with Internet and it is designed for individual work and collaboration.  Also, there is no risk of losing my work because Google automatically saves all changes as they happen.  I think Microsoft programs are easier to learn and use, but I may be biased because of my own experience.  I think it is important to show students their options and let them choose the best fit for them.