Tech Tips and News for July 17, 2020

We Are Teachers

Although we are still in the middle of summer, I'm sure many of you are already thinking about what will happen next school year? Of course, all that is still getting figured out, so we need to be ready for any eventuality, including the possibility of quickly pivoting from in-person instruction to remote learning, or possibly needing to do both simultaneously. There are so many resources available, and you still have plenty of time to try some new things out or refine the familiar, with your new-found background in remote learning from last Spring. Google Meet is getting some new features that were developed with education in mind. Maybe consider the need to record lessons by familiarizing yourself with the video camera on your phone, using Canvas Studio, or Loom, or any other screencasting solution, and figuring out now how to upload it with Canvas or Drive. Teachers are some of the most creative and innovative professionals, so I'm sure you will make any eventuality work with your teaching style. You can always reach out for help as well, I'm happy to work through a process with you. Be sure to check out the school reopening memes at the end of the blog - when we can do anything else, we might as well laugh.

• What's Inside Your Computer - Three Introductory Lessons from TED-Ed
• How the New App Library Works on iPhone
• How to Make Google Auto-Delete Your Web and Location History
• G Suite Updates:  Anonymous Users Blocked from Google Meet by Default, Improved Google Calendar Event Creation on the Web
• EDU in 90:  Time Saving G Suite Tips
• EDU in 90:  More Time Saving G Suite Tips
• 8 Tips and Tricks to Speed Up Gmail
• 7 New Google Meet Features for Teachers
• How to Use Loom to Make a Whiteboard Video
• 20 Add-ons and Extensions to Supercharge Your Google Slides Presentations
• 11 Accurate Teacher Memes About School Reopening This Fall

What's Inside Your Computer - Three Introductory Lessons from TED-Ed

What's Inside Your Computer - Three Introductory Lessons from TED-Ed, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Do you feel like technology is a mystery? Well here's a chance to understand a little more about how computers work. As with any other tool you use on a daily basis, it's helpful to have a basic understanding of how they work to use them properly or purchase new technology with knowledge.

How the New App Library Works on iPhone

How the New App Library Works on iPhone, from How-To Geek by Khamosh Pathak
When your iPhone updates to iOS 14, it will roll out with the App Library. Here's how it works.

How to Make Google Auto-Delete Your Web and Location History

How to Make Google Auto-Delete Your Web and Location History, from How-To Geek by Chris Hoffman
Google has recently started deleting your web and location history after 18 months, but only for new users. Existing users will need to manually turn this on.

G Suite Updates:  

Anonymous Users Blocked from Google Meet by Default

Many teachers have struggled with students or other users outside their schools trying to join a class Google Meet. Even if the teacher doesn't let them in, their continuous join requests are a huge distraction for the teacher and the flow of the class. To combat this Google Meet for education accounts will be automatically set to not allow users outside the school domain to join the Meet. They won't even be able to request to join. This means, for younger students, if the parents are joining the Meet, they will need to do so through the child's student account.

Improved Google Calendar Event Creation on the Web

Google has added settings to the initial event setup pop-up window. You will no longer need to click More Tools to grant guest permissions, add attachments, choose an event color, customize notifications, and set how an event is viewed. Full details with instructions can be found here. 

EDU in 90:  Time Saving G Suite Tips

EDU in 90:  More Time Saving G Suite Tips

The first few tips are for Classroom, but there are more useful tips after those.

8 Tips and Tricks to Speed Up Gmail

8 Tips and Tricks to Speed Up Gmail, from How-To Geek by Howard Wen
Does Gmail seem to take a long time to load after each message? Try these tips to speed it back up.

7 New Google Meet Features for Teachers

7 New Google Meet Features for Teachers, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
These new features will be coming soon to Google Meet for G Suite for Education users. They will be so helpful for teachers if we need to return to remote learning at some point next school year. They include the ability to mute all participants, a hand raising function, teacher ability to end the meeting and prevent students from rejoining, after ejecting a participant they will not be able to automatically rejoin and their requests to rejoin are limited, an integrated whiteboard, and the ability to change the background. This will eliminate the need for several Chrome extension that we use for Meet.

How to Use Loom to Make a Whiteboard Video

How to Use Loom to Make a Whiteboard Video, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Loom is free and works from any device. It's also an easy screencast service to use. Jamboard is built in to G Suite for Education, and works interactively like all other Google apps.

20 Add-ons and Extensions to Supercharge Your Google Slides Presentations

20 Add-ons and Extensions to Supercharge Your Google Slides Presentations, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
Looking for icons? They have millions. Want to make your slide deck interactive? It's there! Need flashcards? You can do that too! So many more, as well.

11 Accurate Teacher Memes About School Reopening This Fall

11 Accurate Teacher Memes About School Reopening This Fall, from We Are Teachers by Nikki Katz
When we can do nothing else, we can always laugh.