Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Tech Tips and News for March 2026

Whew! I'm just squeaking this in on the last day of the month! My apologies, it's been a busy repair month. If you find yourself with some extra time during break, take a look at the NotebookLM webinar recording by Eric Curts (linked in the Tips & Tutorials section below).  In his usual detailed and concise manner, Eric will walk you through all the features of NotebookLM, and how they can help you as an educator. Even if you are not a teacher this is an incredibly useful tool for understanding long documents, legal jargon, or learning any new topic. Of course, there are always a few articles to keep you updated on cybersecurity awareness, so you can be armed with the knowledge you need to stay safe online. I wish you a spiritual Triduum and a joyful Easter. For those of you travelling during spring break next week, please travel safely, and return rested and recharged. Not traveling anywhere? Take a trip virtually with the Citywalki site. It gives you a walking, driving or flying tour of through 200 cities around the world. Learn how in the last article below. 
 

Safety & Security


Updates


Tips & Tutorials



Half of All Cyberattacks Start in Your Browser

Half of All Cyberattacks Start in Your Browser, vrom ZDNet by Charlie Osborne
New research finds that 48% of cyberattacks involve your web browser - and AI is only making matters worse. Follow these best practices to protect yourself.

Scammer Got Your Email? Here's What to Do Immediately

Two scenarios:  A scammer has access to your email account and password, or someone does not actually have access to your email account but is pretending to be you. Find out what to do in each case. 

Ordering a New Phone? Watch Out for This Convincing Scam That Hits Immediately After

This one is pretty creepy. It's also telling that Spectrum and Xfinity declined to answer how scammer immediately notified about a new phone purchase - including the user's name and phone purchased. If you're buying a new phone anytime soon, please be aware of this scam. 

How to Clean Up Your Digital Footprint - and Why It Matters More Than You Think

What will someone find if they Google you? Will there be an old, embarrassing social media post that surfaces? 



Google Classroom has a BIG new feature (Feb. EDU Updates)

Reminder:  ASA uses the Teaching & Learning upgrade for Teachers and Admins.

The One Gemini Feature You Can't Use in School  + All March EDU Updates



Google Classroom:  Educators Can Get Help Drafting Personalized Guidance on Written Assignments


With this update, teachers can get AI suggested feedback on written assignments in Google Classroom. When giving feedback in private comments on assignments in Google Classroom, educators can select “Help me write” to have Gemini suggest written feedback for the assignment. Teachers can then review, edit, and refine before sharing with students, ensuring teachers remain in control of the guidance provided while reducing the time spent on writing manual feedback. Learn how to give feedback on assignments here. You should already be seeing this update. 

NotebookLM:  New Ways to Customize and Interact With Your Content


Google Vids:  Expanded Video Length

If you've use the video creator in Canva, Google Vids works the same way, with the added advantage of integrating with all your Google Workspace for Education apps and tools. Previously Vids were limited to 10 minutes in length. With this update, video length has been expanded to 30 minutes. Recordings now have the same expanded length, and imported video and audio clips can be up to 95 minutes in length, or 4GB in size. You should already be seeing this update. You can find the full update description here

Google Vids:  New Cartoon Avatars

In addition to the photo realistic avatars available in Google Vids, there are now also 2D and 3D cartoon avatars available. This will make the speaker in your video a little more "kid-friendly". You should already be seeing this update. Learn how to use AI avatars in Google Vids here



Here Are 5 Ways You Can Teach Cybersecurity

Here Are 5 Ways You Can Teach Cybersecurity, from PC Magazine by Kim Key
This article claims most kids don't learn cybersecurity in school - do you agree? If you are teaching your students good cybersecurity habits as well as digital citizenship, feel free to share this article with your parents to help them reinforce those habits at home. 

>Record Audio and Video Directly in Google Classroom!

Record audio and video directly in Google Classroom!, from Chromebook Classroom by John Sowash
This is a helpful idea for student feedback, sub plans and more. 

>10 Smart Ways Elementary Teachers Can Use AI to Save Time and Inspire Creativity

To clarify, these are ways to make YOUR job easier, not ways you can use AI with students. The list includes tips like changing the grade level of any reading passage, building kid-friendly rubrics, design an active learning lesson, designing custom decodable stories, or writing your classroom newsletter.

NotebookLM for Schools: Your Grounded Google AI Super Tool

If you have not yet embraced the wonderful world of NotebookLM as your teaching assistant, you are truly missing out on a HUGE time saving tool. Give yourself the gift of time to learn this tool, I promise you'll thank me later. It's so useful for understanding a lot of information quickly, using it as an ongoing resource where you can ask questions about a long document, such as a handbook, as well as creating useful resources from that information. This video is an hour and a half in duration, but will cover EVERYTHING NotebookLM can do for you. 


PBS Learning Media Resources for Teachers

Are you familiar with PBS Learning Media? This is the educational portion of PBS designed specifically for teachers. There are so many free online resources for teaching and learning. Sign up for free and check it out. 

Take a Brain Break and Wander the World

Take a calming brain break, spark curiosity, or prompt conversation with Citywalki. Tour over 200 cities by walking, car or flying. After opening the site and selecting a city, you'll see a YouTube video of a street level view of of someone walking through the city and taking in all the sights. 

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