Friday, April 27, 2018

ASA Tech Tips and News for April 27, 2018

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It has been absolutely lovely to see so much sunshine this week - maybe we really are finally leaving Winter behind. Since it's been so bright outside, let's shed some light on some computing mysteries, such as how to easily troubleshoot a chromebook, and why rebooting (restarting) a computer solves so many issues. You may also be interested in how you can take the aches and pains out of using a computing device for long periods of time. Of course, there are new G Suite updates that will make your life a little easier. For teachers there are a couple of tips to use with your students for the end of the year. Stay tuned for next week's post when you see lots of cool new features now available in Gmail!




Six Tips to Help Save Yourself from Poor Computer Posture

Six Tips to Help Save Yourself from Poor Computer Posture, from How-To Geek by Cameron Summerson
Do your neck, back or shoulders hurt at the end of the day - or after using your computer for awhile? We all try to get more comfortable when using our devices for a longer stretch of time. Find out how you can save your neck, back and shoulders from all that fatigue and pain.

7 Easy Chromebook Troubleshooting Tips to Fix Common Issues

7 Easy Chromebook Troubleshooting Tips to Fix Common Issues, from Cartyville by Dave Carty
If you own your own Chromebook, here are some tips for troubleshooting issues. They are pretty reliable, but every once in awhile they hiccup, like any other device

Why Does Rebooting a Computer Fix So Many Problems? 

Why Does Rebooting a Computer Fix So Many Problems? from How-To Geek by Chris Hoffman
First, rebooting is just a tech term for restarting, or turning the device off and back on. On a PC, that means clicking on Restart - not just holding down the power button or unplugging. It truly does solve many issues on any device. It's always a good idea, before calling support, to turn it off and back on to see if that fixes the problem. During this post, if you tune out during the somewhat technical description of why it helps, be sure to skip down to the section that gives examples of restarting fixing problems.

G Suite Updates: 

Link Slides in Google Docs

You will now be able to insert a Google Slide in to a Google Doc and link the two files so any update you make in one file are always current in the other. This is useful if the same information on the presentation slide is also used in a Doc shared with others. So for example, if you need to share the Doc internally with the staff, and present the same info to the Board of Directors, you can save time by preserving both and updating only once.

Slides Guides and Rulers

There are now guides and rulers in slides, to help you line up all the text and objects. It will be so much easier to make your slides appear more aligned and professional. Drag items around and they will snap to the guide or grid. You can turn this feature on and off as you prefer.

See Profile Information in Cards

What does this mean? When you add someone to a calendar event, or see their post in Google +, their contact will be available on a pop up card when you hover over their name. You will then have the option to add them to your contacts, send a message, start a Hangout, or add them to a calendar event. The contact information comes from your Google + profile, if you have one. If you do not have a Google + profile, it comes from the information entered for you by the system administrator, and includes your job title, work address and work phone number. If you would like to see or edit your profile card information, visit aboutme.google.com.  Here are instructions for updating your user profile.  For now these cards are only appearing in Calendar and Google +. They'll start to appear in more G Suite apps soon.

How to Use Google Drive's New 'View History' Feature

How to Use Google Drive's New 'View History' Feature, from Lifehacker by Jacob Kleinman
Here's how to use the feature that those "Editors can now see your view history." messages enabled.

10 Ways Google Tools Can Make the End of the Year ROCK

10 Ways Google Tools Can Make the End of the Year ROCK, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
Lots of end of the year ideas for takeaways, time fillers, review and projects. Full tutorials are included with each suggestion.

Student Collaboration in Shared Google Slides

Easy activity where each student has his/her own slide to edit. This idea can be adapted to any grade level. He also slips in lots of "ninja skills" for Slides.


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