- Managing Multiple Google Accounts in Chrome
- Quizzes in Google Forms
- Google Cast for Education
- Over 800 Google Fonts
- New Teacher Resource: The Smithsonian Learning Lab
- How to Make Book Trailer Videos
- Google Cardboard and Expeditions
Managing Multiple Google Accounts in Chrome
Managing Multiple Google Accounts in Chrome, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
Many of us have more than one Google account, such as a personal account and our ASA account. Some of you may even have more than that if you belong to various organizations. How do you easily switch between them and know which one you're logged in as? Option 1 mentioned in the linked blog is not available via our ASA accounts, but it is in your personal account. I tend to employ Option 2 for the many accounts I manage. It offers a clean separation between accounts so it's always clear which one you are using. It's also easier to access, since I have an icon on my desktop for each one.
With the new Quiz option in Google Forms, you can turn any existing form or any new form into a quiz that can be instantly, and automatically graded in Forms with multiple choice, check box and drop down questions. (You'll still need Flubaroo for short and long answer questions or any manual grading option.) This built in quiz feature in forms allows for automatic and instant grading feedback. The teacher does not need to intervene to start the grading process, as you do with Flubaroo. Teachers can also add review materials in the answer explanations, so students can get quick feedback that can help them master the content. Here's a tutorial to get you started.
Have you wished there was an easier way for students to share their screens with your projector so they could share with the class? Google just announced that easier way - Google Cast for Education. Both Cast and GoGuardian (the classroom monitoring system we purchased for all Chromebooks) are easier to use with Google Classroom, so if you haven't yet embraced Classroom to make assignment and file handling with your students so much easier, here are two more reasons to consider using it. Rest assured, you can use both Cast and GoGuardian without Classroom as well. I'll be pushing out the Cast app for both teachers and students. More instruction on how to use Cast will be forthcoming. Here is a short introductory video about Google Cast.
Over 800 Google Fonts
Do you feel stifled by the limited number of fonts available in Google Drive? Well, let me broaden your horizons! Google has introduced a site with over 800 fonts for you to use? Also gone are the worries that if the reader of your document doesn't have the same font it won't look right. As long as the document stays online, the fonts are available and readable to everyone. You can select fonts by categories:
- Serif ( curlicues and tags on each letter)
- San Serif (no curlicues and tags)
- Display
- Handwriting
- Monotype
You can also narrow your search down by thickness, slant and width. Fortunately, Google has embedded these fonts into Google Drive. Open your doc, sheet, slide, etc., click on the font button, and select more fonts.
There are now many new multimedia resources for teachers to use from the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access. The Smithsonian Learning Lab has just launched. Teachers can Discover new information and resources, Create their own customized collections of media for your lessons, and Share those collections with others. New information will continue to be digitized and added. Just simply start searching for a topic and off you go. Here's a Getting Started Guide for Teachers to help you get going.
Are you looking for an affordable, fun way to add a new interactive station to your classroom? Here's an inexpensive, fun gadget to play with on your summer vacation, while exploring the wonderful world of Virtual Reality. I recently purchased Google Cardboard ($11.99 from Amazon). It works with most smartphones that have a gyrometer and an accelerometer (click here for a list of qualifying phones). You simply open the app, slip your phone inside, and the magic begins. You get 3D, 360 degree views of whatever you are watching. The sturdier plastic View Master VR viewer is also available for around $17 on Amazon. There are lots of free cardboard apps, such as ViewMaster VR, Discovery VR, YouVisit VR, Titans of Space VR, Jurassic VR, Google Street View, New York Times VR and more. Skittish about lending your own smart phone for your students to use? One solution is to advertise for parents/parishioners to donate their old smart phones when they replace them. Phones do not need an active data plan, just the ability to connect to WiFi. With the Google Expeditions app, you can turn a singular Cardboard event into a shared classroom event. There are over 200 expedition destinations to choose from. You can enjoy an expedition using Cardboard, or in 2D screen mode (once PlayStore apps are available in Chrome - coming soon!). If you just want to see what Cardboard is like, contact me and you can try mine out. I have most of the apps mentioned loaded on my phone. But if you are interested in what is possible, there is a 1/2 day VR in the Classroom session July 19 at Waverly HS in Lansing. Cost is only $25 per person. Register at gEducator.com/vr.
New Teacher Resource: The Smithsonian Learning Lab
How to Make Book Trailer Videos
How to Make Book Trailer Videos, from Practical Ed Tech by Richard Byrne
This could be another option for book reports, and it could also be used for our library books. You can either work with your students to do this, or Jeff is always happy to tie tech class into what you are doing in class, and he could handle the technical aspects of this project with your class. In this video, Stupeflix is used as the video editor, it's free and easy to use but iMovie on the iPads, or any video editing program you are already comfortable with will work as well.
Google Cardboard and Expeditions
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| Mark riding the Valravn at Cedar Point courtesy of Google Cardboard |
