Weekly Tech Tips and News for March 17, 2017

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Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. May the road rise to meet you, and the wind be always at your back. There has been quite a bit of significant tech news in the last week, such as the new Team Drives, which we will be using at ASA. If you have an iPad or iPhone, you will definitely want to read about how you can prepare for the upcoming 10.3 update, which is not your average update. There is also an interesting study on what kids think about the news, as well as several helpful tips in several different areas, including MAP test reports, flashcards, creating screenshots, and removing backgrounds from pics or clipart. Hopefully one of these tips will be your pot o' gold.

• New Team Drives in Google Drive
• Prepare for Upcoming iPad Update
• G Suite Update:  Gmail Video File Attachments
• Highlights Module for Simple MAP Data Explanations
• 10 Ways Google Keep Can Help Streamline Life at School
• What Kids Think About the News
• Duolingo Tinycards - Quick Review Activities
• Three Good Tools for Creating Screenshots on Chromebooks
• Top 3 Apps to Remove Backgrounds from Pics on a Chromebook

New Team Drives in Google Drive

With the addition of Team Drives in Google Drive last week, we are finally able to create a shared file structure in Google Drive, where you can go to find commonly shared files. (Like we used to use in Windows.) No longer do we need to share files with everyone, who then are unable to locate them in the next they are needed. In your Google Drive you should see a new folder right below My Drive, called Team Drives. Inside the Team Drives folder are sub-folders to which you have access. One of the best features of team drives, is that files in the team drives files are owned by the team drive - not by the file owner. This means if you were to win the lottery tomorrow and retire, any files you had placed in a team drive would remain there after your account is deleted.

You can also see who else has access to a team drive folder by clicking on the folder, then clicking the i on the upper right and selecting Details. Hovering over each initial or avatar will tell you the other members of this folder are and what kind of rights they have. You may have different levels of permissions in each of your drive folders, for example, everyone has view only rights (can see all the files, but cannot make changes) to the Staff (View) folder, but the office staff and administration have full editing rights (add/delete/edit files) to it. So while you may be able to see the files, you won't be able to edit, add, or remove files in that folder. Contrast that with the Staff (Interactive) team drive, to which all employees have editing rights. Any files you place in the Staff (Interactive) team drive will be fully editable by everyone else at ASA. So, think of team folders as the place to share files with a specific group of people. The permissions you have in each folder depend upon your role in that group. You can still share files with individuals or smaller groups of people who don't fit one of the team drive categories. A full list of ASA team drives and members will be sent in a separate email.

Prepare for Upcoming iPad/iPhone Update

If your iPad is running iOS 10, you will be receiving the upgrade to iOS 10.3 later this month. This is a different kind of update because Apple is converting all devices (Macs, iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs) to a new format - Apple File System. What you really need to watch out for is that once it updates to this new platform by way of version 10.3, you will not be able to restore your previous version if your device doesn't work correctly after the update. Well, you will be able to return to the previous version, but all data stored on your device will be wiped out. Apple is strongly recommending you back up all of your devices soon - prior to the update. You can either back up your data using iCloud or connect your device to a Mac or PC and do the back up through iTunes. This will also be a good time to get rid of any apps you don't use, and update all the apps you do use.

G Suite Updates:  Gmail Video File Attachments

Previously, in order to view a video attachment you received in your email, you had to download the file and watch it through your media viewer. With this latest update, you can now simply click on the attachment and watch it right in Gmail.

Highlights Module for Simple MAP Data Explanations

MAP newsletter mar 17

It's unfortunate that I didn't receive this information a few weeks ago - before conferences. In the Student Profile Report on the NWEA site, there is a Highlights module below the Subjects tab. This will help you explain MAP data in parent friendly language. Click here for free training to use the Student Profile Report.

10 Ways Google Keep Can Help Streamline Life at School

10 Ways Google Keep Can Help Streamline Life at School, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller

I know, I know, enough on Google Keep already! I had to include this one because it is specifically about how to use it in school to make your life easier. Love sticky notes? Digitize them and carry them with you everywhere. Inspired by a great idea? Record a note. Need to sketch an idea? Use the pencil tool in Keep. Color code your notes. Set a reminder for certain times or locations. There's a handy, dandy video tutorial in this post as well.

What Kids Think About the News

What Kids Think About the News, from Common Sense Media by Michael Robb
Common Sense Media conducted a large-scale study of how kids get their news, engage with it, and feel about it. Kids are so much more connected than ever before, and news now comes through all forms of social media. There are some interesting findings in the study, which definitely highlights the importance of educating our students in media literacy.

Duolingo Tinycards - Quick Review Activities

Duolingo Tinycards - Quick Review Activities, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
There are numerous subject areas of flashcards to use, and you can also create your own. This also takes flashcards one step further, by combining flash cards with fill in the blanks to make sure students know the content.

Three Good Tools for Creating Screenshots on Chromebooks

Three Good Tools for Creating Screenshots on Chromebooks from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Why would you want to be able to create screenshots? There are countless uses in education for not only taking a screen shot of something, but also annotating it. Screen shots are not just for instruction steps. You may want students to label a map or diagram, or point out a specific point of interest in a photo or blur our a portion of it. I'm sure you can think of many more opportunities to use screenshots and mark them up. Keep in mind, if you would like students to use one of these, please let me know and I will push it out to them.

Top 3 Apps to Remove Backgrounds from Pics on a Chromebook

Top 3 Apps to Remove Backgrounds from Pics on a Chromebook, from edTechify by Bob Petitto
One of these ways, which is also the easiest, is available via a website, not an app, so it is accessible now for all students. The other two involve the apps Pixlr and PicMonkey. Both are easily obtainable apps in the Chrome Web Store that you can install in Chrome on either a Chromebook, PC or Mac. PicMonkey is an app and extension that is already pushed out to student Chromebooks. If you would like them to have Pixlr as well, please let me know and I'll push it out.