Friday, February 25, 2022

ASA Tech Tips and News for February 25, 2021

We're back to a few updates and a few tips this week, none of which are urgent or life altering. Although it's a very wintery day, we're 2/3rds of the way through the school year, March is Reading Month starts Tuesday, Lent starts Wednesday, and Spring Break is just over a month away. We're near the home stretch for this school year! But just like grains of sand in an hourglass, the closer we get to the end, the faster they fall. We'll be through this very challenging year in no time. Hopefully COVID cases will continue to fall, and the remainder of the school year will be a little less stressful. 



Canvas Update:  Enhanced Gradebook Filters



The latest round of Canvas updates included bug fixes, performance improvements, new feature preps, and one new Gradebook feature. Instructors will now be able to filter their Gradebook by Assignment Group, Module, Student Group, Submissions, Start Date and End Date. You can also save your filters to apply them at any time. Not sure how to use filters? Find out how to use this new feature here. 


Google Workspace Updates: Classic Hangouts Upgraded to Google Chat

If you are still using Google Hangouts on desktop or mobile app, it will be upgraded to Google Chat sometime after March 22, 2022. After that date, if you are still accessing Chat through hangouts, you will be pointed to Google Chat. In most cases, conversation history from Hangouts will be available in Chat. 

How to Use Find and Replace in Google Docs

How to Use Find and Replace in Google Docs, from How-To Geek by Mahesh Makvana
For those times when you need to swap out one term for another, such as when you need to change All Saints Academy Elementary to All Saints Academy Lower Campus, quickly accomplish it with Find and Replace. This will not only save time, but make sure you catch all the changes. 

Three Google Slides Audio Mistakes to Avoid

It's wonderful that audio is finally available in Google Slides, however there are some tricks to know when using it, such as adding narration, making the audio automatically play, looping music and sharing the added audio file.

How to Use Live Captions in Google Meet

How to Use Live Captions in Google Meet, from How-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse
Live captions display the text of what is being said during a Meet. This is helpful when audio is bad, or if you need to translate the speech to another language. 

How to Automatically Insert a Bibliography in Google Docs

How to Automatically Insert a Bibliography in Google Docs, from How-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse
Google Docs automates the process of citing those sources.

What is a Sub-Image Search and Why Would Your Students Use It?


Three Great Google Maps Features for Teachers

Save and share locations for use in any subject (Google Maps is not just for Geography!), save and share street views of location, and change layers on a map.



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Thursday, February 17, 2022

ASA Tech Tips and News for February 18, 2022

Last week, one of the updates was the new view in Gmail, which allows users to easily toggle between the main communication tools:  Gmail, Chat, Spaces and Meet. This week I thought it might be a good idea to show you how to use Chat and Spaces in case you are not familiar with those communication and collaboration tools. Chat is simply a real-time instant message tool with some additional features, such as posting a file, having the chat in a pop-up window, opening a video meeting, and using bots to automate activities or take polls. Spaces allows you to organize a group chat, similar to Slack, to hold threaded conversations (conversations with the same subject, like in Gmail), collaborate on projects, assign tasks, share files, start a Google Meet, schedule events in Calendar, and add bots to automate activities. Working on Lent with an assorted group of teachers? Start a Space to organize your meetings, discussions and documents. As with all Google Workspace apps, they are available on your laptop/desktop or your mobile device. 

Why Do I Have to Prove I'm Not a Robot?

Why Do I Have to Prove I'm Not a Robot?, from How-To Geek by Benj Edwards
Have you ever wondered why you have to check an "I'm not a robot" box and then pass a visual test to prove your human online? Those are called CAPTCHAs and this article explains why they are necessary.

Infinite Campus Updates:

You should see these updates in the next week or two. 

Grade Book Updates:

  • Tabs have been added across the top of the list, which allow the teacher to view just Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, and assignments with Submissions.
  • The List can now be filtered by Term and assignments in the list can be filtered by All, any Unscored assignments, and any assignments that include a student flagged as Missing.
  • If a student name contains a suffix (such as Jr.), it will now display.

Get Started with Google Chat - Beginner's Tutorial

Google Chat is Google's instant message app, which allows you to have a real-time conversation without being in the same room with another person or group of people. This is perfect to use when you need a more immediate answer than waiting for an email. It's also very useful for something as time sensitive as why you are sending a student to the office or another classroom. In addition to a conversation, you can also share files and images instantly. What other uses can you think of for Chat? Google Chat is visible right within Gmail, in either the old view or new view.  Feel free to experiment and send me a chat! Please note:  When the facilitator discusses Rooms, those are now known as Spaces.



Google Spaces:  How to Get Started

Google Spaces (formerly known as Rooms) allows you to collaborate with groups of people in your organization. It also has Tasks built in for project planning, where you can assign people to tasks, give them due dates, and keep track of them. Spaces seems to be Google's answer to Microsoft Teams or Slack. You can access Chat and Spaces from the Gmail interface with the new Gmail view, which was mentioned in last week's Google Workspace Updates post, or from the Google App Switcher (waffle). 


How to Use Google Chat Bots

Bots can be used in both Google Chat and Spaces. 

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Ten Overlooked Google Docs Features for Students and Teachers

Ten Overlooked Google Docs Features for Students and Teachers, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
There are so many time saving tips in this video, such as how to easily use tables to line up rows and columns of text, making checklists, inserting special characters, changing the default text to something other than Arial, inserting a table of contents, etc.

How to Crop, Rotate, And Adjust Images in Google Docs

How to Crop, Rotate, And Adjust Images in Google Docs, from How-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse
Find out how you can format images in your Google Docs. 

9 Ways to Use Newsela With Your Students

Newsela is a free database of free quality nonfiction articles for students from many trusted sources. These articles can be adjusted to meet different reading levels. 

That Emoji Might Not Look the Same on Your Friend's Phone

Did you know that emoji don't look the same on all devices, and in some cases can convey a different mood or meaning? 


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Friday, February 11, 2022

ASA Tech Tips and News for February 11, 2022

This cardinal looked like he
needed a snow day too!

Do your kids talk to Alexa? How do you know it's safe for them? Smart speakers of any type are simply audio access to the internet. Is it safe for kids to have unfiltered access to the internet? Most people don't think of Alexa that way. Read the article on smart speakers and kids to see what you think. As you can tell, I'm a little passionate about keeping kids safe online, and I especially think about on days like today when ther4e is no school. Hopefully you are enjoying today's snow day and enjoying a well deserved day of rest and relaxation. A surprise long weekend is always a nice bonus!





How to Spot a Fraudulent Website

How to Spot a Fraudulent Website, from How-To Geek by Marshall Gunnell
Here are some easy to understand ways to tell if a website you are visiting is legit.

Are Smart Speakers Safe for Kids? 

Are Smart Speakers Safe for Kids? from How-To Geek by Joe Fedewa
Is Alexa or Echo any smarter or safer for your kids than a web browser with a voice? 

30+ ways to use Google Workspace for Education Paid Editions

There are quite a few additional features that are available in the paid versions of Google Workspace for Education. We have Education Plus at ASA. There are step-by-step how-tos for each feature. Some are only available to admins, but I've linked the general user features here: Teaching and Learning Tools begin on slide 42

Google Workspace for Education Updates


Google Calendar:  Manage Overdue Tasks



How do you manage your to-do list? Do you use Google Tasks, which also integrates with Google Calendar? Google is making it easier to see your pending tasks in Calendar and reschedule them. You should see this within the next couple weeks. If you are unfamiliar with Google Tasks, here is how you can organize your tasks. Here are the details of this update.

Google Drive:  Suspicious Files Warning Banners


When you open a Docs, Sheets, Slides or Drawings file that may be suspicious for malware, phishing and ransomware, a warning banner will appear at the top. This feature should appear within the next two weeks.

Google Drive:  New Navigation Bar Functions



Within the next week, or so, you will start to see a new navigation bar in Google Drive, which allows you to tab through buttons for Skip to main content, Keyboard shortcuts and Accessibility Feedback. Here are the full details. 

Gmail:  New Integrated View for Meet, Chat and Spaces in One Place



How many of you are aware that instant messaging is available via Google Chat? Did you know you can access Google Chat via your app switcher (AKA waffle) and in Gmail? This is a much quicker way to communicate than Gmail - especially when it is a time sensitive issue, such as "I'm sending a student to the office right now because...". (Click here to learn how to use Chat, or contact me for a walk-through.) Sometime in the next week or so, you may be prompted to try the new integrated Gmail view, where you can access Gmail, Chat, Rooms/Spaces, and Meet in one place. Notification bubbles will help you keep track of new activity. When working in your inbox, you'll still see your mail labels (folders). If you try the new look and don't like it, you can always turn it back off. Find the full details about this change here. 

How to Print a Google Calendar

How to Print a Google Calendar, from How-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse
Sometimes you need to have a week or month view for the fridge.

How to Use Custom Bullets for Lists in Google Docs

How to Use Custom Bullets for Lists in Google Docs, from How-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse
For those times when a boring dot won't do. Maybe you want to emphasize the point with a game piece, pointing finger or emoji. It's easy to do and built right into Docs.

How to See Basic Calculations Without Formulas in Google Sheet

I use this tip all the time to quickly count or add a column of numbers.
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