Tech Tips and News for June 10, 2022

M-le-mot-dit, CC BY-SA 4.0

...And scene! Another school year in the books. It seemed to be the school year that would never end. During summer break, I will continue to periodically post updates and news, but it will not be on a routine. For me, summers are a time of tech maintenance and prep, and very busy. That being said, I wish all of you a very restful and pleasant summer. I hope you are able to enjoy a lot of down time after a very hectic school year. 

• Ctrl+Shift+V is the Best Shortcut You're Not Using
• What is Pageless Format in Google Docs, and How Do You Use It?
• Chromebooks Have a New Screen Recorder App
• Introducing Google Screencast for Chrome OS
• Get the Most Out of Google Meet
• Chromebook Accessibility Tools
• Games for Students to Play to Improve Their Typing Skills

Ctrl+Shift+V is the Best Shortcut You're Not Using

Ctrl+Shift+V is the Best Shortcut You're Not Using, from How-To Geek by Benj Edwards

Where has this shortcut been all my life?  It basically pastes text without all the formatting. It will definitely save me a step or two  wiping out the previous formatting! Of course right clicking and selecting past plain text will often work as well. 

What is Pageless Format in Google Docs, and How Do You Use It?

What is Pageless Format in Google Docs, and How Do You Use It?, from HJow-To Geek by Sandy Writtenhouse

If you are never going to print the document, then you don't need margins, page breaks, headers/footers, watermarks or page numbers. It also gives you room for wide items, such as tables, charts and images.

Chromebooks Have a New Screen Recorder App

Chromebooks Have a New Screen Recorder App, from How-To Geek by Corbin Davenport

There are lots of new features on this screencasting app, which comes with Chrome version 103. There's also a video in the article showing all the enhanced reatures from both a teacher and student view. A full instructional video is available in the next article, below.

Introducing Google Screencast for Chrome OS

Get the Most Out of Google Meet

This is a webinar by Eric Curts, that will teach you about all the features available in Google Meet, such as breakout rooms, polls, Q&A, translated captions, recording, attendance tracking, live streaming and more. 

Chromebook Accessibility Tools

This is another webinar by Eric Curts, that will explore accessiblility tools that are built into Chromebooks to help your students with special needs, or who need accommodations. 

Games for Students to Play to Improve Their Typing Skills

Games for Students to Play to Improve Their Typing Skills, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

There are options for different grade levels. There's even an option for creating your own typing activities. 

Tech Tips and News for June 3, 2022

giphy.com

Just in time for the last week of school, Google has issued another big round of updates. Some of these are long overdue! In addition, with one week of school left, I couldn't resist a little comedy relief with the memes about teachers who are just barely hanging on, there are 34 of them and I'm sure you can relate. It's been a tougher school year than we anticipated, but there's only 4 1/2 more days - we're almost there! You've got this, my friends!

• 10 Things Blocking Your WiFi Signal at Home
• Google Workspace Updates
• Google Chat:  Add Personal Tasks from Chat
• Google Docs:  Take Action on Multiple Text Selections
• Google Drive:  Cut, Copy and Paste Files Using Keyboard Shortcuts
• Google Drive:  Easily See File Locations
• How to Make Your Facebook Account More Private
• TARA - A Planning Tool for New and Veteran Teachers
• Classroom Posters - The Rules of Civil Conversation
• I Reorganized My Digital Life by Color (Gmail, Drive, Chrome, and more!)
• Alternatives to Book Reports
• 34 End-of-Year Memes for Teachers Who Are Just Hanging On

10 Things Blocking Your WiFi Signal at Home

10 Things Blocking Your WiFi Signal at Home, from How-To Geek by Jason Fitzpatrick

Do you have spots in your home where the WiFi signal is weak? Find out why.

Google Workspace Updates

Google Chat:  Add Personal Tasks from Chat

Similar to adding tasks from within Gmail, you'll also be able to add tasks from Google Chat. This makes it so much easier to add a task, with all the details from the chat, without leaving the chat. I haven't seen this new feature yet, but it should arrive in the next week or two. Not sure how to use Tasks? Check out this help article. 

Google Docs:  Take Action on Multiple Text Selections

You'll now be able to select different sections of text and delete, copy, paste, or format the selections all at once. This is a nice little time saver, eliminating the need to make repeated changes. This update is available now, and you can find all the details here. 

Google Drive:  Cut, Copy and Paste Files Using Keyboard Shortcuts

On the web version of Drive (meaning, not in the Drive app for mobile devices) you can now select files and use the keyboard shortcuts for cut (ctrl x), copy(ctrl c) and paste(ctrl v). (You'll use the command key on a Mac.) This long overdue update is already available for us, in fact you may have already seen a pop up message about it. You can also paste files right into a document or email, as cut and copy also captures a link to the file. Here is all the info about this update.

Google Drive:  Easily See File Locations

Currently in Drive, we can see a file's name, owner, modification date and size. Soon we will also be able to see the file location. I've wished for this feature for a long time every time I've just needed a quick link for a particular file. The file location information will be visible in the search, recent, and trash views.  We should see this new feature in the next two weeks. More info is available here. 

How to Make Your Facebook Account More Private

How to Make Your Facebook Account More Private, from How-To Geek by Tim Brookes

If you enjoy keeping up with friends online, but are concerned about your online privacy, this article will show you how to protect yourself on Facebook. 

TARA - A Planning Tool for New and Veteran Teachers

TARA - A Planning Tool for New and Veteran Teachers, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

Looking for an online lesson planning Tool? This one has a resource bank and a strategy bank for developing your lessons. 

Classroom Posters - The Rules of Civil Conversation

Classroom Posters - The Rules of Civil Conversation, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

This is exactly what social media, in fact the internet, needs right now. 

I Reorganized My Digital Life by Color (Gmail, Drive, Chrome, and more!)

Alternatives to Book Reports

Alternatives to Book Reports, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

Here are four alternatives to the traditional book report using Canva, Flippity, Google Earth or Google Slides. 

34 End-of-Year Memes for Teachers Who Are Just Hanging On

34 End-of-Year Memes for Teachers Who Are Just Hanging On, from We Are Teachers by Stacy Tornio

This is definitely not tech related, but we can all use a little comedy relief about now.