Weekly Tech Tips and News for June 30, 2017

Here we are, well into another beautiful summer, with yet another world-wide malware attack. Please review what you need to do to protect yourself in the first article below. If you aren't yet backing up your computer, or letting updates run as soon as you are notified - do it NOW! Don't wait until it's too late. These wide-spread attacks are not going to go away. Hopefully you are enjoying your summer so far, and getting ready for a festive 4th of July. Now matter how you celebrate, stay safe and enjoy!

• New Petya Ransomware Attack,
• Quickly Generate an Outline in Google Documents
• How to Print Google Forms
• How to Insert Non-YouTube Videos into Google Slides
• Be Internet Awesome with Google
• Soapbox - A New Tool for Creating Screencast Videos on Chromebooks
• Three Places to Find Public Domain Video Clips
• Collaborate With Students to Create Quiz Games

New Petya Ransomware Attack

Well as expected, there has been another world-wide malware attack. This attack is actually malware disguised as ransomware. It's main goal is not to make money, but to shut down entire systems. Petya doesn't just lock your files, it will lock your entire hard drive, rendering your computer unusable, and is unable to restore your files, even if you pay the ransom. Petya will also look for network connections and spread throughout an entire networked organization, infecting anything in its path, just like Wannacry did a month ago. Petya, however, has not yet been stopped, so it's out in the wild waiting to strike. All the usual reminders apply here.

• Make sure your anti-virus (AVG) is up to date and you are letting the weekly scans/updates run. 
• If you haven't yet arranged for regular back ups on your laptop or PC, don't wait any longer. Either subscribe to an online service or purchase an external USB hard drive to back up your files. You can schedule both for regular back ups. 
• The most important thing to do is make sure you are letting all updates run on your computer. Don't put those off either. Both of these attacks could have been prevented with the latest Microsoft updates. 
• Finally, be very cautious before clicking on any links. Hover over it first and confirm the URL that appears in the lower left corner of your screen is legit.

Quickly Generate an Outline in Google Documents

Quickly Generate an Outline in Google Documents, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This is a very handy feature when creating a long document. It creates hyperlinks along the side of you document that allows the reader to jump to a particular section.

How to Print Google Forms

How to Print Google Forms, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
It is so convenient to have students or parents complete Google Forms online, however there are those who do not have internet access and need to complete the form in paper form. Here is how you can print your Google Form for those instances.

How to Insert Non-YouTube Videos into Google Slides

How to Insert Non-YouTube Videos into Google Slides, From Better Cloud Monitor
Do you have a great video for a presentation that you or one of your students recorded? If you don't want to publish it to YouTube, there is another way to insert it in your Slides presentation.

Be Internet Awesome with Google

Be Internet Awesome with Google, from Edgaged.net by Lance Yoder
Last week I touched on a new resource from Google for teaching internet safety, called Be Internet Awesome. In this post, Mr. Yoder delves into this resource more deeply, both for students and teachers. There is a teacher training course that goes along with it - this is a good idea for all teachers and child care staff to complete. It isn't difficult and doesn't take a lot of time to complete, but it's very important, especially if you supervise students online. I strongly recommend it for all staff. It takes about an hour or less, but you do not have to complete it all in one sitting, you can break it up among the 6 short units.

Soapbox - A New Tool for Creating Screencast Videos on Chromebooks

Soapbox - A New Tool for Creating Screencast Videos on Chromebooks, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This is another alternative to other screencasting apps for Chrome. It has some nice features others don't have, but also some limitations. See what you think.

Three Places to Find Public Domain Video Clips

Three Places to Find Public Domain Video Clips, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
I've posted before about finding public domain images, but here are some places to find videos that you can use for free.

Collaborate With Students to Create Quiz Games

Collaborate With Students to Create Quiz Games, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Triventy is similar to Kahoot! and Quizizz, but it also allows your students to suggest quiz questions.

Weekly Tech Tips and News for June 16, 2017

Hopefully you are staying cool and enjoying
your summer like these boys on the beach.
K.Szczytko 2010

Summer is here! The halls are quiet, lockers are empty and the building is nearly deserted. The weather even kicked in with instant summer and gave us 90 degree temperatures most of the week. Those of us still at school are thankful for the air conditioned sections of the buildings. Most of you are off, taking a break from school, and having fun in the sun (or maybe fun in the air conditioning or water). Hopefully you remembered to turn on the vacation responder in your school Gmail account, or you can check out the first article and forward your school email to your personal account so you don't miss anything while you're away. Summer break is a great time to experiment with those new tech tools you didn't have time to play with during the school year. Check out the ideas in this post, or take a look at the list of labels in the right column to link you to past posts. If you need help working the kinks out of anything, please let me know, I'll be around all summer and will be happy to help you. Enjoy your time off!

• How to Forward Your G Suite Email to a Personal Gmail Account
• Visually Appealing Google Forms
• How to Split Text Into Columns in Google Sheets
• Be Internet Awesome - Google's New Internet Safety Curriculum
• How Many Words Per Minute Can You Type?
• Create Simple Animations With ParaPara Animation
• Make Stop Motion Videos on Your Chromebook

How to Forward Your G Suite Email to a Personal Gmail Account

How to Forward Your G Suite Email to a Personal Gmail Account, from Free Tech for Teachers by Richard Byrne
It's summer! If you're tired of remembering to login to your school account, just forward it to your personal account so you won't miss any important messages.

Visually Appealing Google Forms

Visually Appealing google Forms, from www.edgaged.net by Lance Yoder
The video in this post has some great ideas for making questions in Google Forms look so much better! It solves the lack of formatting options within Forms.

How to Split Text Into Columns in Google Sheets

How to Split Text Into Columns in Google Sheets, from Better Cloud Monitor
This is a huge time saver when you get a list that you need to split into two or more columns, such as first and last names.

Be Internet Awesome - Google's New Internet Safety Curriculum

Be Internet Awesome - Google's New Internet Safety Curriculum, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Your students can play a game in Interland, and learn about Internet safety at the same time. they navigate through the game by answering questions correctly. There is also a 48 page PDF containing lesson plans for the game.

How Many Words Per Minute Can You Type?

Do you wish you could touch type - or type faster? Here's a good summer project - improve your typing skills. Ratatype is an online typing tutor and test that will help you improve your typing skills. Start here by typing in a sentence to see how many words you type per minute. Teachers are also invited to use this free online program with their students.

Create Simple Animations With ParaPara Animation

Create Simple Animations With ParaPara Animation, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This is a very basic, free animation program either you or your students can use. You can create simple animations to demonstrate a concept in pretty much any subject area. Your kids can use it to demonstrate their knowledge of a particular concept. No login or account creation is necessary.

Make Stop Motion Videos on Your Chromebook

Make Stop Motion Videos on Your Chromebook, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
If you're wondering what stop motion animation is, think Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. This classic Christmas special was created using stop motion animation. There is a free app for chrome called Stop Motion Animator. This app uses either the webcam on your PC or Chromebook, or previously saved videos. Thrill your students by creating some videos demonstrating particular topics this summer and using them in class next year. This is also a tool your students can use instead of a traditional report to demonstrate their knowledge - students do not have to create an account to use it. Keep in mind, please let me know if you want your students to have access to any Chrome apps or extensions so I can push them out. ASA students do not have access to the Chrome Web Store.

Weekly Tech Tips and News for June 9, 2017

Wikimedia Commons

Summer break is upon us! Very shortly, the students will be streaming out of the building for the last  time this year, followed closely by the teachers. What a great time to enjoy the warm weather, beaches, biking trails, get your hands dirty in the garden, and take time to rest and rejuvenate. It's also a great time to experiment with those new tech tricks you didn't have time to try during the school year. If you get stuck and need some help, please let me know, I'll be here all summer. I will also continue to post through summer - if not weekly, then bi-weekly. Be sure to check out new posts over the summer so any upgrades and new features don't take you by surprise when you return in August. Most of all - have a delightful and restful summer!

• Making Google Searches More Personal
  
• 6 End-of-Year Google Classroom Clean-up Tips
  
• Smart Reply for Gmail - The G Suite Show
  
• How to Free Up Gigabytes of Space on Your iPhone or iPad
  
• Words With Friends EDU
  
• Catch the Flipgrid Fever! 15+ Ways to Use Flipgrid in Your Class
  
• 12 Lessons About Inventions That Kind of Changed the World
  

Making Google Searches More Personal

Making Google Searches More Personal, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
Did you know when you perform a Google search, you can specify it search only your calendar, email, docs, images, etc.?

6 End-of-Year Google Classroom Clean-up Tips

6 End-of-Year Google Classroom Clean-up Tips, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
Here are some year end, clean up tasks for Google Classroom, to tidy it up before you use it next school year.

Smart Reply for Gmail - The G Suite Show

How to Free Up Gigabytes of Space on Your iPhone or iPad

How to Free Up Gigabytes of Space on Your iPhone or iPad, from ZDNet
iPhones and iPads are great devices, but can be a pain when the storage is full. Here are some ways to clear your storage.

Words With Friends EDU

Words With Friends EDU, from Edgaged.net by Lance Yoder
What better way for your students to practice vocabulary than by making it a game? Words With Friends now has an educational version at wordswithfriendsedu.com. You can create a class and assign a grade level. Your students create a user account with a code for your class, and they can play with anyone in that class. This post has a video showing you how to set it up and play.

Catch the Flipgrid Fever! 15+ Ways to Use Flipgrid in Your Class

Catch the Flipgrid Fever! 15+ Ways to Use Flipgrid in Your Class, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
What is Flipgrid, you ask? It's a video discussion for your classroom. The teacher posts a discussion topic or question, and students post short video responses.

12 Lessons About Inventions That Kind of Changed the World

12 Lessons About Inventions That Kind of Changed the World, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This Ted-Ed Moments of Vision series of 12 videos focuses on 12 inventions that have impacted our lives one way or another. A good exercise for students might be looking around to find other everyday items that make our lives easier, and researching how they came to be.

Weekly Tech Tips and News for June 2, 2017

Walter Wilhelm

We are now in the home stretch of the school year:  one more week to go! We can see the end of the tunnel and this last week of school will zip right by and everyone will be off starting their summer and recharging their internal batteries, so to speak. Before you head out the door, I want to call your attention to some changes you'll see when you enter assignments into Infinite Campus next Fall. There are also some new features and warnings you'll see in Gmail and Sheets that you should be aware of. In addition to these, there are several tips and ideas for you to take a look at. Continue to check this blog periodically during the summer so you'll know about any other updates or changes that take place. It's much easier to find out about them as they appear, rather than all at once, when you are trying to get ready for school in the Fall.

• New Tweaks Coming to Infinite Campus Assignment Editor
• G Suite Updates:  New Gmail Security Features & Google Sheets Improvements
• 5 Surefire Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy
• 8 Tips for Communicating with Parents Using Email
• 3 New Ways to Share Photos in Google Photos
• 12 Great Ways to Grow as an Educator This Summer
• My End of the Year Student Survey 2017

New Tweaks Coming to Infinite Campus Assignment Editor

Sometime this summer the assignment editor in Infinite Campus (where you create and edit your assignments) will be enhanced a bit to improve the way teachers use it. Scheduled improvements include the ability to align assignments to any section in any course - not just sections within one course. The editor itself will be reorganized so all required fields will be visible without needing to scroll. The Active checkbox will be replaced by a "include in Grade Calculation" box, and teachers will be able to select only one category per assignment. The fields in the assignment editor have also been rearranged and grouped by who uses them:  Teachers or students. The For Students section includes the fields for assignment instructions and attaching files. The For Teachers section provides a place for teachers to make notes about the assignment, as well as attaching files. For full explanations of each of these changes, including screenshots, check out this Campus Community article. You may need to login to Campus Community to see the article. If you do not already have a Campus Community account, login to Campus, click the waffle in the upper right, and select Campus Community. You will be walked through the process of setting up an account. Campus Community is a great resource for Infinite Campus tutorials, new features and articles.

G Suite Updates:  New Gmail Security Features & Google Sheets Improvements

Increased Spam Detection

Google has clearly taken the increase in phishing, malicious attachments and Ransomware threats very seriously, and continues to take action to protect Gmail users. Google has been able to detect a pattern for these attacks in Gmail traffic, and program Gmail to detect suspicious activity early to prevent them from reaching your inbox - they will go to your Spam folder instead. Google claims this programming, as well as their ability to block file types that are high security risks, has given them a 99% accuracy in spam detection. For full details, check out the G Suite Update blog.

Additional Scrutiny of Suspicious Messages

In addition to this new programming, Google will also be delaying the delivery of some mail they deem suspicious so the spam filter and Safe Browsing features can check the messages further. These messages may be delayed up to 4 minutes - not a huge price to pay for security. You can find full details on these features here.

New Warnings

Still another Gmail update will warn you when you are replying to an email sent from outside the domain, (the domain is the part of the email address that follows the @ symbol) and not in your contacts. This is intended to warn you if the sender is impersonating someone from your contacts, or if you are sending a message to the wrong address. If you know the address is a legitimate new contact, you can dismiss the warning and send the message. Here's the full post, with screenshot.

Easily Visualize Data in Sheets and Other Sheets Updates

In Google Sheets Explore (at the bottom right corner of the window) you can now ask for specific data in plain English, instead of needing to enter a formula. The new information will appear as a chart in your sheet. In addition, it's also now easier to keep charts from sheets updated in Docs or Slides. Just copy the data from you sheet into Slides or Docs, and click the Update button to keep the data updated. Additional Sheets updates include:

• You can now change default keyboard shortcuts in the browser to match Sheets shortcuts.
• Updated print interface, which allows you to adjust margins, select scale and alignment options and repeat frozen rows and columns before printing.
• There will be an improved sidebar for creating and editing charts, with custom colors, additional trendlines and more chart types, including 3D.
• More functions have been added as well, bringing the total to more than 400.

You should see these improvements any time between now and June 14. For full details and screen shots see the G Suite Updates blog.

5 Surefire Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy

From Common Sense Media

8 Tips for Communicating with Parents Using Email

8 Tips for Communicating with Parents Using Email from A+ Teacher Tech by Alice Keeler
Parent communication is a wonderful tool, but it is only effective if parents actually read them. These are great tips for  how to get parents to read the information you send home.

3 New Ways to Share Photos in Google Photos

Google Photos has added three new ways to share your photos with others. This could make it much easier for you to share classroom photos with your students and their parents. New sharing options will begin with Suggested Sharing, where Google Photos will prompt you to share photos with the person in the photo - just in case you forget. The next option will be Shared Libraries, where you can automatically share any photos in your library with someone else, such as a spouse. The last new sharing option is Photo Books. You select the photos, and a 20-page photo book will be created, which you can tweak. You can purchase the book in softcover for $9.99, or hardcover for $19.99. Here's the full description of all three new features at Google's The Keyword.

12 Great Ways to Grow as an Educator This Summer

12 Great Ways to Grow as an Educator This Summer, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
Just like you want your students to remain engaged in learning opportunities during the summer to prevent that dreaded summer slide, don't fall prey to it yourself! Here are 12 ideas for your own growth during the summer.

My End of the Year Student Survey 2017

My End of the Year Student Survey 2017 by Pernille Ripp
Do you ever wonder what activities during the year really helped your students learn, and which weren't as effective? This teacher gives her students an end of the year survey so she can grow as a teacher.