Instructional Technology Tips of the Week
Week of 5/20/13
My very first tip is a site that I use quite often in education. www.convertfiles.com will allow you to convert almost any file into almost any other format. For example, have you ever wanted to change a PDF into an editable Word document? Maybe you found a great worksheet example as a PDF and would love to edit it and customize it for your class. With this link it's as easy as choosing the PDF, selecting Word as the output, and you're done. The site does all the rest for you! Simply click the link to the left to get started. Enjoy!
Week of 7/29/13
You actually get 2 tips this week! How to filter messages in Gmail and how to setup Google Drive so you can access all of your files offline.
In our training sessions we discussed the filter messages feature. This is very useful when you do not want to unsubscribe from emails (such as from Scholastic) but you really don’t want to delete 10 messages a day from your inbox either. Filtering will allow you to have Gmail take these emails and automatically skip your inbox and go straight to a folder.
We also discussed how to get started with Google Drive. The 4 steps for getting started were
1. Download Drive on your home and work computers
2. Change upload settings to “convert files to google drive format”
3. Upload EVERTYHING
4. Use it
After you download Drive to your work and home PCs, you want to make sure it is set so that you can access all of your files whether you have an internet connection or not. Once this is set, you will not have to set it again.
Simply click one of the links to the left.
Week of 8/5/13
This week's tip is on how to install/finish the install process for Google Drive onto your computer, and how to create shortcuts for Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Spreadsheets on you desktop. This allows for quick and easy access of Google Drive's most used creation tools.
Week of 8/12/13
I should really start calling these "tips of the week" because again, I have 2 for you this week!
The first is how to make Gmail your default email client for you computer. This way, if you click on a link to email someone from a website, or from within Infinite Campus, your computer will automatically use your school Gmail account.
To do this, simply open up your school Gmail. At the top right of your screen, in the web address bar, you will notice 2 overlapping, grey diamonds. If you click on these diamonds, you can set Gmail as your default email. Once you set this, the diamonds will no longer appear in the web address bar and Gmail will be your default email client.
My final tip this week is for Moodle. As you get ready to start the new school year, you may be setting up your Moodle site as well. If your page is set in "Weekly Format", then your Moodle page is divided by weeks. However, these dates may be off now that we are starting a new school year. This tutorial will show you not only how to reset the start date for your weekly format, but it will also show you how to change your Moodle site set-up to a topic-based format if you would prefer using that formatting option instead. Click on the link to the left for this cheat sheet.
Week of 8/19/13
This week's tips are on how to make Google Chrome your default browser, as well as how to create and share a folder in Google Drive. Click on the links to the left to access the cheat sheets. Enjoy!
Week of 8/26/13
This week's tip is on how to have your students submit Google Docs through Moodle.
Week of 9/2/13
You can now upload YouTube videos to My Big Campus for all your students to access. My Big Campus has thousands of videos, websites, documents, and lessons already created for use in the classroom. I will cover additional features of My Big Campus in future tips. Enjoy!
Week of 9/30/13
This week I have 2 tips. One is how to ensure that your Google Drive folder is indeed syncing to the web/cloud (In other words, how to make sure that when you save a file to your Google Drive folder on your desktop, it is actually syncing to Google Drive on the internet so you can access that file from any computer, anywhere)
My second tip is courtesy of Tanda Smith at CJHS. This tip will show you how to easily send emails to group contacts directly from the compose window in Gmail.
Week of 10/7/13
One of my favorite Chrome Extensions! Boomerang allows you to automate emails in Gmail. Boomerang can send emails at later dates, or even bring them back to reminder you at a later date. Very useful! Check out the video for more information and use the link to install the Chrome extension. Enjoy!
Week of 10/14/13
If you started using Boomerang after my email last week and you like what you see so far, then you will love this week's tip! Boomerang has an extension for your calendar as well. It allows you to stay organized with allof your events and meetings without ever leaving your email. Unbelievably useful! Click the link to the left for an introductory video.
Week of 10/21/13
This week I wanted to share a great resource for parents and students about internet safety. We live in a digital age, and with modern cell phones and tablets, children are connected 24 hours a day. It is important that we teach our children how to be responsible online and what to do if they see something inappropriate or scary.
The link to the left contains 2 Powerpoint presentations, one geared towards parents, and one for children 9-16. I have also attached the "Game Plan" pledge from this site that you can have your own children sign to pledge a safe, online experience for all.
Week of 10/28/13
Have you ever wanted to build a website? It seems like such a daunting task, but today's web tools make it as easy as drag and drop! I have 2 favorites, Wix and Weebly.
Wix is my go-to site builder, mainly due to it's large selection of add-on widgets allowing you to tie almost anything to your site including maps, Drive, forms, etc. Building a site on Wix is as simple as picking out a template, and then clicking on what you want to change or update.
Weebly has made some changes over the last couple years and is now becoming a new favorite of mine. In fact, if Weebly were to add some of the widgets that I use so often in Wix I would most likely use Weebly as my go-to site builder. Weebly makes it as easy as possible to build a professional looking website. All of your options are on the left, and you can simply drag what you want on to your page and then edit it. It is really a phenomenal tool for website creation!
Week of 11/4/13
If you've been experimenting with Google Drive then you've most likely discovered the power of sharing documents with others to collaborate. But did you know you can also share entire folders? You can create a blank folder for a certain topic, such as Spelling tests, or Lesson resources, and then share that with your teaching team. Each member you share it with can add their own documents to the folder and view the documents that are already there. A great way to build a small resource library for your teaching team.
Week of 11/11/13
This week I wanted to share one of my favorite new discoveries for the ELA classroom called Newsela. Newsela provides a multitude of articles on a variety of subjects. All are current and are regularly updated. Each includes an optional comprehension quiz. The best part, each is written at varying levels of complexity so that readers can choose the version that is best for their reading ability! From an elementary student to a senior in high school, all students can find a version that is best for them, "and an easier or harder version of each article is just a click away."
Check out the video to the left and then click on the link below to get started!
Week of 11/18/13
How would you like a Google customized for teachers? A search engine that brings you only the best educational resources for your search query? A search engine that allows you to search by Common Core Standards? A search engine that allows you to then organize and save your favorite results in collections? Gooru does all of this and so much more. No more filtering through millions of search results for the best resource. Check out the video to the left for more information or go to the link below.
Week of 11/25/13
I have 2 tips for you this week. The first tip is how to dock the Settings menu in Moodle to the sidebar. This allows you to easily access the Settings menu from anywhere on the page.
My second tip this week is on Google Apps. Google has set up several self-paced courses for using their apps in education. If you have any questions on Gmail, Drive, or even the basics of getting online, these courses will walk you through the answers. (Thanks Dr. Copeland for sharing this tip!)
Week of 1/27/14
As we continue to build our Moodle pages we often try to make them more visually appealing and engaging. One way of accomplishing this is to embed your media directly on your front course page.
But did you know you can also embed Google Presentations as well? To the left is a cheat sheet on how to embed your Google Presentations into Moodle.
Do you have a Powerpoint that you would like to embed? Simply upload it as a Google Doc and then use this same method. The best part about embedded Google presentations is that they are live, updated documents. This means anytime you make changes to your presentation it automatically updates the presentation embedded in your Moodle page!
Week of 2/24/14
Are you looking for an easy way to have your students collaborate and plan online? Would you like to teach mind-mapping, organization, and collaboration skills using an online web tool, even if your students do not have devices?
Padlet and Primary Wall are two web tools that allow you and your students to quickly create a planning and collaboration environment with easy access and engaging participation. Both allow multiple participants to add notes and media simultaneously.
You can find out more about these web tools at the links to the left.
Week of 3/3/14
Many of us use YouTube to store videos or look up tips and tricks on just about anything. But did you know that YouTube also provides some other, powerful video editing tools? If you click on Upload after logging into YouTube you will gain access to some of these tools.
With Webcam Capture you can record video using your webcam directly into YouTube. This sidesteps the process of creating the video and then uploading to YouTube. You can then use the editing features in YouTube.
Photo slideshow allows you to arrange photos in a slideshow video and then add audio, transitions and more. You can also insert videos in your slideshow intermingled with your photos. While there are many other sites on the internet for creating photo slideshows, the editing features and options in YouTube are quickly making this one of my favorites.
Google + Hangouts on Air allow you to start a live webcast. This is fantastic for starting a distance lesson online, presenting PD online, or even working with other teachers or students in a different state or country.
Finally, you have Video editor. This provides many powerful editing tools that let you splice together videos, edit your videos, add transitions, text, search for Creative Commons videos, add filters, and much, much more.
On the left you will find a cheat sheet for how to find and use these additional YouTube tools. I have also included a brief video overview of these tools.
Week of 3/10/14
Have you ever been browsing the web and found a file you wanted to download, however after clicking on the file you're not exactly sure where it saved? It's hard to keep all of these downloads from the internet organized if you're not exactly sure where they are when you need them.
Chrome has a setting that will prompt you for a save location every time you click on a file or item to download. This is very useful for keeping items in your organized folders for quick access later when you need them. Click the link to the left for the cheat sheet.
Week of 3/17/14
If you have been using your Google Drive you may have noticed it can become very unorganized fairly quickly. And while Google provides a fantastic search bar at the top to quickly find documents, having an organizational structure is a better way to organize and access your content.
To the left you will find a short video tutorial on how to create folders in Google Drive and how to move documents to those folders. You can even move a document into multiple folders at the same time.
Week of 3/31/14
For my tip this week I have exciting news for those of you who like to create and use Google Form quizzes, and use Flubaroo to automatically grade these.
In the past, you have always had to install Flubaroo on every Google Form quiz you created to allow it to automatically grade. With the new Google Add-ons added a few weeks ago, you can now simply install the Flubaroo add-on and use it with any Google Form quiz you create in the future. Plus, it works better than before!
CLICK HERE to install this add on in Google Spreadsheets. Check out the video to the left to learn more about Flubaroo and how the add-on works. You can also find a cheat sheet on how to create quizzes using Google Forms in the resource section of this site under Google. Have a great week!
Week of 4/7/14
Google Scholar allows you to refine your search to academic literature including case law. Google also provides some useful tools to keep your research organized and easily cite your newly discovered articles, PDFs, books, and more.
Check out the video to the left for more information.
Week of 4/14/14
Many of us are using the powerful quiz features in Moodle. However, it's easy to end up with hundreds of questions with no organizational structure.
In the video to the left I will show you how to easily organize all of your quiz questions in Moodle by category so you can easily find them again later. This makes it very simple to create a chapter or unit quiz using questions already created in Moodle.
Week of 4/21/14
My tip of the week this week is on how to get started using Quizlet. Quizlet is a powerful, online tool that allows you to create flashcard sets to help your students study and learn. Quizlet will take your terms and definitions and automatically create 5 different games for the students to practice with as well. A very cool tool!
Did you know you can also take these Quizlet flashcard sets and import them into Moodle as a self-graded quiz? It's very simple and gives you even more assessment options.You will find all the "how-tos" in the video to the left.
Have a great week!
Week of 4/28/14
Many of us already use Google Forms to create quick bell-ringer assessments, or self-graded quizzes. Google Forms are also very powerful as grading rubrics.
Using a Google Form, all of your student results are compiled onto one spreadsheet for you. Even better, you can set up your form to immediately email your students their results and comments. A very easy, quick, efficient way to grade your student work with teacher feedback.
Check out the video for step-by-step instructions.
Have a great week!