Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

Welcome to my technology blog.
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Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts

πŸ’₯ Tech tools - New gmail right-click, add-ons, Googel slide tools, YouTube tricks and more!

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Can You Spot When You’re Being Phished? (Hey - A hacker just tried phishing a lot of school employees via our retirement plan, so be careful!) 

-Take Google's test to test out your phishing chops. To make this quiz, the team drew from materials they've used to train thousands of journalists, political figures, and activists. Can you tell what's fake?  

Another great resource to avoid Phishing:  social engineering red
flags  



Khan Academy Kids - a free award-winning app for ages 2-6! 
If you have brothers, sisters, friends, or neighbors who are ages two to six, be sure to share Khan Academy Kids with them. Khan Academy Kids makes learning engaging and fun. Thousands of activities, aligned to the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and Common Core, delve deep into topics ranging from math to language arts and socio-emotional learning.
It’s now available on Google PlayAmazonFire, and the iTunes App Store  

10 YouTube URL Tricks You Should Know About
Some pretty neat tricks in this article... link to a specific spot, create a Gif, download, etc... 

How will technology affect jobs in the future? 
(JD.com opened a completely automated warehouse near Shanghai, that employes four people.)  See what their automated warehouse looks like today  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFV8IkY52iY  (Amazing Video.) 

Teach Coding with CS First
Google's free, video-based computer science curriculum is designed for teachers with no prior CS knowledge and for students in grades 4-8 (ages 9-14). Explore the getting started videos and check out how teachers like you are using CS First in their classrooms.

Free ebooks, audiobooks, movies, K-12 resources and more...


A Soft Murmur - If you like background sounds!
A Soft Murmur allows you to simply play around with the sliders to create your very own background noise.

Google Docs add-ons:
The 10 Best Google Docs Add-Ons for More Professional Documents 

5 New Google-Made Apps That Are Cool, Useful, and Fun.
One of these (Password Checker) we have deployed to all staff and students already.) - Check them out! 

Google Slides - Pretty Cool! 


Misc. Resources:
The Library of Congress has lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school students easily searchable and organized by collection. From African American History to World War II the choices are fantastic. Check out their Primary source sets too! 

Shadow Puppet EDU (IOS App)  has partnered with the Library of Congress to give students access to a collection of images. Students can create narrated slideshows using images to record their understanding of different topics in history.  With Shadow Puppet EDU videos creations can now be up to 30 minutes long and include 100 slides of pictures.  Users have the ability to add images from NASA, Flickr Creative Commons, and the Library of Congress’ archive without leaving the app. It's a great free storytelling app worth checking out for the iPads. 

Photo Resource - “Remove Background” - https://www.remove.bg   Great resource for teachers and students to remove background images from photos. Thanks to Lisa Harrington who found out about this resource at a conference, and shared it with our high school staff.





Password Managers: A great tip from our amazing network admin - Thanks @bryancwilliams 

The last I checked, I personally have over 100 online accounts.  Each account has a unique password that I don't even have to remember.  Wait...  What???  You don't know the passwords to over 100 accounts.  That is correct.  Am I crazy?  Yes and No, depending on who you ask.  Regardless, I am able to pull this off using a password manager and I highly recommend you start using one.

A password manager is pretty self-explanatory.  It manages all of your passwords in one central location utilizing one master password to secure all of your credentials and information.  Putting all of your eggs in one basket can be a little unsettling for some people but the advantages of doing so far outweigh the disadvantages of not having one.  There are two password managers I would recommend. 1Password (which I use) and LastPass (which Noel uses).  These are the two of the most popular PM's that we can provide basic guidance on.  There are others out there but a person needs to do their research to make sure they are repeatable.  Here are just some of the benefits that might entice you to move into a password management product.
  • One Password.  One strong password or passphrase gets you access to all of your accounts.
  • Greater Security - If one of your passwords is ever breached, all other accounts remain secure due to each having a different password.
  • Faster Logins - Using autofill or keystroke combinations,  passwords are automatically filled in in less than a second.  No thinking about what username or password to use.
  • Shared Logins - Share logins with family members.  Give access to family members on a regular basis or in case of an emergency.
  • Encryption -  All passwords and information is encrypted and stored securely on 1Password and LastPass servers.
When implementing a PM, remember you now have one password that holds all the keys to the kingdom.  Make it strong!  Don't forget it!  Make a backup copy of any recovery process or keys provided!  Side Note: The current industry trend is to use a passphrase rather than a password.  Both 1Password and LastPass both support passphrases.  I would suggest your master password be a passphrase.







πŸ’₯ Tech tools - TIPS - tricks, math apps, free ebooks and more!

Monday, March 5, 2018



Misc. websites and web tools:

How To Create Digital Portfolios with Spark Page. (We love the Adobe Spark tools!) 

Google Keep - Norris staff- You should be using this great tool! 
With our new staff Acer Spin Chromebook units...  this tool is awesome!


Here is our Norris tips and trick doc: Google keep--- Now integrated with Google Docs!



Some great Math Apps, sites, and tools:

The Math Learning Center has these free IOS, Chrome and Web apps. Check them out!  (All of these have been added to the student approved list of Chrome apps/extensions. 



Care of Chromebooks & iPads 
Remember to never leave your electronic devices in a cold or hot car.  It's very hard on the device as well as the battery in these devices.  (A great thing to remind your students about!) 

Turn your Google Doc into an online flip book!

Great project for kids too!  Export your Google Doc as a PDF and import into Issuu



A few Free Kindle eBooks:

Great list of free eBooks located here and a second list located here and a third list here.   Grab them while they are free.   (Make sure you check the price since some do jump back to regular prices.) 


Here is another list - but a few of these are no longer free, so check the price before you "buy". 

If you really like reading --- 2-Month Kindle Unlimited Membership for $1 until March 11, 2018. 
Note: Existing Kindle Unlimited subscribers are NOT eligible.

πŸ’₯ Tech tools - Free eBooks, Amazing Templates, SeeSaw, Free Turkey -NOT, and more!

Thursday, December 21, 2017



BeCareful with Phishing emails!  - Yes... this tech guy clicked on a phishing email! 
I love the KnowBe4 product.  It keeps all of us on our toes with phishing emails.  Well, I get them just like you do... and BAM - this tech guy was not careful enough.  I am a Costco Business Member and get several emails a week... so when I got an email that looked like it came from Costco and a free turkey... hey I clicked on it.  (Like WOW - a free turkey!) A good reminder to us all - they get us at our busy time, our weak moments when we are expecting a package, or just another typical email you may receive, or even a free turkey!  (Guess I am the turkey on this one, LOL.) 


Have a great holiday, but do not expect a free turkey this season... and always be careful with emails, software downloads, and your personal information! 


All About Me Projects for Google Classroom (made with Spark Video!) 

GREAT EXTENTION for Chromebooks and webcam! - Alice Keeler Webcam Snapshot<---



8 Adobe Spark Poetry Activities for Chromebook & iPad Classrooms. 

How to annotate your photos with iOS 10's Markup feature  Works on iPads and iPhones.  Must be IOS 10 or above.  (Note- the old iPad2 units will not run IOS 10.) 

One for the K-6 teachers - (We have Book Creator licenses for the iPad carts.)  - 7 Favorite Apps to Use with Book Creator

Some great resources from one of my Favourites - Richard Byrne - @rmbyrne  Always good stuff from this guy! 




Seven Ways to Create Screencasts on Chromebooks  - Try out the Screencast-O-Matic public Beta too.  (I love Loom as well as serval others in this post.) 

ADA Project - An Open Multimedia Mathematics Textbook 





Keeps kids learning over Christmas break with these tools:


You have to check out these templates! WOW
These teacher and student templates (FREE) will show you what you can do with Google Slides.  Gone are the days of "I wish I had Publisher" and in are the days... WOW, I did not know you could do that with Google Slides. Some great templates for class projects and awesome examples of what can be done with Google Slides. 

Create G Suite Templates with This Mind-Blowing Hack (Cool tip) 

Elementary staff - Have you tried out SeeSaw?  If not, give Jason a call to get you rolling!
New - New Features in SeeSaw

Google has added more templates.  (They still need more!) 
Visit the home page of each to see them; Docs Home ** Sheets Home ** Slides Home



HS & MS staff - Get ready for a great new product for Chromebooks!

Hope to see all of the MS & HS staff at our January 5th training on GoGuardian. Jason has a great program lined up for you! 

Free Kindle eBooks:



Twas The Night Before Christmas [Kindle Edition] Free ~ Amazon 

Quick and Easy Recipes: 30 MINUTE MEALS: Quick Recipes You Will Love (Quick and Easy Cooking) Kindle Edition

More from the Slickdeals.net site:

Amazon.com is offering Select Customers$5 Kindle eBook Credit for FreeNote, click "Continue with Offer" then sign into your account and if you are eligible, you will see a message that that the $5 Credit applied to your account.

Subscribe to Kindle Daily Deals Newsletter Get $1 Kindle eBook Credit 

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King Kindle Edition by E. T. A. Hoffmann [amazon.com]
Shakespeare: The Complete Collection [amazon.com]
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales [amazon.com]
Ben-Hur [amazon.com]
The Complete Sherlock Holmes [amazon.com]
The Canterville Ghost [amazon.com]
Peter Pan [amazon.com]
The Jungle Book [amazon.com]
The Virginian [amazon.com]
The Man of the Forest [amazon.com] 
The Charterhouse of Parma [amazon.com]
Selected Short Stories Kindle Edition by Rabindranath Tagore [amazon.com]
The Red and the Black [amazon.com]

AmazonClassics [amazon.com] pre-orders
A Doll's House (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
My Ántonia (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
North and South (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
The Piazza Tales (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
A Study in Scarlet (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
Silas Marner (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]
Shakespeare's Sonnets (AmazonClassics Edition) [amazon.com]

Dear Santa: Children's Christmas Letters and Wish Lists, 1870 - 1920 [amazon.com]

Thanks for a great year!

From the tech department, I would like to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy NewYear!  As one of our tech staff just mentioned yesterday .... It’s a pleasure to work for such a progressive district with passionate teachers and leaders.  Yes, this tech guy feels really blessed this year.  (Even though there was no free turkey.)  