Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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Free Faxing from Google drive, awesome web tools, free apps and more top this weeks list of resources!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Web resources and tools:

Movenotes now allows you to make movenotes without ever leaving your Gmail inbox. This is a great resource for teachers to use for doing video tutorials. (Flip your classroom today!) Here is my short article, including a video link, and software link. (I will be demoing this at the Norris Tech inservice on 2-13-14)

7ways to to organize information/data visually using padlet, stixy, lino, corkboard, primary wall, museum box& spaaze goo.gl/fXePaA

Free teacher tool where you create lesson plans that get delivered directly to an iPad: https://www.frolyc.com/how-it-works/

PowToons Slides for teachers is free for life, if you sign up during 2014!  (Remember, these guys recently gave thousands of teachers a free year of PowToons premium account!) <--- Educators sign up today! 

50 #edtech Tools Every Teacher Should Know About... fb.me/1c1JjqkfU

If you haven't seen DESMOS check it out.  They offer a free online graphing calculator, iPad app, and daily contests for students to help grasp their math concepts.

Seven Free Online Whiteboard Tools for Teachers and Students http://goo.gl/9HkXPj

http://www.readingrockets.org/ -Great website on reading, with a lot of resources including video, apps, docs and more.  May help anyone struggling with students reading their classroom material. Thanks to our very own Charlotte Brotherson, for finding this resource!

Search with Goofram and receive results from both Google and Wolfram Alpha: http://www.goofram.com/  <--- If you have not tried Wolfram Alpha -Check it out. 

7 Ways to Create and Deliver Online Quizzes goo.gl/ej9WPo 

5 Great Open Source Digital Textbooks for Biology http://goo.gl/3VVvo9 

50 great math websites for any age: http://goo.gl/5WZFiA

3-D: Three Great Resources for Flipping Your Classroom: http://goo.gl/l3pRce

Remind101 Is Being Used By More Than 15% Of The Teachers In US http://goo.gl/uW98Gp  Great EDU tool! Are you using it?

IOS (iPad/iPhone) Apps;
8 iPhone Apps to Use in the Classroom: http://goo.gl/2ZAqyp

25 Of The Best iPad Apps To Promote Creativity In Students http://goo.gl/Lgl3fN

WOW - What a list of apps!  Great apps shared during the #tcea14 app smackdown: http://padlet.com/wall/appsmackdown 

Google Apps add-ins, tips and tools:

Better than Boomerang.... Many say yes!  The Only Chrome Extension You Need For Gmail: mxHero Toolbox zite.to/1l7vPUD

Writing papers in Google Docs using MLA Format: youtu.be/B7fuzn3wJQM (YouTube tutorial video - 6min.)

Everything Google! - Great live binder of Google tools, tips and more.  (If you have not seen how the Livebinder site works, this is a great way to check it out.) 

Give Students Video Feedback With the Updated eduClipper App http://goo.gl/fP4mG0 (Remember, this app is added to our Google Apps Domain.) 

Top 90 Tips for Google Chromebook -Great list!

How to Use Google Drive for Descriptive Feedback http://goo.gl/C45lxd 

Google University - The @TheGoogleGooru has you covered! AWESOME resource for staff and students. http://goo.gl/y36tkh 

Google Drive Tool for Taking Notes While Watching Videos -Awesome student tool! http://goo.gl/P8wcB7 VideoNotes. (I will be demoing this at the Norris Tech inservice on 2-13-14)

Google's new Education portal, has a wealth of information available, including training tools and more. The new Learning Center is free, open, and covers basic lessons and exams for our key offerings, as well as a one-stop shop location for resources. We also have 2 new certifications that users and trainers can obtain.


Push the envelope Google Docs currently lacks its own native tool for creating properly formatted envelopes, but a third-party Chrome app called Envelopes for Google Docs is ready to fill the void. All you need to do is install the app, then run it by clicking its icon in the Chrome New Tab page. The app will ask for the envelope dimensions you need and create a new document for you that'll print at precisely the right size.


Turn Google Drive into a fax machine

Fax right from Google Drive! Join HelloFax 50 free/month & get 5 extra fax pages free. Awesome tool! http://goo.gl/GH1qyK 
Also sign up for HelloSign -get 1 extra doc free-It's the easiest way to sign & send docs (Integrates with HelloFax) http://goo.gl/bZfiZi 

  1. How-To Videos
  2. FAQ

With the HelloFax Chrome app in place, right-click any document from your Drive list to find the option to fax it. The service currently allows for up to 50 free pages per month; beyond that, you can opt to pay for a monthly or annual subscription to increase allowances and gain extra functionality (including the ability to receive faxes through the service using a phone number of your choice).

Once you've installed the HelloSign Chrome app and uploaded a signature, all you do is right-click any file in Drive and select to open it with HelloSign. You'll then be able to drag and drop your saved signature wherever you want in the document and save it or even email it to someone right there.

Movenote -An awesome tool for teachers that keeps getting better!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

I have mentioned Movenote in the past, but wanted to highlight a new feature that they released this past week, that teachers will find very useful.

It's their new Gmail feature from Movenote.  You can easily create a movenote, directly from your Gmail inbox!

This video will show the new gmail feature:




Install the Movenote for Gmail Chrome app here.

If you are not familiar with Movenote, check out my past article to get your started with it!


Activity stream for drive and Chrome reset have arrived- What a nice new feature! -Check it out.

Monday, February 3, 2014


Google Drive activity stream has arrived-What an awesome potential tool for classroom teachers.

Share a folder with your class for assignments, etc.... and watch the activity in that folder.







Hijacked Chrome extensions button added!
Another addition to Google Apps this week is the Hijacked Chrome extensions cleanup button

Google found that some Chrome extensions come bundled with malicious programs that try to hijack your browser settings. To help keep your browser settings under your control they added a “reset browser settings” button to Chrome’s settings


Yes... Google apps just keep getting better! 

Free Video Editing Software! Free (Norm $149) -Offer Ends Tomorrow!

Short post today - But wow what an offer!

If you want some free video editing software (MAC or PC), this may be time to grab it. Hitfilm2 Express is free today. (Norm $149)

Yes, you saw that right - normally $149. The offer ends tomorrow!  (Hit Amazon and you will still see if for sale!)


I just contacted the company about getting this for our entire school, but I am sure it will take a few days to hear back from them.  So for now... I would grab it while you can. 

Have a great week!

Noel