Another great Screencast tool

Happy January, everyone!  Hope you're surviving this week of crazy weather.

Greg recently shared the extension for Loom with me - another screencast creator similar to Screencastify.  You can sign in with Google and create recordings of your desktop or just one tab.  Of course, when you start out, you have to give it all the permissions (to add the extension to chrome, to access your Google account, to use the microphone and camera).  Then it will come up with this screen:

To get started, you have to hit the Loom icon in your Google extension toolbar.

Then it will ask you some options.

Including whether or not you got a haircut recently!  (I did, thanks for noticing!)

After that, this is what a recording might look like.  Please note that you can pause your video while you are recording, which is a feature that does not exist in some other screencast creators.  Then the finished screen will take you here.

From here, you can see lots of options, such as sharing and editing the video.  If you invite people via Gmail to view the video, it will also tell you when they have done so.  This is a feature that Screencastify does not have.

Some ideas that this could be used for include creating an instructional video for students to watch at an independent station, having a substitute teacher share this video with your students on a day that you are absent, and having students create a reflection on a topic that they just learned and then share it to your email.  They could reflect on a finished project, a story that was just read to them, or goals that they set for themselves in a class.

Let me know your thoughts on this tool and how you are able to make it work for you!

Digital Presentation Tools

Storytelling, multimedia and digital presentation is just one way that technology can be meaningfully integrated into instruction.  Technology becomes powerful when students are doing the creating.  This blog post will be a refresher on some great digital tools for presentation creation.  Some of them may be new to you, so check them out!

Tool	Video Tutorial	Example
Adobe Spark	Tutorial	Santorini
Flipgrid	Overview	Green Screens at Drexel
Sutori	General Walkthrough	Great Books of 2018
Prezi	Prezi Basics	Hun Sen
Google Slides	2018 Overview	Seesaw
PowToon	Powtoon Tricks	Easy ESL Games (made with PowToon)

All of these have single sign-on with Google, so use your Google account to test them!

Five More Add-Ons for Google Docs

Inspired by Theresa's post from last week, and Greg's post from March, here are five more add-ons for Google Docs. Just like add-ons do in G-Forms, they allow you to extend the use of Docs and make it work hard for you.

Scroll to the bottom to learn how to get and use add-ons in Google Docs.

Easy Accents

Allows you to easily insert accents for different languages from a sidebar in your Doc.

MathType

Allows you to type and hand write notations for mathematics and chemistry.

Doc To Form

Allows you to quickly and easily create a form text in a Doc.  Teachers can turn a paper test into an online test with just a few clicks.

HelloFax

I know it's 2018, but some people still like faxes.  This add-on allows you to add a fax number and cover page to a Doc.  Click send, and the add-on sends the fax!  You even get an email when it arrives.

DocuTube

Users can embed videos in Google Slideshows, but not Docs.  But with this add-on, now you can!  Add videos to Google Docs that you share with your students, so that students no longer need to leave the doc to watch a helpful video.

How to GET add-ons in Google Docs

In Google Docs, click Add-ons > Get add-ons, then look for the add-on you want.  Once you find it, click the blue button to add.

  

How to USE add-ons in Google Docs

In Google Docs, click Add-ons > the add-on you want to use.

What add-ons do you use??  Let us know what else is out there in the comments.

Keep Learners on Task with Focused Browsing

Hapara has recently rolled out great updates designed to “refocus learners on the task at hand.”  Their updated include Open Tabs, Focused Browsing, Scheduled Browsing, and Viewing Browsing in Progress.

This blog post will focus on Focused Browsing.  See what I did there?

Focused browsing allows teachers to focus their students on a specific site for a specific amount of time.  While focused browsing is active, students cannot open new tabs, go to a different tab, or browse new/other URLs.  This helps them stay on task without getting distracted.

This is ideal for online assessments.  If you give quizzes, tests, or other timed exercises online, now you can eliminate the worry of cheating and plagiarism simply with focused browsing.  If you’ve thought about online assessments but weren’t sure how to overcome the worry, focused browsing is the way to go.

There are several options for customization in focused browsing:

• Allow students to go anywhere within a particular site or limit them to only select pages
• Time limits up to 3 hours
• What happens at the end of the session, whether you close the pages or keep them open

If you're intrigued by focused browsing, give it a try in class! And then click here to see the rest of Hapara’s new updates.

Making Gmail More Efficient

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your Gmail account, I assure you, you’re not alone.  We all receive a bazillion emails all day long, from colleagues, students, administrators, advertisers, organizations… so. many. emails.  But we need email to communicate.

So today’s blog post is how to make Gmail less overwhelming and more efficient.

Turn Off Sharing Notifications

Our students share Google files with us daily.  But it’s frustrating to receive an email for each file every time a student shares something.  It can clog up our inboxes real quick.  To combat that, ask your students to turn off sharing notifications when they send you a file.  The file will still land in your Shared folder, but you will not receive an email notification.

Archive vs. Delete

I love getting rid of things.  Love it!  But I also like to save things just in case I need them later.  This is when you should archive emails, instead of deleting them.  Archiving allows you to clear your inbox (woo hoo!) without the anxiety of “what if.”  As Google says, “archiving removes messages from your inbox, but keeps them in your account so that you can always find them later.”  Bingo!  So the next time you’re waffling over an email, click the archive button instead the trash button.  Benefits to this include:

• You’ll still have the email under the All Mail label, so you can search for it easily.
• If someone replies to that email, it will come back to your inbox.
• Your inbox is clear!

Inbox Setup

There are several ways to set up your inbox.  To change to one or the other, click “Settings,” under Settings .  Then choose “Inbox.”

1. By default, Gmail gives your inbox tabs, like Primary, Social, Forums, etc.  Your emails will be auto-sorted into these categories, or you can sort them yourself.  Some people really like this, as Google sorts through things for you; it keeps your “real” emails under the Primary tab, then sorts coupons under Promotions and Facebook under Social.  To change/add/delete any tabs, click “Configure Inbox,” under Settings .

2. Choosing “Unread first” will separate your emails into two categories: “unread” at the top, and “everything else” at the bottom.  I like to use my inbox as a “to do list,” so this works best for me.

 

3. Three more layout options include “important first,” “starred first,” and “priority inbox.”  They are variations on the “unread/everything else” layout, but allow for more customization.

Conclusion

Email is a necessity but can be overwhelming and/or frustrating.  But Gmail can be made more efficient through a few simple tweaks, like asking your students to turn off sharing notifications, archiving emails, or choosing a different inbox layout.  Don’t let a clogged inbox keep you down!

Even More Helpful Stuff

• How to Keep Your Inbox Clean, including archive vs. delete, automatic filtering, priority inbox, and unroll.me.
• How to Organize Your Gmail Inbox to be More Effective, including the difference between a label/folder/tab, how to use and manage labels, inbox settings, and archiving.
• How to Filter and Block Unwanted Emails (Spam) in Gmail

The Super Helpful G Suite Training Extension

When we first started this blog, Liz did a post on why you should be using Google Chrome (if you aren’t already).  In addition to using chrome, you should also be signing in to Google chrome on your personal device.  If you see your name like this:

Then you are signed in to chrome.  When moving through Google pages and apps, you will remain signed in.  It will also remember you when you shut down and restart.  DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE ON A SHARED COMPUTER.  If you see this:

Then you are not signed in.  You can be signed in to Google WITHOUT being signed in to chrome.  As noted in the picture above, signing in to chrome will sync your tabs, bookmarks, history, and your other settings.  View this page for more information and instructions.

In addition to this super useful feature, check out G Suite Training.  This icon appears in the top right hand corner of your browser on most G Suite apps (Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets).  It autopopulates as an extension on your pages.

Depending on the page, it will give tips and tricks or instructions on how to use it (as interactive lessons).  It invites you to learn about features that you may not have already known about.  Here’s an example for Google Docs:

You could use it to learn how to use a feature, explore new features that you didn’t know about, or refresh your memory on something you haven’t used in a while.  Check it out and let us know what you think!

Google Explore

“This presentation looks boring and bland.  How do I make it better?”

If this sounds familiar, Google is a step ahead of you -- they launched their updated EXPLORE feature just this month.

EXPLORE has been a feature of Google Sheets for quite some time, allowing users to see data in color graphs and summaries.

But now users can EXPLORE in Google Slides and Docs as well!

In Slides (Google’s version of PowerPoint), EXPLORE prompts users to enhance the look and feel of individual slides and entire presentations.  As the Google Docs Blog explains, “as you work, EXPLORE dynamically generates design suggestions… apply a recommendation with a single click.”  This saves you time AND makes you look good!

Using EXPLORE in Google Slides is an excellent addition for making intriguing presentations.  With Google’s integration of presentation themes and compatibility with third-parties like Slides Carnival* and Slide Share**, everyone can create and update presentation masterpieces.

In Google Docs, use EXPLORE to get suggestions based on your document’s content.  Recommendations could include images and content, as well as related information from the web or YOUR DRIVE.

Read more about Google’s EXPLORE feature on their blog: "EXPLORE in Docs, Sheets and Slides makes work a breeze -- and makes you look good too."

* Slides Carnival hosts Google Slides themes for all occasions.  Simply download a theme, then import it in Google Slides.

** Slide Share allows you to share what you know through presentations and infographics -- you can browse, download, and edit what others share too.

Quick Tips for Google Docs

The other day I was teaching a lesson and telling students to make a new Google Slides set by clicking the red button in Google Drive, but all of their buttons were blue. It can be frustrating how much and how many updates there are to online programs, especially Google. Google updates more than 600 times a year, so almost twice a day. These are usually small changes that we don’t even notice or when we do, they are easy to just say, “Oh, ok, got it.”

Here are some additions or changes that you may have missed but which could be useful to you.

What it is - Expiration dates

How it works - You can share a document to a student, coworker, or outside collaborator but share it for a limited amount of time. To do this, follow these steps:



How you could use it - If you don’t want students to have access to an assessment the following year, you can set the expiration date to the end of the year. If you want input from coworkers or other collaborators, but want to close out opportunities for input to a certain deadline, you could set the expiration date to that deadline. If you want students to work on an assignment, but don’t plan to grade it right away, you can make the expiration date the deadline for the assignment so they can’t make further changes.

If you have other ideas for how to use this, please let me know!

What it is - Share a link that automatically makes a copy

How it works - When a user clicks on the link you provide them, instead of taking them to your original document, it prompts them to make a copy in their own drive.

To use this, follow these steps:



So the address might look like this to begin with:


And then you will replace where it says edit to copy:



And then hit enter and the screen will look like this:


When you share this link, the person who receives it will see the same option. This allows them to edit a new version for themselves instead of editing your original, or making them go through the steps to make their own copy.

How you could use it - Have students make a copy, then share it back to you to fill out a worksheet. Share a template that you would like coworkers or collaborators to complete.

Do you have more ideas for how it could be used? Send them my way?

These tips could be something that saves you a few steps in the future, so try them out! As always, if you have questions, you can email me or stop by!

Summer Time, and (Google) Forms are Easy

(Sung to the tune of Summer Time and the Livin’ is Easy)

So… this is our last post for the 2015-16 school year.  How quickly it went!

Last week, Theresa wrote about Online Professional Development, and included a link to some brand new, specific-to-Warrior-Run content.  The first available and complete module is on Google Forms.

Forms can be used to collect information (i.e. surveys, polls, RSVPs, voting), to assess student knowledge (i.e. quizzes, short essays, exit tickets), and more!  So let’s turn our thoughts toward summer and take a just-for-fun survey here.  The survey is embedded below, but feel free to share this link with your students too: tinyurl.com/WRsummer

We hope you enjoyed our posts this year.  We’ll be back in August with even more content related to educational technology and our libraries.  Have a salubrious summer!

Twitter as Personal Learning Network

Twitter is a Social Media Network that allows a limit of 140 characters per post.  The post usually contains text, photos, videos, links and hashtags.  A number of educators have started using Twitter for their own professional development and a means of sharing ideas and resources, also known as a Personal Learning Network (or PLN).

In order to take part in this, you need to know the basics of Twitter.

Twitter is the name of the site.  The posts are known as tweets and posting to Twitter is known as tweeting.

The @ symbol is used before a name or phrase and that is a person’s Twitter username or Twitter handle.  For example, Warrior Run Middle School is @warriorrunms (which is run by our own Dr. Hack).

The # symbol is a way of categorizing or tagging a tweet.  For example, if you put a hashtag to a post about our blog, it could be #warriorrunsd, #tlchat, #edtech, and so on.  A hashtag can be an abbreviation, a word or a phrase.  Anything can be a hashtag and you can make your own.  Just check to make sure you aren’t using one that is already being used for something else.  A list of educational hashtags can be found here and here.  Here’s a short list by subject:

English/Language Arts - #engchat, #litchat

Social studies/History - #sschat, #historyteacher

Science - #scichat, #scienceed

Math - #math, #mathchat

Art - #arted, #artsed

Music - #musedchat, #edmusic

Family and Consumer Science - #SayYesToFCS, #facsed

Industrial Arts - #technology, #careerteched

Phys Ed - #physed, #fitnessedu

Elementary teachers - #elemchat, #ipaded, #googleedu

Special Education - #spedchat, #specialneeds

When you want to see content from Twitter, you have to follow other people or accounts.  This means that you click the small blue plus on their Twitter handle or their Twitter page, so that they will show up in your News Feed, which is where the posts from the people that you follow will appear.

Here are the Warrior Run School District people that you can follow*:

WRSD	WRHS	WRMS	Activities	Sports
@wrsdlibraries @wreprincipals @warriorrunms @wrhsprincipals @buboerckel @jkurelja	@wrscienceguys @wrhsart @wrhslitladies @aswartz8 @lizbrarian101	@bibliotheresa	@wreaglesperch @wrhs_yip @wrtrihiy @wr_nhs @stucowrhs	@athleticsWR @wr_baseball @warriorrun_golf

Here are some educators worth following:

@georgecouros

@willrich45

@rweingarten

@feedtheteacher

@danbrownteacher

There are also official Twitter chats, where people use a hashtag to ask questions and pose answers regarding education topics.  Check out this master schedule if you are interested in learning more about these chats.

Some people have suggested that teachers that use Twitter have a growth mindset.  Twitter is what you make it.  Twitter can bring you so much more than just what celebrities had for lunch.  Check it out!

*If you do or do NOT want your account listed, please email me and I will update the list.

**More information on how to use Twitter can be found here at their help page.

Photo taken from Alicia Orre at http://aliciaorre.com/social-media-and-digital-marketing/twitter/the-5-stages-of-a-twitter-user-which-are-you