Weekly Tech Tips & News for June 17, 2016

While you are all wrapping up the school year, finishing grades, tidying up your classrooms, and starting your summer, I've been at a Google PD, and have been inspired with so many new ideas to help you in the classroom. The halls are pretty quiet now, but planning for next year is underway. New Chromebooks are on order, GoGuardian will be added so you can track your students' online activity in real time, and both labs will have a new look. GoGuardian integrates with Google Classroom, so I'll be offering training opportunities to help you hit the ground running, and making your life easier next year. In the meantime, enjoy your hard-earned summer break. To keep you up to date, here's what's new this week.

• Interactive Checklists in Google Docs
• How to Blur Faces in YouTube Videos
• How to Add Filters to Your Images in Google Slides
• Apps & Extensions to transition from Windows to Chrome
• Google Updates:  New Syncing and Sharing Settings

Interactive Checklists in Google Docs

Interactive Checklists in Google Docs from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts

This is a neat trick you can either use for yourself, or employ with your students for any multi-step project. You can then keep track of their progress.

How to Blur Faces in YouTube Videos

How to Blur Faces in YouTube Videos, from Practical Ed Tech, with Richard Byrne

This will be very useful when you take those classroom or project videos, which you would like to post on Facebook and Twitter, but the student whose photo can't be published is in the center of every shot.

How to Add Filters to Your Images in Google Slides

 

How to Add Filters to Your Images in Google Slides, from the Better Cloud Monitor

Your students will love this tip - filters are very popular. Filters are special effects that you can apply to your photos in photo editing programs. The image above at left is unfiltered, the one on the right has a filter applied. The Chrome app mentioned in the video is Pixlr Express, and is available in the Chrome App Store.

Apps & Extensions

Learning Curve Part 3:  Apps & Extensions, from The Chromebook Challenge by Kevin Wendland

Are you missing some of the things you used to be able to do in Office, but can't in Google? Kevin has been conducting a Chromebook Challenge, where he uses a Chromebook as his primary devices instead of a Windows laptop. As we've previously discussed, apps, extensions and add-ons are how you replaced those missing features. This post not only lists the apps and extensions he uses, but also explains why they are useful and what they replace in Windows. 

Google Updates: New Syncing and Sharing Settings

From the Apps Show - You can now sync sub-folders to your desktop, set sharing settings on the fly, share files temporarily by setting an expiration date.