Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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Tech tools working checking out! Simple, free and awesome- a wide variety!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016


Web tools and sites:

lingro: One of the coolest dictionary tools I have seen for websites. 

Soundtrap - Make music online

My best tools for Creating Video and Video Slide Shows - Check out my doc here<--- Check in out!

Google tools for ELA.

I have shared this one before... but it's worth sharing again!  If you need a simple whiteboard tool for your computer or Chromebooks - This site is for you! 

Use http://www.mathlanding.org/  to search for interactive math resources for elementary students. 

Three Tools That Help Students Take Notes While Watching Videos. (I love MoveNote in the list.) - Remember Edpuzzle is awesome for assigning videos and asking/quizzing the students while they watch! (This one is not on the list since it falls into a different category.) 


The Adobe Spark apps are amazing! Free... and easy to use.  (I know... I have shared this one before.... but it's a simple and awesome app and website! Applicable K-12!) 
Example Spark Video:
Students from Amberley Primary School, who created a high-energy Spark Video to wish Great Britain's athletes luck.

The Rio Report -- The U.S. Olympic sailing team shared updates about Rio using beautiful Spark Page web stories.  (Great way to create online flyers, announcements, add flair to your website, etc...)


Google Classroom:

The Definitive Guide to Google Classroom "Parent View" aka Guardian Summaries (This new feature was added to Google Classroom a few weeks ago.  Find out how it works on the parent side too!) 


Intro to Google Classroom - A Google Slideshow with links to many Classroom resources. 


Google Docs:

A New Lesson Plan Tool for Google Docs via Free Technology for Teachers

Yes, there is revision history. But if you want to see a mini-movie of your revisions, then the DraftBack extension is for you! 

Yes, Google Drive search is better and updated... but you will love that they are  adding columns to Google Docs! 


Google Slides:


Google Sheets:


These slick Google Sheets add-ons make working with data so much easier!  (I love the PowerTools one.) 

Become a Data Super Hero with the NEW Awesome Tables - Google Slides - A more advanced tool, but amazing for data dissemination and more! 

Create Dynamic Dropdown Menus in Google Sheets - This 3 minute video will show you how. 

Give Each Student Their Own Tab - Via Teacher Tech.  A nice template for spreasheets if you need to accomplish this task. 

Google Draw:

Create, Submit, Find a Google Draw Badge - Kind of a cool idea, and several badges for you to grab too! 

A couple amazing extensions and more in this weeks tech list! Check it out.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016


These first two are amazing extensions.... 
Awesome Chrome Extension for screen recording and making training videos! 
This chrome extension is awesome.  Easily record your screen and include audio and a "talking head" video as you record your screen.  All of the videos are stored on their site. You can also download the video and save it to your computer or Google Drive as well. 

Use your webcam/doc-cam to include the audio and video while you record your screen.  (At Norris... If you do not have one, let us know... we provide the doc cams to all staff.) 

Visit the Openvid website. They have a link to the Chrome extension as well as a short video. (It's simple enough to figure out on your own.) 

Amazing Chrome Extension for whiteboarding in your class! 
Annotate web content using XPress, an intuitive whiteboard extension for the Chrome browser: 


Google classroom: 
Mickie's guide to Google Classroom is worth checking out! 


Misc. Google Tools, news and more...

What's New in Google Apps newsletter - August 2016 

Playlist - 3 nice YouTube videos on the new Google Form quizzes. 

This tech guy just learned something new!  Did you know you may have orphaned files in Google drive that you own but do not see anymore?  WOW!  This article shows you how to search for them. 

Creating with Chromebooks: Multimedia Apps & Tools <--- This site rocks!  Great online tools and apps divided by use/need. 



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