Friday, November 22, 2019

Tech Tips and News for November 22, 2019

As late as Thanksgiving is this year, I still can't quite believe it's already next week. I hope you enjoy some down time, and time spent with your families. May we all find something to be thankful for this season. If you are thankful for the food we eat on Thanksgiving, there is an interesting resource at the bottom of this post, to help you, or your students, map where your food comes from.


How Safe Are Password Managers?

How Safe Are Password Managers? from How-To Geek by Chris Hoffman
Short answer? Far safer than reusing your passwords!

How Safe Are Public Charging Stations?

How Safe Are Public Charging Stations? from How-To Geek by Matthew Hughs
Short answer? It's safe to use public electrical outlets, but not USB connections.

Common Craft Explains Incognito or Private Browser

Common Craft Explains Incognito or Private Browser, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
What does it mean when you use Incognito Mode or Private Browser online?

G Suite Updates:  

Instantly Create New Docs, Events, Sheets, etc. From Your Browser

So convenient! Quickly create a new Google Doc, Sheet, Calendar event and more without opening the coinciding app first. Simply enter the app followed by .new in the URL bar. For example, if you want to quickly create a new Doc, in your browser (Chrome/Firefox/Edge/Safari) simply enter docs.new. This works with slides, sheets, forms, calendar, keep and sites. Want to add a new calendar event? cal.new. Full details are available in the G Suite Updates blog, and in the video below. 

Add Different Page Numbers to Different Sections in Google Docs

It's now possible to customize which sections of your document should have page numbers. You may have a document with a title page, table of contents or appendix, and only want page numbers for the body of the document. You can do that now by creating different sections for each of those, and applying page numbers to only one section. Here are the full details. This feature should be available to everyone by December 2, 2019.

Audio in Google Slides Available to All by the End of November




EDU in 90:  Apps for Portfolios & Presentations



Slido - Create and Run Polls Within Your Google Slides

Slido - Create and Run Polls Within Your Google Slides, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Easily run a classroom poll and have the results automatically show up on the slide. Just a reminder that due to recent changes in the Google admin console, you may need to request access to this add-on if you'd like it. Just let me know!

Slides Randomizer - A Neat Google Slides Add-on

Slides Randomizer - A Neat Google Slides Add-on, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Have you ever wanted the slides in your deck to randomly shuffle? With this add-on you can! Just a reminder that due to recent changes in the Google admin console, you may need to request access to this add-on if you'd like it. Just let me know!

SnackVids - Automatic Creation of Searchable Video Transcripts

SnackVids - Automatic Creation of Searchable Video Transcripts, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Instead of watching lengthy YouTube videos to see to find the section that is useful, create a transcript and search for key words. Then you'll know what section of the video you want to use.

Mapping Thanksgiving

Mapping Thanksgiving from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Where does all our Thanksgiving food come from, anyway?