Summer Snapshots... #2 - Google Apps, Extensions and Add-ons for Chromebook Classrooms

Having a Chromebook to use in the classroom for the first time is as exciting as opening up a fresh spiral notebook or personalizing a new 3-ring binder. (I secretly think that I became a teacher so I could continue to buy new school supplies each year.) Chromebooks are intuitively simple machines - they are not loaded with "extras" that you have to spend hours exploring. Their power, then, is fully realized when you begin using the suite of Apps, Extensions and Add-ons that Google curates for all types of users. 

Sifting through the thousands of options in the Chrome Web Store can be daunting, so here's a list of the ones that I have used over the past few years that I think are worth exploring right away (note that the descriptions are, for the most part, directly from what was provided in the Web Store):

Google Chrome Apps:

Apps are web applications that run on the Google Chrome Browser. When you use a Chromebook, they appear in the "All Apps" icon when you hit the Launcher button (the little magnifying glass in the lower left corner), so they are almost like the "Programs" that you might be used to with a Windows-based system. Lots of apps are already available when you sign in to a Chromebook, especially if you are a GAFE (Google Apps for Education) school. You can pin apps to the "Shelf" (i.e. Taskbar) by right-clicking (that's done by two-finger clicking on the touchpad of the Chromebook) on the icon you want to pin. Start by pinning Google Classroom and Google Drive - you'll access them a lot.

Apps to add to your collection (via the Chrome Web Store):

Google Keep - Quickly capture what's on your mind and share those thoughts with friends and family. Speak a voice memo on the go and have it automatically transcribed. Grab a photo of a poster, receipt or document and easily organize or find it later in search.

Padlet - Padlet is the easiest way to create and collaborate in the world. It works like a sheet of paper where you can put anything (images, videos, documents, text) anywhere, from any device (pcs, tablets, phones), together with anyone.

PowToon - PowToon lets you create awesome presentations and animated videos - it's like a hybrid between a slideshow and a video, with a great drag-and-drop interface. Students love creating and animating with this app; teachers love the ability to create dynamic presentations.

EDpuzzle - EDpuzzle empowers teachers to make any video your lesson. Crop a video, explain it with your own voice and embed quizzes at any time. Take any video from YouTube, Khan Academy, Learn Zillion, etc. make it perfect for your classroom and more engaging for your students. Make any video a true lesson by making it to the point, personal and effective, plus get all the data about your students so you know if they truly understand the lesson.

Pear Deck (as well as Socrative and Nearpod which have very similar features) - Interactive presentations and formative assessments to engage every student in your room, every day! Plan and build interactive presentation deck directly from your Google Drive. Launch a live, interactive session on the projector. Every Single Learner joins the live session on his or her device and participates.

Remind - Remind offers teachers a free, safe and simple way to instantly text students and parents. Teachers can send or schedule reminders, assignments, homework, assessments, or motivational messages directly to students' and parents' phones. Interactions are safe because phone numbers are kept private, and messages are sent with no open replies.

Google Chrome Extensions:

Extensions help you configure the Chrome browser itself. They can again be accessed through the Chrome Web Store, and when added will appear as small icons in the upper-right corner of the browser. Extensions are designed to modify and enhance the functionality of using Chrome. You are also likely to run across links to add extensions from websites that you frequently use (Pinterest, for example, has an extension).

Extensions to add to your collection:

Share to Classroom - Get your class on the same (web) page, instantly. Web Page Sender allows users of Google Classroom to collaborate in realtime. Teachers can "fling" or share urls with students, and students can fling urls to teachers.

Save to Google Drive - The Save to Google Drive Chrome extension helps you save web content or browser screenshots to your Google Drive.

Readability - Readability is a web and mobile app that zaps clutter and saves web articles in a comfortable reading view... provides a better way to read online, turning any web page into a comfortable reading view right in your web browser.

Google Drive Add-ons:

Add-ons are tools built by third-party developers to enhance the functionality of Google Drive tools (Docs, Sheets, Forms, etc.). Unlike apps and extensions, you don't access them through the web store. Instead, they can be searched by clicking the Add-ons menu button from whatever Google tool you are using. Choose "Get add-ons" to search for what you want to add. Each one comes with options and help instructions once they are added. If you find yourself thinking "I wish Google Docs did [insert some advanced function from Microsoft Office]..." chances are there is an add-on to help.















Easy Bib - Automatic bibliography citation generator




Sorted Paragraphs - Sort your paragraphs, lists, bibliography and individual table rows or columns in either alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order.




g(Math) - Create graphs of functions and inequalities (including plotting points and finding the line of best fit) and write complex math in the sidebar & insert it directly into your document.




MindMeister - Turn any bullet-point list into a visually appealing mind-map and insert it directly into your Google Doc.






Save as Doc (for Google Sheets) - Convert any Google Sheets spreadsheet into a Google Document for improved legibility of lengthy cell text entered manually or through a Google Form submission. Basically, this will make Google Forms submissions readable!

Staying connected: professional networking with a twist of technology

The following article will appear in the Summer 2016 newsletter for the Northeastern section of STANYS (Science Teachers Association of NYS).

I am a lover of all things related to educational technology and have spent countless hours poring over websites and clicking on blog posts, trying to keep up with the latest-and-greatest. I'm a dive-right-in kind of teacher when it comes to technology and willing to try anything that might be engaging to my students, but often feel that as a North Country teacher there are few people to rescue me (or at least coach me through with a more reasonable approach to technology integration). Many of our smaller schools, especially, have a limited number of "human resources" dedicated to technology, and those folks are often stretched to their capacity trying to maintain infrastructure, manage student accounts, and handle the administrative aspects of running a network. On top of that, content-area departments are often only two or three people and there may likely be only one teacher per grade at the elementary level. We work in these small and often rural schools because of the supportive, community-like environment, but while each person is an expert in their own right it's often difficult to get together to network, problem-solve, and move forward with common educational technology goals because everyone needs to move in different directions. The number-one professional development request from teachers in our schools seems to be that they need the time to investigate and implement good strategies; this is especially true with new edtech tools. Being connected to a professional network with the goal of supporting each other's use of technology can help ensure that our time is used in the most efficient way possible.

I started blogging earlier this past school year as a way to get my ideas (and their successes or failures) down in a format that I could refer back to when networking with colleagues at conferences. It's nice to be able to reflect on the educational choices that I make in the classroom and have someone else potentially learn from them. Likewise, it's a great way to compile and share those countless resources that might spark ideas further down the line. In a region like the North Country with its unique geography, it helps me feel more connected to other educators, either regionally or within the blogosphere.

This spring I was further inspired by a post on Edutopia by Emile Ferlisi, "What is the greatest edtech tool?" (http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/whats-greatest-edtech-tool) It turns out that he was able to put the positive feeling I was getting from blogging and online networking into words:

Ironically, the greatest edtech tool isn't available on your tablet, smartphone, laptop or desktop. The greatest edtech tool is informed, inspired teacher leadership complemented by a culture of collaboration and risk taking. It's not about the technology, it's about the people and their commitment to meaningful learning.

In the North Country, the culture and community extends beyond the walls of our school districts, by necessity. Collaboration happens within our schools, yes, but the true power and inspiration can come from building regional networks both within content areas and to support educational technology. As a science teacher I would encourage you to increase your connections with STANYS and other professional organizations, especially as we adopt the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS) over the next few years. And as our schools shift more curriculum and instruction toward the integration of educational technology, build up your professional network virtually as well. Have an online presence via Twitter, connect with other educators such as Google Educator Groups, and find a way to share your own successes and failures. In the meantime, check out my own blog (http://northcountryedtech.blogspot.com/) and help me build its resources for all of us to use.

Summer Snapshots... #1 - Taking Screenshots

Summer is a great time for professional development, but let's face it - nobody wants to sit and read something too lengthy and detailed. With that in mind, I'll be posting a series of quick tutorials throughout the summer that I'm calling "Summer Snapshots." With the transition to 1:1 computing (Chromebooks) coming at my district for September, these will be the quick tips and getting-started bits of information that I know teachers will be looking for. And in the fall, this blog will take on a new purpose as the go-to for my students when they ask "how do I..." and need the same quick tutorials for themselves.

Knowing how to capture all or part of the view of the computer screen and save as an image file is a trick that everyone needsd to know. I frequently capture pictures and diagrams from PDF files (think past Regents exams) that are part of the public domain but not so easy to edit unless you take a screenshot. I also ask my students to use screenshots when they are completing work online and the end result doesn't produce a usable file (results from PhET interactives, certificates from simulations like Virtual Earthquake, etc.). The problem becomes when you work with multiple types of devices and operating systems... there's a way to take a screenshot on everything but the technique is just a little different.

Chromebooks:
Newer Chromebooks have function buttons across the top row of the keyboard much like other laptops, but they might look a bit different than what you're used to. Older keyboards have the traditional function buttons (F1, F2, etc.) which may or may not have the picture icons. The window button (or F5) is the one you'll need to take a screenshot. (Note: without the Ctrl key, this button advances you to the next window you were viewing.)

These screenshots get saved to the Downloads folder as images, or you can click on the "Copy to Clipboard" link that pops up right after the screen capture. 

Click here for a full tutorial on using the screenshot function on Chromebooks.

Windows OS:

Lots of people know about the print screen button on Windows keyboards, but for some reason not many people know about the Snipping tool. To access it, use the search box and type "Snipping Tool" - you can always pin it to the taskbar if it's something you'll use frequently. The neat thing about this tool is that you can capture the entire screen, a rectangular portion, or something totally free-form. You can add text and drawings to annotate the screen capture as well, and it prompts you to name the file and choose the save path (which makes it more likely that you'll remember where it goes). You can also share (by email, etc.) directly from the Snipping Tool.

Click here for a full tutorial on using the Snipping Tool in Windows.

Mac OS X:

Like Chromebooks, Macs utilize a series of keyboard commands to take a screenshot. The command button

helps with all sorts of keyboard shortcuts, and in this case requires the addition of the Shift key.

Command + Shift + 3 ... takes a screenshot of the whole screen

Command + Shift + 4 ... lets you drag a box around the area you wish to screenshot

Command + Shift + 4 + Spacebar ... brings up a camera icon that lets you choose a specific window you want for the screenshot

Screenshots are saved to the desktop as .png files, which makes it particularly useful for dragging and dropping the files somewhere (like into a document or into Google Classroom to turn it in).

Click here for a full tutorial on how to take a screenshot on a Mac.

iPad or iPhone: 

It's pretty easy to get a screenshot on an Apple device; simply hold the Home button and the Power button at the same time, and the device takes photo that automatically gets saved to the Camera Roll. 

From there, it's accessible as a photo to upload (either from the Photos app as an upload option, or by accessing the Camera Roll through whatever app you are using - the Google Classroom app and Google Drive app both will allow you to access your photos).

Click here for a full tutorial on screenshot with your iPad or iPhone.