Yes...you read that right. For many of us, we have the challenge of our students being blocked from YouTube. Students and teachers in our elementary schools were not able to add videos to their presentations because there was no way to access them. No more!
Google Slides now allows all users to add videos directly from their Google Drive avoiding YouTube altogether. As a teacher, you can now record your video, save it to your Google Drive and insert it as part of your lesson. Students can now use tools like screencasting or video cameras to show off their reading fluency, explain a concept, record an interview and so much more.
Check out the screenshots below to see where the option is available. As always, contact your Ed Tech Coach if you have additional questions.
This is an update to an earlier post about G Suite Training. We wanted to send a reminder that all staff and students have access to the G Suite Training Extension. The Extension loads into your Google Apps for Education account and gives the user easy access to help tutorials. The best part about the Extension is it automatically switches programs as you move within your Google account.
If you need to know how to set this up in your account, please watch the following video. If you have additional questions or issues with the Extension, please contact your EdTech Coach for support.
September 29th, 2016 Google introduced this new feature called Google Explore in Docs, Sheets and Slides to bring you insights, design tools and research recommendations so you can create better work, faster.
Explore uses Google smarts to help you create awesome presentations, spreadsheets and documents in a fraction of the time they used to take. Create your documents efficiently and effectively with Explore. Learn more here... Google's new updated blog.
If you have not noticed yet...Google Docs now supports Columns! Yes, you heard that right. We have waited and asked for this feature for years and Google has finally added it. Check it out by opening a Google Doc and choosing Format. You will have a choice of 1, 2, or 3 Columns.
As part of the Learning and Teaching Roadmap, we have purchased both devices and digital content to support the district’s vision for educating students in a 21st Century Learning Environment. As the use of technology tools in our district has grown tremendously, so have the number of requests for repairs and assistance to the IT and the Ed Tech departments. In order to provide staff with a user friendly and timely experience in having their technology needs addressed,
The IT and Ed Tech departments are pleased to announce
the “Technology Solutions” help desk!
The cornerstone of this initiative is a new ticketing system that will allow us to quickly receive, respond and resolve your technology requests, such as:
Hardware (Computer, Laptop, Chromebook)
Software
Google Apps (GAFE)
Projectors
Network or Internet issues
Copiers/Printers
Phones/Voicemail
PowerSchool (including PowerTeacher and the Parent Portal)
Digital Content (Schoology, Lexia, Dreambox, Clever, TenMarks, A/R Star, etc).
Technology Integration Professional Development (Technology Integration Coaches)
So that we may efficiently and effectively address your technology issues,
it is extremely critical that ALL requests are submitted via our new ticketing system:
Here is a quick tip on how to move your Chat window from the left column to the right side of your Gmail page. This does not change any functionality, it gives you more space on the left to view your labels.
Check the fantastic projects Mr. McQuown's 2nd Graders are completing using Google Drawing. The first project the students created was an Arctic Animal Fact poster. The students worked in pairs to plan and create their poster. They opened Google Drawing, inserted a background, an arctic animal clip-art, and a call-out cloud before typing their animal fact. After completing their poster, each student shared their work with Mr. McQuown who then posted the work to an Arctic Gallery on his web site for parents to see.
The next project the students worked on was a Beginning, Middle, End story plan. After reading one of the Magic Tree House books, Mr. McQuown shared a Drawing template with the students and asked that they each add a picture, a call-out cloud and type in the beginning, middle and end of the story in their own words.
Finally, this week Mr. McQuown created an -ou and -ow Spelling Sort. The sort was shared with each student who then had to type in their -ou and -ow words and add an example photo of one of the words.
In Westerville City schools, we are currently in year two of our Learning and Teaching Roadmap. The Roadmap is a plan put in place by the district to create a culture of 21st Century Learning. The plan looks at teaching and instructional practice as well as access and support in the implementation of technology. One technology resource we have adopted in Westerville is Google Apps for Education. Google Apps for Education(GAFE) is an online productivity and organization tool provided to school districts through Google Education. As we continue to use Google productivity tools, one of the first things teachers should do is upload their previously created files and folders to Google Drive. Doing this has several advantages. First, all your files will now be saved to the Google Cloud server. This allows you to access your files from anywhere that has an internet connection. Second, now that your files are online, you can take advantage of the wonderful sharing tool Google provides. Every Google file has a unique URL and can be shared with students, peers, community members or the public. Third, by uploading your files you will now have easier access to sync and combine your work with other Google tools to build web sites, blogs, newsletters or anything else to support your teaching and learning. As always, contact your Ed Tech Coach if you have additional questions about how to upload your previously created files.
Read directions from the Google Drive tutorial here.
Additional Google Apps for Education tutorials can be found here.
Upload files and folders
You can upload files, images, and videos to Google Drive on the web so you can work on them anywhere and anytime.
Upload files
There are two ways to upload files to Google Drive.
Drag and Drop
If you’re using the latest versions of Chrome or Firefox, you can drag a folder from your desktop into Google Drive. You can also drag files directly into folders or subfolders.
Select the file you want to upload. To select multiple files, press Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) and click all the files to upload.
You’ll see a box that shows the progress of your file upload. To open the file, click the filename. To close the box, click the X.
Upload folders
There are two ways to upload folders to Google Drive using Chrome. Uploading folders is not available on other browsers.
Drag and Drop folders
If you’re using the latest version of Chrome, you can drag a folder from your desktop into Google Drive. The folder, all subfolders, and files will start uploading right away.
Upload folders using the “NEW” button
To upload folders using the “NEW” button:
Go to drive.google.com.
On the left, click New.
Select Folder upload. If you see "Enable folder upload," you'll need to update Chrome to the latest version.
Select one or more folders to upload.
You’ll see a box that shows the progress of your folder upload. To open the folder, click the folder name. To close the box, click the X.
Earlier this week I had the pleasure to work with Jennifer Furey of ITSCO in Mrs. DeMooy's 5th grade classroom at Emerson Elementary. Jennifer led the students through a lesson creating comics using either Google Drawings or Google Slides. Using comics is not only fun but it makes students think about how text and images work together to tell a story. The finished comics can then be downloaded as PDF's or photo formats(PNG, JPG) to be inserted on a web site, tweeted out, added to a blog or embedded in a classroom newsletter. Thank you Jennifer for the great idea!
Today I was honored to witness and take part in a wonderfully creative and innovative student experience facilitated by Mrs. Amici at Alcott. She expertly led her students through their first Genius Hour providing prompts, asking clarifying questions and encouraging her students to push further into creativity and innovation.
Genius Hour is said to have come from Google as part of their creative process. Google encourages their engineers to spend 20% of their time to think about and create whatever interests them. In the classroom, teachers can give students a set amount of time to explore what interests them. They provide students with journaling and brainstorming strategies, facilitate the creation of driving questions, support research skills and techniques and provide students a place to publish their work. Students have the freedom to explore any idea and create any project.
Below are students thinking about their innovations just before they were given time to share their ideas with each other. We used a combination of paper and pencil to record personal ideas and a shared Google Drawing to capture the student ideas during the share out. The video is what Mrs. Amici used to introduce Genius Hour.
Google Drawing gets no respect. First, it is not listed as one of the first applications available in Drive. Users need to click the New button in Drive and More to find it. Second, we tend to think of Docs and Slides as the go to productivity and presentation tools. I believe this comes from the years of working in Microsoft and making the transition from Word and PowerPoint. Third, users do not realize the tools available in Drawing. It does so much more than simply provide users with rudimentary drawing tools.
From Google Support: A list of things users can do with Drawing.
Edit drawings online in real time with others and invite people to view your edits in real time.
Chat with others who are editing your drawing, from within the drawings editor.
Publish drawings online to the world as images, or download them in PDF, JPG or PNG formats.
Insert text, shapes, arrows, scribbles, and images from your hard drive or from the Web to enhance a diagram or painting.
Lay out drawings precisely with alignment guides, snap to grid, and auto distribution.
Insert drawings into other Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides using theweb clipboard.
Here are a few examples users can use in their classroom.
Use Drawing as a digital whiteboard. Create the Drawing, share it with your students and use it to create a Sticky Note board, a graphic organizer, a timeline, or whatever you and your students can think of.
Use Drawing to annotate a screenshot. Capture a web page or diagram from the web, insert it in Drawing and use the text, shapes and arrow tools to annotate the captured photo.
Create hyperlinks on a photo or diagram. Insert the diagram or create a drawing. Using the Polyline or Shape tool, draw a shape around the area where you want the hyperlink. Insert the link to the webpage you want to add. Change the shape color and line color to transparent. You have now created an invisible hyperlink for students to click on to find more information. Even better, your students can create hyperlinks to connect web sites and additional Drawings to present their work on a topic.
There are an endless number of ideas that can be created in Drawing. I hope you find Drawing to be as cool as I do and it becomes a valuable tool in your classroom.
