2 Easy "Make a Copy" Solutions for Google Drive Templates

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In looking for a solution for teachers who need to have students grab a document and make a copy in Google drive from an iPad (which is not possible in the mobile version or the Drive app), I stumbled upon two great solutions for "passing out" templates to students. Both solutions require that there be a document template that you wish to "pass out" to students already created. 

The first solution I found is a Google Script written by Arun Nagarajan. Using this script, a teacher can now give students a link or QR code that they navigate to and click "Open Document" which makes a copy of the original document directly into the students' Google Drive account. 
To use this, follow the simple steps below. If you are using a Google account within the Cdaschools domain, you won't have to do anything special. If you are outside our domain, you'll want to set up your own version of the Google Script following these directionsgiven by the author. 

1.    Create the document that you wish to share with students in Google Drive and make sure that it is available to Anyone with the link in the sharing settings. 
2.    Next, get the unique file ID code for that document (found within the link to that file between the "d/" and the "/edit"). 
3.    Use this template by Tammy Worcester to generate a QR code for students to scan. This template is very handy because it will generate a QR code that is accessible to everyone through our district filter. I also like using Google's URL shortener goo.gl to generate QR codes, but it is filtered out for students on our network, so it may not be very helpful for this application.
4.    Have your students scan the QR code, click the "Open Document" link, and a copy of the document template will be created in their Drive. 
5.    You will want to have your students rename the document using your class naming conventions and share it with you when they are ready to turn it in.

Try this QR code as a sample of what this script will do.

 QR code for copy docs script                                   

The second, and my favorite, solution I found was a Google Spreadsheet script called Doctopus, written by Andrew Stillman of Youpd. This script, which is based off a class roster, will create shared documents from templates in your Google Drive in your students' drives automatically. This makes sharing a template quick and easy. It requires a bit of set up to get going, but will save a huge amount of hassle with students when it comes time to share work because it is already done for them. I was planning to create a screencast demonstrating the process, but I found there are quite a few created already, so here is one from Jay Atwood via YouTube. 

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