ASA Weekly Tech Tips and News for February 16, 2018

Wikimedia Commons: Alexey Kljatov

Now that our snow is on a melting trend, although I'm sure it'll be back before winter is done, I ran across an interesting article on how snow is made and snowflakes are formed. It's much more interesting that shoveling it. Although there are no dire hacking warnings this week, I've included a video on how to tell if your phone was hacked. Your phone is a computer, just like your laptop, iPad or desktop, and it can be just as vulnerable as any other computing device to hacking. It's just not always easy to tell. While you are suffering through the February winter blahs, take a look at the rest of the tips and ideas. See what works for you, either in or out of the classroom.

• 15 Clear Signs Your Phone was Hacked
• Google's Chrome Ad Blocking Arrives Today and This is How it Works
• Ten Overlooked Google Slides Features
• How to Extract Text from a PDF or Image in Google Drive
• Google Drawings Basics Day 3 - Drawing Lines...Who Knew?
• 50 Awesome Applications that Integrate with Google Classroom
• ClassHook Adds a New Feature for Using Videos in Your Classroom
• How Snow is Made, Naturally and by Humans
• 9 Great Documentaries for Middle School Classrooms

15 Clear Signs Your Phone was Hacked

Your computer isn't the only device that can be hacked. Here's what to look for in your phone or tablet, as well as how to protect your mobile device from hacking.

 

Ten Overlooked Google Slides Features

Ten Overlooked Google Slides Features, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Google Slides is not just for presentations! There are so many other ways to use this deceptively useful program.

Google's Chrome Ad Blocking Arrives Today and This is How it Works

Google's Chrome Ad Blocking Arrives Today and This is How it Works, from The Verge by Tom Warren
You may or may not see this right away in Chrome. This blog post goes into some detail about what kinds of ads will be blocked - not all of them will, just those that are determined to be the most annoying types. It does also show what you will see. How will you know if it's working? You will be presented with a notification that some ads have been blocked on a website you are visiting, and you will have the choice to allow the ads or continue blocking them.

How to Extract Text from a PDF or Image in Google Drive

How to Extract Text from a PDF or Image in Google Drive, from Tech Republic by Jack Wallen
This process is easy. It doesn't preserve the formatting, it just gives you all the text so you don't have to key it all in.

Google Drawings Basics Day 3 - Drawing Lines...Who Knew?

Google Drawings Basics Day 3 - Drawing Lines...Who Knew?, from Teaching Little Techies by Robin Limpert
You can draw much more than a straight line. She also shows how to use AutoDraw to make your own clipart, doodles, diagrams, etc., very quickly by doodling with your finger.

50 Awesome Applications that Integrate with Google Classroom

50 Awesome Applications that Integrate with Google Classroom, from Shake Up Learning by Kasey Bell
Why does it matter that they integrate with Google Classroom? By creating your class(es) in Classroom, then importing them into a 3rd party app (like you're able to do with GoGuardian), you don't have to keep creating the same classes in each different application you use. This helpful list also describes what each of the apps do.

ClassHook Adds a New Feature for Using Videos in Your Classroom

ClassHook Adds a New Feature for Using Videos in Your Classroom, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This service helps you search for video clips by subject, and now allows you to filter out profanity.

How Snow is Made, Naturally and by Humans

How Snow is Made, Naturally and by Humans, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
We're stuck with this stuff, right? We might as well make it useful and interesting.

9 Great Documentaries for Middle School Classrooms

by Common Sense Media