Thursday, August 24, 2023

Tech Tips and News for August 2023

Selfie card created entirely in Slides
[Of course I intended to send this last week, but we all know how those days leading up to the first week of school go!] Welcome back teachers! Here's an idea to welcome your students back and learn more about them with the Selfie Card activity. After seeing John Sowash's post below, I made this selfie card completely in Google Slides, using a photo I took with my webcam, and a photo I had for the background, a shape behind the text, which I color matched to the stones behind it, to make it more readable against the background. Using image mask, I changed the shape of my photo using the circle shape, cropping the photo into an oval, and adding a drop shadow to make it pop from the background. Finally I added a border around the "card" and was finished in about 10 minutes. The activity description, selfie card template, and its benefits are linked below. This activity can be used not only as a way for you to get to know your students, but also as a way to see how well they can navigate Canvas to complete the activity, and to find out what level of tech skills they have. If you create a selfie card for yourself, I'd love to see it, so please share. I wish you a successful start to the new school year! Please reach out if I can help in any way.

Top Tips to Avoid Getting Scammed

Top Tips to Avoid Getting Scammed, from Tom's Guide by Bitdefender Total Security
This is actually the online version of an infomercial, and it is not my intent to recommend this service, however there are some good cybersecurity tips in the article. Bitdefender is just one of MANY anti-mailware products available. I recommend the built-in Windows Security on Windows PCs, or free version of Malwarebytes...just set an alarm or calendar event to remember to manually run scans regularly with Malwarebytes after the 14 day free trial has ended.

 Google Chrome Just Got 5 Big Upgrades

 Google Chrome Just Got 5 Big Upgrades, from Tom's Guide by Dave Meikleham
Chrome version 115 is out, and there are some notable updates, such as where to find your downloaded files, and expanded touch to search options.

Google Search Posters

Richard Byrne from Free Technology for Teachers is offering an infographic and a poster you can make available for your students to help them remember all the ways they can improve their search skills. Actually these resources are helpful for adults too! A PDF copy of the infographic is available here. Print the poster here. 

Selfie Card Activity

Selfie Card Activity, from Chromebook Classroom by John Sowash
This can be used as a way to get to know your students, a way to assess their tech skills, as well as a way to make sure they can navigate Canvas. Although the article mentions using Google Classroom, it can certainly be used in Canvas.

5 More Google Tips for Teachers


17 Google Quick Tips for Back to School

17 Google Quick Tips for Back to School, from Shake Up Learning by Kasey Bell
A few of these tips refer to Google Classroom, which you may or may not be able to apply to Canvas, but the rest are quite useful. 

Back to School with Google Workspace:  6 Online Activities

Here you'll find a variety of activities to get to know your students, build relationships, do some goal setting, create and play some games. This is actually part 1 of a 3-part series. Parts 2 and 3 are linked in this article. 

5 Ways ChatGPT and AI Can Help You in the Classroom

Matt Tevlin, DOGR Educational Technology Specialist, attended this VanAndel Institute webinar this summer, and recommends it highly. Here are links to the hyperdoc and slide deck used in the webinar. Find out how you can use AI effectively in your classroom. Keep in mind, you don't have to use ChatGPT, you can use Google Bard completely free. Remember, due to age restrictions, AI tools are blocked for our students, but not for teachers. 


A New Accessible PhET Simulation

A New Accessible PhET Simulation, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Embed science and math simulations into Canvas to share with your students. 
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