Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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πŸ’₯ Tech tools - VR, Google updates & tips, Kahn Acadamy, and more!

Tuesday, December 12, 2017



360 degree videos and VR resources:
You do not need a VR headset to use Streetview....... But remember - We have a VR kit in the MS and Intermediate buildings that have the VR headsets that are great for viewing Google Street View!  

Some pretty cool virtual visits to places, campuses and more on the YouVisit web site

360 Video Education Spotlight: BBC on YouTube 

360 Video Spotlight: National Geographic Videos for Your Next Lesson 

Virtual Reality Education Spotlight: Parks Explorer Classroom Field Trip 

Virtual Reality Discovery Channel App – Virtual Field Trips for iOS & Google 

New York Times Virtual Reality App: Free VR Experience 


Have a form to send out - it will go to spam at Norris unless you do this!
If you want to send out a form, just send a link to the form in an email to staff.  If you use the send feature within forms it will go to spam.

Techy info on this in case you care: We have taken some efforts to prevent our email addresses from being spoofed. This prevents us from being spammers and also prevents users from sending email to our staff thinking that it came from one of our staff members.  So when Google forms send an email on behalf of "us" it gets caught because we did not truly send the email. (Google sent the email form on behalf of you.)   Clear as mud... right? LOL 

Make a Fancy Email Draft in Google Docs, then Send it as a Gmail Message: 
Google Docs has a large number of formatting tools, including charts, images, tables, graphs, fonts, etc. A limited set of those are available in Gmail’s editor, however. That means it can be a challenge to create a nice-looking email using only the Gmail platform.

That’s where the Chrome extension Convert Google Docs to Gmail Drafts comes in.

You can create an email message or newsletter—including all its beautiful formatting—in a Google Doc, and then click a button to convert the Doc into a Gmail draft. Here is a link to the doc you get after installing the extension with more info. 

Google Drive tips & apps:

Become a Google Drive power user with these 20 tips and tricks 

Create Audio projects right from Google Drive with this add-on:  Beautiful Audio Editor

Tip: Tag Anyone in a Doc to have them respond. 
Need a friend or other person to answer a question about something in a doc? 

Just type “+yourfriend@theircompany.com” in a comment.

Google drive will notify them of the comment in the Google Doc and send them a link giving them access to the document.

This Google Keep Trick Will Make You a Better Reader - Check it out. 



Finally! Embed HTML and JavaScript in the New Google Sites! 
Google recently made it possible to embed web pages as iframes in the new Google Sites. With this launch, they're giving you one more tool to customize your sites—you can now embed HTML and JavaScript code directly into your sites. This makes the new Google sites much more powerful!  Read more about it here

Use your phone as a remote for Google Slide presentations and as a mouse for your computer!
 
Turn your phone into a Google Slides remote control with this Chrome extension.  At Norris - I recommend turning your entire phone into a remote mouse for your computer! This doc will get you started. 

Changing How You View Photos and Videos in Google Drive
Today in Google Drive you can view your Google Photos directly via a tab in the left navigation and from folders within My Drive. In early January 2018, Google will simplify Drive navigation by removing the Google Photos tab. You can continue to access your photos and videos in Drive by creating a Google Photos folder in My Drive. More info here. 


Some new features in Gsuite:


Science Journal on Android and iOS
Let your class explore the world like scientists with the Science Journal app. Students can measure real-time data and record their observations in a digital notebook. The redesigned app is now available on iOS and Android with over 20 new activities from educational partners. Note- This Android app has been aproved for the HS student's Chromebooks... so they can install it if needed. 

Weather Station up and rolling at Norris: 
Bryan Williams has the Norris FFA WeatherLink station all set up and ready to roll!  We do not have Ken Siemek rolling yet... but Cullison does have the MS news broadcast that often includes a weather report. πŸ˜€ You can get current and historical data including temperature, wind, rain and many other measurements. 

Data from the station is available on the WeatherLink.com website as well as iOS and Android apps.


Thanks to the Norris FFA for obtaining the grant. 

A few good Gmail tips from Better Cloud - with how to videos!

Undo a Sent Email

If you made an error in your message, sent it to the wrong person or forgot some information, Gmail has you covered. You can undo a sent email up to 30 seconds after clicking the send button.

Create a Contact Group

If you have a group of co-workers or a team you need to frequently send emails to, this is a definite time saver. Instead of adding every individual—and potentially forgetting someone—you can create a group and just type that name in instead of each email address.

Use Gmail Advanced Search Operators

Everyone knows that Google is renowned for their search engine. With Gmail, you have the power of that search engine in your inbox. If you’ve got a ton of emails to sift through and you’re looking for a particular one, this makes it a lot easier to find. Check it out now! 

Log Out of Other Sessions

This one is more of a reminder. A lot of bad can come from forgetting to log out of your Gmail account on shared machines, like having your personal info get compromised. Here's how you can log out of those sessions.

Enable Desktop Notifications

If you’re keeping an eye out for an important email, but don’t want to have to keep going back to check Gmail, this is perfect. While you’re doing other tasks on your computer, a pop-up window will announce when you’ve gotten that email you’re waiting for. How to video here

New & Improved Google for Education Website
Introducing the new and improved Google for Education website! Now live in the U.S. and Canada, check out our redesigned site and explore new additions like the Computer Science hubK12 and Higher Ed solution pages, and The Latest, a collection of news and insights about the education world. 

Google's Applied Digital Skills Curriculum - now aligned with state standards.
  • Identify Applied Digital Skills content that overlaps with your state standards
  • Filter for your “state,” “grade,” “state standard,” or “skills” to see the unit(s) that best fit your needs

Google Arts & Culture 
On the homepage, you’ll find a wide range of media to bring into your classroom. This website has a daily digest that includes a handful of curated resources to jump into each day. It includes free access to videos on topics related to different cultures as well as featured themes with large collections of images, artifacts, videos and more.

5 things to do before giving an old iPhone or iPad to your kid
Don't hand over an aging iOS device to your eager youngster before doing a little kid-proofing first. These steps will get you started


Great IOS app for younger kids and projects:  ChatterPix Kids Makes Pictures Come to Life

A plug for Kahn Acadamy - 

I thought it would be appropriate to forward some materials I received in an email from Kahn.  The timing is right! 
(Remember it's free (and always will be!) because millions have been donated by foundations and individuals.)

Finals are almost here, and we want to do everything we can to make sure your students are confident and ready.
Take a few minutes to check out our world-class videos, overview articles, diagnostic quizzes, and practice questions. Then, share links to Khan Academy lessons with your students.
If you have students who are shaky on a concept, you can also create an assignment that points them towards a video or practice problems to make sure they’ve got it:



You can also assign a quiz or unit test to check their skills. If they have any gaps in their understanding, we'll help your students find and fill them.
Check out the content we have for your students and then recommend the resources that will work best for them:
Advanced Placement & college prep
AP Calculus ABAP Biology
AP Calculus BCAP US History
AP StatisticsAP World History
AP Physics 1AP Art History
AP Physics 2AP Microeconomics
AP ChemistryAP Macroeconomics
Math
6thTrigonometry
7thPrecalculus
8thCalculus
Pre-AlgebraStatistics & probability
Algebra 1Linear algebra
GeometryDifferential equations
Algebra 2 
Science & engineering
BiologyOrganic chemistry
PhysicsHealth & medicine
ChemistryElectrical engineering
Arts & humanities
Art historyUS history
GrammarWorld history
Economics & finance
MicroeconomicsMacroeconomics
Onward!
The Khan Academy Team



And remember ... we are not cavemen!
(No, I do not watch SpongeBob, but I love the graphic. ) 


πŸ’₯ Tech tools - Great Google add-ons, Awesome whiteboarding apps, and more!

Monday, December 4, 2017


Google Tricks:  8 Sweet Tips For Your Classroom, Students, and Teachers Alike

Top 10 TED Talks For Teachers - If you have not looked at a TED talk - they are great. 


I have promoted this one before and ran across another reference to it... so I figured I would pass it along again. Great resource - Flippity.net - turn a spreadsheet into a wide variety of tools for students (flashcards, random name picker, badge/progress tracker, Jeopardy-like game, etc.)

ReadWorks is cognitive science-based, free, and effective. The largest, highest-quality library of nonfiction and literary articles, carefully curated to support reading comprehension



The 32 Best Google Docs Add-ons in 2017 

You have to check out this list. <---- Several great new ones in this list!

Great site for younger readers/teachers!  Elementary teacher- Check it out! 

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and dozens more.

Storyline Online receives over 100 million views annually from children all over the world.

The videos are free - they stream via YouTube.  (You can buy the book they are reading too.) 


Google Doc add-on for grading writing papers - Grab it now and use it to get it for free for life! 

Want to save time and effort when scoring your students' writing? Use WriQ...and help build a new writing metric!
WriQ is a new Add-on from Texthelp that helps teachers score and keep track of students’ spelling, punctuation and grammar errors so you can focus on the things computers can’t score.

Grab this one now if you can use it ... Because it will turn into a yearly paid service in the future ... but Free if...

As they state in the overview: And It’s Free…
WriQ is completely free for now, but over time additional “premium” features will be added. For a limited time, as a thank-you to everyone who scores 100 student writing passages to help us out, we’ll give you free access...for life!


Two Great Apps for your teacher Chromebooks from Gault!

These two sites/apps allow you to use your stylus to annotate on a blank white screen, picture, or PDF.  You can collaborate while annotating, share, and save your sessions.
NEW - Ziteboard - You can install it from HERE. (Chrome extension) Give it a try!  
Another good whiteboard "web" app is awwapp. (Website - no install!) 

Hour of code is coming! December 4-10!
Check out our Computer Science & Coding Resources doc - We just updated it with some great materials from Kahn Academy.   Don't' get overwhelmed with the long list of resources - just start out slow with an hour of code project!. 


Hyperdocs - Have you tried these? -Do you know what they are


Chrome extensions:

Easy Accents - This Add-on allows users to easily insert accents for different languages directly from a sidebar in their Google Doc. 

Extensity- Keep track of the extensions and add-ons you are currently using, turn off and on through the extension.

One Tab- allows you to share your tabs via website

Draft Back- see how students create


Tip -  Filter Your Searches in Google Drive!

At the top of the Google Drive is a search box with a down-arrow button as shown above. Clicking the arrow will let you see the box with search options to filter your search results. You can filter by file type, date modified and owner. If you are looking for shared files, you can filter the same by looking for the name of the person you’ve shared the file with.




πŸ’₯ Grants, Free eBooks and apps, tech items and more.

Monday, November 13, 2017


Grants for Nebraska Educators: 
The NETA association has grants available to educators in Nebraska.  Remember, membership is now free, so I would encourage you to join. Visit this page for more information about the grants. 


EDpuzzle's New Youtube Extension & Curriculum Channel 
Send any video straight from Youtube to EDpuzzle, with just one click. Then edit it and make it your own video-lesson :) Download EDpuzzle's Youtube Extension for Google Chrome and check it out! Remember EdPuzzle is a great tool to assign videos, ask questions and make sure your students have watched the video you assign! 

New Feature Unlocked - Introducing the Curriculum Channel 
More info from EDpuzzle: We've got great news that we're very excited to share! Wouldn't it be magical if you could find great resources for your students, instantly? Now you can! Starting today, your school has an organized video lesson library full of amazing resources sorted by your grade level and subject area. 


Free Kindle eBooks! - Great History collection!

Amazon has 40+ Hourly History titles [Kindle Edition] for free.

For example:


Google Curriculum for career readiness skills 
Try Google's Applied Digital Skills, a free course that prepares people for jobs requiring basic digital skills.

IOS Apps and Tips:

First Time Free IOS: Teachers' Pack 2 ($35.99), Pencil Stab Magic Trick, My Little Princess : Castle, Tiny Defense 2 ... Check out the list here. 

The New Periodic Table Of IPad Apps For Primary Aged Pupils 




✏️ Did you know that you can markup an image with the built-in iOS 11 Photos app?! From Tony Vincent‏  @tonyvincent

It is kind of hidden... Tap a photo's Edit button, then the More icon, then Markup. Works great for screenshots too!

And, there's a Highlight tool!




Fast Free Apps and eBooks Nov 13 – 17 from the iMums.  (I always look at this list.) 

πŸ’₯ Tech Tools - Free VR viewer, Free Apps and More! In this weeks post.

Monday, October 30, 2017


Get your free cardboard VR viewer - Complete this form. <--- FREE

No, it's not SciFi - Google’s Bluetooth headphones do real-time language translation https://goo.gl/nFAFp9 COOL! 

Pear Deck + New Google Slides Add-ons - Engage each learner in the classroom and give each student in the classroom an opportunity to ‘talk.’  Give it a try.  Ask our very own Becky Wilhelm @WilhelmBecky She loves this tool.  (Thanks for the tip!) 

New features in Google’s Contacts app on Android


Great tool for the Techies!  -How to Create Screencast GIFs 
I have downloaded and started using this tool - pretty cool. (It's an installable program on your computer.) 

EDU in 90: Our Favorite Chromebook Shortcuts - Great short 2-minute video

Looking for high-quality free images? Here are the best sites

Open Educational Resources and Creative Commons licensing have truly opened up the world of publishing and free resources for students and their teachers. - Article with resources! 

2 QR Code readers - Online -no install!

Note- You will have to allow the website access to your camera for it to be able to scan. 

https://webqr.com  (This one is OK, but only seems to use the webcam view only and is a smaller area for scanning.) 

https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/scan  I Like this one if you have a flip Chromebook (Our Acer Spin for staff or the Lenovo Yoga N23 for students.)  It uses the world facing camera by default! 

Free Apps:

Reg. $1.99 - Runtastic Pull-ups Workout PRO Android or IOS

RoomScan Pro (iOS) - Pretty cool app for measuring. Now Free - IOS ver. 


A few Tech articles from the homepage:

Norris Middle Students utilizing online tools as a part of new Envision math program. - Check it out.

Norris Students utilize Google Tools and Google Cast in Preparation for Real-World Presentations. Check it out.

Norris High Students Making Alaska Connections.- Great video conference connections in Mr. Allen's classes. 

There are a lot of cool things happening with tech in the classrooms at Norris - If you would like to be featured with something - let me know! 

Google Classroom Training: Google recently updated Training Center Lessons, so that they can learn how to share assignments (Requires login) more easily and collect them effortlessly.(Requires login) 

Free eBooks
FREE Kindle eBooks - OpenStax eTextbooks https://goo.gl/MgQMUR 

Large list of Free Classics on Kindle eBooks - Check out the list here

Interesting tech statistics: 
  • By 2020, there will be 20.8 billion connected “things” - Gartner
  • Cyber Crime Costs Projected To Reach $2 Trillion by 2019 -Forbes
  • Today, there are more than 80,000 education apps available for download through Apple’s App Store; 72 percent of those are aimed at toddlers and preschoolers.
  • Sixty-nine percent of U.S. adults are now social media users, according to data from the Pew Research Center.
  • Gartner Says Almost 3 Million Personal and Commercial Drones Will Be Shipped in 2017. -Gartner
  • Public schools now spend over $3 billion per year on digital educational content as of 2017. Education Week