Collaboration Services News and Updates

The Collaboration Services team is introducing a new initiative designed to enhance email security at VCU: DMARC. DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance. It’s a powerful tool that helps combat phishing scams and safeguard your inbox. Why DMARC? Phishing emails are a major threat, often disguised as legitimate messages from trusted senders. […]

This month we bring several AI features from Gemini and are introducing the new Meet LTI within VCU’s Canvas.  A special note about this month’s post: When referring to “Canvas,” there are two different products with this name: “Canvas,” the learning management system officially used at VCU, and then “Canvas,” used in the context of […]

Table of contents Google AI Introducing updates to sources for NotebookLM Use NotebookLM to generate Audio Overviews more than 50 languages Google Docs Google Docs code blocks now available in additional programming languages Google Sheets Easily add multiple people chips in a Google Sheets cell Google Slides New sidebar with design elements in Google Slides […]

This month's Google updates enhance collaboration in Gemini via Canvas, offer new research tools like Audio Overviews, improve Chat organization with custom sections and Boards, and add additional advanced table formatting in Sheets. Additionally, Meet now features scrollable captions and broader language support for recording transcriptions.

Table of contents Google Calendar & Tasks Know who an event is shared with when using shared Google Calendars Google Chat Create and vote on polls directly in Google Chat Create names for group direct messages in Google Chat Google Docs Improving the cover images experience in Google Docs Google Drive & Docs Editors Updating […]

Restricting access to a sub-folder or file in Google Drive, a popular feature request, is rolling out now. Soon, in My Drive and Shared Drives, you’ll be able to restrict access to a folder or file to specific people. This will be possible in two ways: 1. Update item only: Go to your My Drive > […]

This month’s Google features post brings improvements to mentions in Google Chat, granular responder link sharing in Google Forms, and instant video playback for newly uploaded videos to Google Drive.

Gemini is designed to understand and generate human language in a comprehensive and nuanced way. This allows it to engage in conversations, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. We’re glad to announce that Gemini is now available to all VCU Faculty, Staff, and Students at https://gemini.google.com.

January's Google Workspace updates enhance user experience and functionality across several apps. Google Calendar gets a refresh with Material Design 3 and a new dark mode. Google Chat introduces density options, split pane replies, and the ability to send multiple media files in a single message. Google Docs adds 40 new templates, three building blocks (task trackers, contact lists, decision logs), and a building blocks sidebar. Google Drive for Android streamlines file organization. Google Sheets improves table references.

2025 is just around the corner. 2024 has brought a great number of features and improvements, and we’re anticipating some even greater and deeper improvements in 2025. We hope everyone has a great holiday season!  Table of contents Google Calendar & Tasks View Tasks lists on the Google Calendar Android app Google Chat Reducing noise […]

Table of contents Important Notices Google Vids – Google’s new AI-powered video creation app for work to help tell stories across VCU Last Call: Jamboard is winding down Google Sites is no longer available Google Calendar New design and accessibility improvements for embedded Google Calendars Google Chat Transcriptions now available for voice messages in Google […]