As an SSE Riga account owner, you will have access to many academic tools and services that will be useful during the study process.

Below are some of the tools and services that can be used in your everyday academic life - while working on group assignments, preparing for exams in study groups, making presentations for upcoming sessions etc.

Document creation and collaboration

Microsoft Office

All SSE Riga students receive access to a free Microsoft Office licence as a part of their SSE Riga account. This allows you to set up and use Microsoft Office software desktop versions - Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Or you can use online versions of Microsoft Office software as well.

For more information, visit How To - Office 365.

Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides

Your SSE Riga Google account includes services that allow you to create and edit documents online:

• Google Docs - text documents

• Google Sheets - spreadsheets

• Google Slides - presentations

• Google Forms - surveys

These online tools allow you to do all the common tasks you expect from the office suite such as Microsoft Office, while allowing you to collaborate on a document together with your team in real-time.

For guides and more information about Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, visit File storage, collaboration & docs.

Tips for using Google Docs, Sheets and Slides:

• As Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are online tools, all changes made in the documents are saved automatically. So you do not have to worry about losing your work.

• Microsoft Office documents can be opened in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides and documents created with Google Docs, Sheets and Slides can be saved as Microsoft Office files. But keep in mind that transferring between the different formats might cause some formatting differences.

• Google Docs, Slides and Sheets have the possibility to view and revert to previous versions of the document.

Cloud Storage and File Management

Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud storage and file-sharing service. All SSE Riga students have access to Google Drive as a part of their SSE Riga Google account.

Google Drive can be accessed on the web at https://drive.google.com or as an app on your computer or phone.

For guides and more information about Google Drive, visit Google Drive training and help.

Shared Drives

Google Drive includes the Shared Drive feature, which offers a better way of collaborating on long-term projects.

Files stored in a Shared Drive belong to a team instead of an individual member. If a team member leaves, all files will stay in the shared drive and can be accessed by other team members.

For more information about shared drives, visit What are shared drives?

Tips for using cloud storage solutions:

• Make sure that you share the right files with the right people. Do not store any personal information or private files in shared folders.

• Keep apart publicly shared and private files and folders. You can use folder naming, tabs or coloring. This will help you track the purpose and status of your folders.

• In Google Drive, when somebody shares a file with you, you can use the Add shortcut to Drive option in the menu. This will add a shortcut to the document or folder in your drive.

Study schedules, deadlines 

Google Calendar

Google Calendar allows you to schedule meetings, deadlines and reminders. You can create multiple separate calendars to divide different kinds of activities, activities with different groups of people etc. Separate calendars can be color-coded and hidden, so you can clearly see the most important events.

For guides and more detailed information about Google Calendar, go to Google Calendar training and help.

For information about SSE Riga schedules, visit How To - Calendars and Schedules.

Tips for using Google Calendar:

• Each calendar in Google Calendar can be shared with other people. While sharing you can also set up permissions for that calendar, for example, to allow others see when you are busy but no other details, allow group members to see all planned events and their details but not make any changes to events or allow all members of the team to make changes and manage team calendar sharing.

• When creating an event in Google Calendar, you can also add a Google Meet meeting to that event. Step-by-step guide can be found in How To - Video Meetings section.

• Google Calendar has a Trash feature, where you can find your deleted events from the past 30 days. You can find more information about Trash in Delete an event page.

• Google Calendar provides different calendar views - day, week, month, year, schedule view and 5 days view. You can choose the view depending on your needs in the top right corner by selecting the desired one from the list.

Online communication

SSE Riga email account

Your SSE Riga email account is your official, verified means of communication during your studies at SSE Riga. SSE Riga faculty and administration will send messages only to your official SSE Riga email account. You will also be expected to contact faculty and administration using your SSE Riga email account.

For more information about your SSE Riga email account, visit the E-mail guides section.

Google Meet

Google Meet is a video conferencing platform. Google Meet lets you organise video conference calls, voice-only calls and/or screen sharing. Google Meet supports up to 1000 participants in a single call, without time limits. You can connect from any computer or phone with a modern web browser or from the Google Meet app on Android and iPhone/iPad.

For guides and more information about Google Meet, visit How To - Video Meetings and Google Meet training and help.

Google Chat and Spaces

Google Chat is a simple messaging application. It is integrated in Gmail but is also available as a standalone app or a web app. Similar to WhatsApp etc. it allows you to have 1:1 chat or chat with a group of people.

Google Spaces allows setting up group discussions, messaging and file sharing within Google Chat. You can use Google Spaces to discuss and collaborate on group projects, communicate within teams etc.

For more information about Google Chat, visit Google Chat training and help.

For more information about Google Spaces, visit Use spaces in Google Chat.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a communication and collaboration tool that includes chat, video conferencing, calendar and file storage. Teams is a tool that is deeply integrated with other Microsoft solutions such as OneDrive and Outlook.

You can download Microsoft Teams from Microsoft Teams page or visit Microsoft Teams page for an online version.

For more information and guides about Microsoft Teams, visit Microsoft Teams help & learning.

Zoom

All SSE Riga accounts can register a Zoom accounts using their SSE Riga email address. This will provide access to a basic Zoom account.

By default, all Zoom meetings have a 100 participant limit and a 40-minute time limit. If these limits are insufficient, consider using Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or contacting SSE Riga IT Department about increasing your Zoom account limits.

For more information and guides about Zoom, visit Zoom Learning Center.

Research tools and databases

SSE Riga Library Services and Catalog

SSE Riga Library provides access to a large number of databases:

• EBSCOhost provides access to full-text articles from academic journals in social sciences and humanities.

• Lursoft provides access to Database of all companies registered in Latvia.

• ORBIS is a comprehensive database containing financial information on millions of public and private companies worldwide.

• Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research.

The complete list of Electronic Resources provided by SSE Riga Library can be found at https://www.sseriga.edu/library/resources

You can access the SSE Riga Library Catalog at https://s10311uk.eos-intl.eu/S10311UK/OPAC/Index.aspx

For more information, contact SSE Riga Library Staff.

AI Tools

Google Gemini

Google Gemini Free license is included as a part of your SSE Riga Google account.

To start using Google Gemini, go to https://gemini.google.com/ or use the Google Gemini app on your mobile device.

Note: When using Google Gemini with your SSE Riga account, data protection applies to your data. Learn more about Google Gemini data privacy at https://support.google.com/a/answer/15706919.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot license is included as a part of your SSE Riga Microsoft account.

To start using Microsoft Copilot, go to https://copilot.microsoft.com or use the Microsoft Copilot app on your mobile device.

Note: When using Microsoft Copilot with your SSE Riga account, Microsoft Enterprise data protection applies to your data. Learn more about Microsoft Copilot data privacy at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/microsoft-365/enterprise-data-protection.

Miscellaneous Tools

Canva

Canva is a web-based graphic design platform. Canva can be used for creating presentations, graphics, posters, videos etc.

By registering for a Canva account with your SSE Riga email account, you will receive a fully featured Canva account, unlocking all the features available in a Canva Pro licence.

For more information and registration instructions, visit Canva website.

Miro

Miro is an online collaboration platform, best known for its collaborative online whiteboards. Miro can be used for collaborating on group projects, brainstorming, creating presentations, planning etc.

As a student, you can apply for a Miro account by registering with your SSE Riga email address. Students can create teams with up to 10 members and collaborate on an unlimited number of projects.

As a faculty member, you can apply for a Miro account by registering with your SSE Riga email address. Faculty accounts receive all the same free features as student accounts, but the maximum team size is expanded to 100 members.

For more information, visit Miro website.

Google Vids

Google Vids is a web-based video editing application. It allows you to create and edit videos in an easy-to-use video editor interface.

Google Vids is included as a part of your SSE Riga Google account. Go to http://vids.google.com/ and log in with your SSE Riga Google account.

For more information, visit Google Vids training and help.