Editing the Master Slide in Google Slides

The technology tip I have to share with you this week is how to edit the master slide in Google Slides. This can be especially helpful when you want to change the font on all of your slides quickly. When you are working on a slide deck, click on Slide, select Edit master, and make your changes accordingly. Other ways you can leverage this feature of Google Slides include adding a common hyperlink to each slide, adding a common image to each slide, altering the colors/theme, or customizing a particular layout.

GEG Michigan Tech Challenge

The professional learning opportunity I have to share with you this week is from the Google Educator Group of Michigan. If you haven’t heard of GEG MI, learn more about the group at bit.ly/gegmichigan. GEG MI is hosting a Tech Challenge for educators to learn a bunch of easy and quick tech tidbits. The 10-week challenge begins on January 11th. The deadline to sign up is this Friday, January 8th.

Futureme.org

Futureme.org allows you to schedule an email to be sent to yourself in the future. Do you have specific goals or a new year resolution in mind for when you return to work in 2021? This is a great activity for reflection and creating your own personal time capsule.

Google Wellbeing and Common Sense Media text alerts

The resource I have to share with you this week is Wellbeing.Google. Finding a healthy balance with technology is a very important piece of well-being. Great technology should improve life, not distract from it. I challenge you to reflect on your habits and relationship with technology both at work and at home. Understanding your technology habits is the first step to fine-tuning them. What are your technology goals for 2021 both personally and professionally? This resource also has information on digital well-being during COVID-19. This is a good resource to share with families!

If you are the parent of a 3-8-year-old child (or if you have students in that age group) you can sign up for Common Sense Media’s text alerts for tips to help practice media balance at home. This is a good resource to share with families, too.

CSEd Week 2020

Next week is Computer Science Education Week. While CS Ed Week takes place annually, coding can be taught anytime! This is a worldwide effort to learn and advocate for computer science. Did you know the reason it takes place in December is in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper? Learn about how she was a pioneer in developing computer technology.

Use these hashtags on social media when sharing or searching for activities #CSforgood #CSEdWeek #CSforsocialjustice #CSforall #HourofCode

Below are links and tips on how to celebrate CS Ed Week virtually this year:

 

• Michigan Accelerate CS: Friday 12/11 Coding for Michigan Virtual Event. Join in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for most users to take an online computer programming lesson in 24 hours!
• Breakout EDU: Play a digital breakout edu game with a CS theme
• Google CS First: Teach an hour of code from anywhere (both unplugged and digital)
• Hour of Code Activities: Options for no devices, poor/no internet, and a variety of devices
• CS Unplugged: Learn coding away from the screen
• CodeBytes: Daily mini lessons, check out their episode schedule!
• Tips for a Virtual Hour of Code Event: You may be apart, but can still code together

Zoom Annotation Tools, Split Screen on a Chromebook, Dual Monitors

The tips I have to share with you today are for Zoom Annotation tools, chromebooks, and using dual monitors.

Tip #1: Using Annotation tools during a Zoom

There are many different ways to use annotation tools while in a Zoom with your students. These annotation options coupled with the teacher touch screen laptops is great! Watch this screencast demonstration of the various ways you can annotate while teaching over Zoom in laptop and tablet mode.

Tip #2: How to do Split Screen on a Chromebook

As you continue to help students navigate their chromebooks and have multiple tabs open, you can teach them how to do split screen so that they can see two windows side by side. See the steps below.

1. On one of the windows you want to see, click and hold Maximize .

2. Drag to the left or right arrow .

3. Repeat for a second window.

Tip: You can also use the shortcut Alt + [ to move left, or Alt + ] to move right.

Tip #3:How to use Dual Monitors

Many of you have been asking how to use dual monitors with your laptop. Here is a step by step guide on how to set up dual monitors.

Zoom and Canvas tips

The tips I have to share with you today are for Zoom and Canvas.

Tip #1: Setting Gallery View to show 49 Participants

In Zoom Settings, you can change the maximum amount of participants shown in Gallery View. This can be especially helpful for those of you who teach large classes.

Tip #2: A quick way to move a module to the top

When you add a new module to Canvas it automatically is added to the bottom of your list of modules. You can manipulate the order of your modules by clicking and dragging them into the sequence you want them to appear. However, if you want to quickly move a new module to the top, you can click on the 3 dots (“snowman”) and select Move Module…Then choose At the Top.

Kami + Canvas

The tip I have to share with you today is how to use Kami within Canvas. What is Kami? It is a student-friendly annotation tool!

This is a step-by-step guide from Kami on how to create Kami assignments using the external tool in Canvas. The process is very similar to how you would create an external tool submission with Google. Instead, you select “Kami Google Drive Assignment” as the external tool.

GEG Michigan GEG Games & Netflix Template

The tips I have to share with you today are all related to G Suite. Check out these short “how-to” videos from educators across Michigan! Did you know that you can change the preferences on a Google Form to mark all questions as required by default instead of toggling each one on? There are many more amazing tips on that site including Google Drawings, Google Slides, Google Assignments, digital notebooks, dodging Youtube ads, and more.

Also, check out this new Netflix Google Slides template. This template is a great way to stay creative with delivering content to your students. Secondary students especially might be more engaged with something like this.

Google Assignments LTI 1.3

The tool I have to share with you today is the new Google Assignments (LTI 1.3) integration in Canvas. When you create an assignment in Canvas with an external tool submission type, you will now see the added option of Google Assignments (LTI 1.3). You can continue to use the Google Drive Cloud Assignment option if you would like. The Google Drive Cloud Assignment option will be available until September 2021.

So what is Google Assignments? Watch this video to learn more. You’ll notice that this closely mimics Google Classroom. To learn more about Google Assignments, sign up for the Crash Course on Google Assignments email challenge below.