Google Earth is available on Chrome and Chromebooks! You can still use the desktop version. It’s now called Earth Pro on Desktop. Click on Resources to see tutorials on both.
Search the world just like the desktop version
Learn with Knowledge Cards once you arrive at a destination - note information is from Wikipedia
See the world in 3D (or 2D)
Choose your own adventure using Voyager - explore premade “trips”
See where the world takes you using the Feeling Lucky option
A great way to keep track of information for both teachers and students is to use the app Pocket. You can connect Pocket using your Gmail account. Once you’re logged in, you can save articles, videos, images and more. Pocket has apps available for just about any device. Once you connect Pocket, look for it in the share options of the item of interest. Add the Pocket Chrome extension for quickly saving items in Google Chrome. Pocket is integrated with over 1500 apps, so saving is easy in just about any platform. Save an item on one device for viewing across all of your devices. Pocket syncs your saved items so that they’re available for viewing - even offline!
read&write for Google Chrome is a Chrome extension that converts text to speech. Currently students have free access to the basic tools of this extension. Teachers can sign up to receive free access to the premium tools, which can be used for demonstrations and whole class work. Watch this brief introduction to learn about the many features of read&write for Google Chrome.
Student access:
Text to speech for Docs, Slides and the web
Practice reading aloud
Translator
Teacher access (student features plus):
Text to Speech for ePub and PDF
Speech to text
Word prediction
Dictionary - word, picture and talking
Highlighting of text, can also group highlighted text in a document
Create a vocabulary list
Simplify text - great tool for websites
Teachers - Visit the read&write website to sign up for a premium account and for information on how to get started.
CleanPrint is a Chrome extension that lets you save and/or print exactly what you need from the web - helping to save the planet one sheet at a time. Add CleanPrint to Google Chrome from the Chrome Web Store.
Watch this brief tutorial for a quick introduction on how to use CleanPrint features like:
Selecting only the content you need, eliminating unwanted ads
Deleting unrelated text or images
Increasing or decreasing font size
Adding a note
Printing, saving to PDF, or storing streamlined content in Drive
*** Of course in the age of “fake news”, having the ability to delete parts of original content is a bit Orwellian, so use your power wisely. ***
I'm adding some posts that appeared in my school newsletters. The first is on Quizizz:
Use Quizizz to quickly create fun multiplayer quizzes for common formative assessments or closure of a lesson. Quizizz has a similar playing format to Kahoot. You can also generate a link so that students can complete a session outside of class. Here are a few tips to get started:
Mark Quizizz public or private
Add questions or import from existing Quizizz
Mark the correct answer
Play a session live or generate a link for homework
See or download data on students who have completed a session
Edueto is an online tool that can be used to create customized student assessment activities. Since we are a Google Apps for Education district, Edueto compliments tools like Google Form Quizzes by offering activities such as sequencing, picture tagging and easy equation editing. Edueto also integrates with Google Classroom. Watch the video below for a brief description of Edueto.
Teachers can either:
Search the Edueto Public Library for existing activities using limiters like grade and content. A quick link for the public activities is provided so they can be used right away. Some of the public activities may need additional content for high school use. Keep reading for information on how to quickly edit existing activities.
OR
Create an account to take full advantage of the site. Site features include creating your own activities; tracking your students' progress; seeing the results of your whole class as well as individual students; and as mentioned, integration with Google Classroom.
To create your own activity, sign up with your Google account. Go to My Library and click on +New Exercise.
Or click on Public Library at the top of the page to search for existing activities to use right away or customize.
Activities can be created or customized in three easy steps:
Choose an activity type (for new activities) - options shown below
Fill in your information
Share the activity with your students
When editing an activity, click on the "i" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen to watch a video tutorial (note - not all of the activities have a tutorial available).
Videos and files can also be added to activities.
Start using Edueto to see how easy creating effective online assessment activities can be.
YouTube has many great educational videos. Did you know that it also has:
tools to help you keep videos you find organized?
storage for uploading your own videos?
video editing tools?
This blog post is all about how to use these helpful features and put the YOU in YouTube.
First, Google Apps for Education users automatically have a YouTube channel (account). You can access this account by:
going to Drive
clicking on the grid
clicking on YouTube - you may need to click on the More option to see YouTube
SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNELS
You can subscribe to educational YouTube Channels. When you find a producer of videos that you like, you can subscribe to their channel by clicking on the Subscribe button. Here are some suggestions:
Best YouTube Education Channels Worth Following in 2016 from freemake.com Once you subscribe to channels, you can easily access them by clicking on the Guide button (triple lines) in the upper left-hand corner of the screen - you must be signed into your Gmail accout to see them listed. UPLOAD VIDEOS You can also upload your own videos or videos that your students have created for sharing and viewing. When you are in YouTube:
click on the Create Studio button below your name
fill in a user name
click the Create Studio button
This will open up the YouTube dashboard. To upload a video, click the Upload button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Watch the brief video below for more details. Your videos and videos you like can also be organized using Playlists.
VIDEO EDITING
YouTube has been busy adding even more tools for working with video content!
Video Editing: YouTube has expanded their video editing tools. They now include basic editing functions to modify clips, insert transitions, sound, images, etc. and an audio library for importing songs and sound effects. Click here for more details.
Annotations: Annotations can be added to videos. Some examples of annotations are speech bubbles, spotlights, pop-up notes and links. Click here to learn more.
Read the article below for some additional practical tips.
