Tech Tip Tuesday #21

Today's Tip:

Try one of these tricks I heard about at EPIC to up your Google Docs game!

Idea #1 - Draft Back

While the Version History feature is helpful in identifying who has worked on a document and when they worked on it, Draft Back takes this a step further by giving you a video of each keystroke typed into the document. This makes it easy to see when a student has copied and pasted an entire paragraph from another source. Check out https://jakemiller.net/the-draftback-extension/ for more information.

Idea #2 - Voice Typing

Voice Typing into a Google Doc on a Chromebook is a fairly simple thing to do, once you get the hang of the formatting commands. This newsletter has some basic instructions and commands in an easy to use format. This is a great tip for students who struggle to put their thoughts into writing. Check out this Voice Typing Tech Tip from the archives for more information and resources.  

Idea #3 - Citations

The Explore tool in Google Docs (and Slides) makes it super easy to properly add citations to any paper or research project. Check out this brief tutorial from Google or this more in-depth tutorial from Shake Up Learning. 

What are your favorite Google Docs tips and tricks?

Tech Tip Tuesday #20

Today's Tip:

Use technology to share with others!

Yesterday was absolutely epic! Hopefully everyone attending EPIC was able to fill out the evaluation form to provide the planning team with feedback for next year. Let's take a moment to continue the conversations and collaboration today by sharing the epic-ness using technology! 

Visit bit.ly/EPICShare2020 and add your "one thing" to the board. You know, the one thing that you learned that you brought back to your classroom today or this week. It could be something big, small, or whatever. It could be something you just learned or something you have always known is awesome and just want to share with the world. Read what others post, comment, and let's continue to learn from each other! 

Want to use this idea in your classroom?

Click here to get this blank template:

What was your "one thing"?

Tech Tip Tuesday #19

Today's Tip:

Organize your Google Drive. As you wrap up the end of the quarter and semester in the next couple of weeks, this is a great time to organize your Google Drive. It's like cleaning out your closets every six months, not super fun in the moment but feels so good afterward!

Ideas to get you started:

- 13 Tips to Organize Your Google Drive I can actually say I do all 13 of these things, although they are definitely not for everyone. Pick just one or two to get started.

- Afraid of deleting files you will need later? Then don't delete files, we have plenty of storage available. Create a folder called Trash or Maybe I'll Need or Save for Later or whatever you would like and store the files there. Then your Google Drive won't be cluttered with things you may not need.

- Organize Files in Google Drive from Google's Applied Digital Skills curriculum. This is a whole lesson you can use with students to help students (and you!) organize your Google Drive. The format is: watch a video, practice the skill, watch the next video, and so on. The lesson has students work with fake Drive files, when I have done this with students I have had them skip the fake files and use the real ones they already have. If you would like, I can meet with you ahead of time to help you plan this or another Applied Digital Skills lesson. If you are planning one during 1st, 2nd, or 7th hours, I can come to your classroom to support your lesson or even lead one for your class.

From the archives:

Organized chaos is kinda my thing and I have shared tons of Google Drive tips in the past. Here are some of my favorites:

- Google Drive's New Priority Page

- Use Intelligent Search in Google Drive

- Preview files in Google Drive This is great for quickly scrolling through student assignments without having to open each one!

What are your favorite ways to stay organized?

Tech Tip Tuesday #18

Today's Tip:

This tip comes from the latest issue of Not Another Email PD created by Dihanna Fedder at Pine City Schools.

Instructions:

1. Insert a video into Google Slides.

- Open Google Slides (slides.new).

- Click Insert on the menu bar.

- Select Video. 

- Search for a YouTube video or select URL and paste a URL for a specific YouTube video.

- Click select.

2. Utilize format options to adjust start and end times.

- Click on the video to select it. (You should see the blue squares to resize the video.)

- Click Format on the menu bar.

- Select Format options. 

- Click to expand Video playback.

- Adjust the Start at and End at times as desired.

3. Present Slides. You will see your video embedded in the Slides. When you click the play button, the video will automatically skip to your start time and will automatically end at your stop time.

How do you use Google Slides?