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TCEA Responds: Keep Parents in the Loop with Google Classroom

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Dear TCEA Responds:

I am learning how to use Google Classroom for September. I am wondering what the best way is to post information for parents in a central location. For example, I want to add a link for a “Parent Guide to Google Classroom.” I heard that posting them on Stream is not a good option because it gets flooded with postings and is hard to view. What does everyone else do? I am trying to create a shell now.

Thanks, Jean

Dear Jean:

Keeping parents up-to-date about what’s happening in the classroom remains critical. Whether you look forward to summer or fall, emergency remote teaching is here for a bit longer. Before we delve into some solutions, let’s clarify terms.

Emergency Remote Teaching

Some have pushed back on the idea of what we’re doing now as “online learning,” or “blended learning.” Arriving at definitions can be tough and seldom take into account research studies. One new term you might consider is emergency remote teaching. It’s defined in this way:

Emergency remote teaching (ERT) is a temporary shift of instructional delivery. It is an alternate delivery mode due to crisis circumstances. It involves the exclusive use of remote teaching solutions for instruction or education. This education or instruction would be otherwise facilitated face-to-face.

The primary goal is not to re-create a robust educational ecosystem. Rather, it is to provide temporary access to instruction and instructional supports. This access must be quick and reliable during an emergency (Source).

As long as we remain in a crisis situation (i.e. COVID-19), we engage in emergency remote teaching. Google Classroom can be invaluable tool for connecting with our students and parents.

Did You Know?

Want to learn more about using Google Classroom? Take advantage of TCEA’s Certified Educator series, which includes Google Classroom. You get a self-paced learning environment replete with video walkthroughs. You also earn 12 hours of CPE, and receive a digital badge and certificate at the end. Stop sifting through the fog of tutorials online, and join other TCEA members. Sign up now.

Manage Parent Communications

There are several recognized approaches you can take. Let’s explore each of them in turn. Google Classroom supports keeping parents in the loop. It does this via daily or weekly emails. These provide a summary of anything shared (activities, grades, etc.).

Approach #1 – External Document or Website

One way that teachers keep in touch with parents is to create one of the following items:

  • Google Doc with updates and information for parents
  • Google Slides with updates added as needed
  • Google Sites website with late-breaking information
  • Padlet.com with updates
  • Flipgrid Topic for Parent Updates allows you to record video updates for parents

These are all valid approaches to updating parents. Besides, some teachers choose to use the Remind service to share information with parents.

Using Google Slides? 

Be sure to tune into TCEA’s Bitmoji Classroom webinar series. Many are creating bitmoji classrooms and you can adapt these for parent communication.

Not sure which to use? Google Sites is my go-to for creating interactive, mobile accessible sites. If time is short, you may want to use a Google Doc. You can organize it with a table of contents, then add content in reverse chronological order (like a blog). Post your latest updates at the top.

Approach #2 – Google Classroom

Need to setup your Google Classroom with parent/guardian views?

Adjust your settings as shown below (learn more):

parent classroom

Parents/guardians will receive Stream updates. Isn’t that handy? Google Classroom Help has some suggestions. Let’s review them.

parent classroomWhen guardians join Classroom, they receive regular, automatic email summaries. They get these for each of their children. Guardians choose the frequency of the emails (daily or weekly). They can unsubscribe at any time.

What’s in the email summaries to guardians?

  • Missing work: Any missing work that’s not been turned in at the time the update was sent
  • Upcoming work: Work that is due today or tomorrow, or upcoming
  • Class activity: Any class activity, such as questions or assignments. Pretty much anything the teacher has posted, including announcements.

What some teachers do is create a Topic in Assignments and post updates within that Topic. Some teachers are reluctant to use Google Classroom. They do not want to encourage parents to login with their child’s accounts. I tend to agree. My preference is to keep parent resources and contacts separate. Of course, that requires you to update in two places.

You might find this Parent’s Guide to Google Classroom Video Series from Mr. Campbell worth watching:

parent classroom

Share Your Examples

How are you keeping parents in the loop? Share your examples in the comments.

Don’t be afraid to give this app a try with your young reader. It may be the type of engagement your child needs. Read along with your child to improve engagement.

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Google Classroom
Google Tips and Tricks

Five Amazing Add-Ons for Google Classroom

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Google Classroom is your command-and-control center for your digital classroom. As incredible as it is, you can make it an even better companion. How? Just try out the add-ons in this blog post.

These Chrome extensions and add-ons expand your ability to do work. Instead of adding them all at once, add them one at a time. This will give you the time you need to learn how to best use each one.

Add-On #1: Share to Classroom

Need to get everyone on the same page? Use this add-on to push web pages to any of your Google Classrooms. This makes it easy for you to share content (e.g. announcements, assignments, web pages) with them. Students can also use this add-on to share websites back to their teachers.

Get Share To Classroom

Add-On #2: Classwork Zoom

Wish you had an easy way to see what’s going on in your Google Classroom? Classwork Zoom (unrelated tothe  Zoom.us web conferencing tool) translates Classroom activities into a timeline of information.

google classroom

Classwork Zoom relies on information found in your Classroom, such as:

  • Assigned student work in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings
  • Assignment deadlines from the class calendar

Watch this short video overview:

Note: Classwork Zoom currently offers free access to G Suite schools that are closed due to the coronavirus.

Get Classwork Zoom

Add-On #3: Kami Extension – PDF and Document Annotation

Last week, a colleague remarked she had never heard of Kami for PDF and Document Annotation. After trying it out, she couldn’t help but be impressed. Kami makes it a simple matter to annotate documents by writing, drawing, and typing on them.

Some of Kami’s features include:

  • Providing students with documents that they can complete
  • Simplifying the return of completed documents for grading
  • Using Kami as a digital whiteboard overlay for an on-screen document
  • Sharing documents for collaborative annotation or discussion with others
  • Engaging in paperless pedagogy (Sorry, Alice Keeler, I couldn’t resist)

Boasting many more features, here’s a quick video overview:

Get Kami

Add-On #4: Xodo – PDF Viewer and Editor

One of my favorite PDF viewers and editors, Xodo is the everyman’s PDF tool. You can use it in your browser, making it ideal for Chromebooks. It works on Android devices as well. It makes it easy to read, merge, annotate, sign, and share PDFs. Xodo has served me well, allowing me to sign forms on the go. In the Google Classroom, it saves you time as you can edit PDFs on your computer and then save to Google Drive (or Dropbox). Use the Chrome extension or visit their website.

google classroom

Get Xodo

Add-On #5: Dualless

“I really miss my dual monitor setup in my classroom,” said a colleague. Wish you had an easy way to split your screen? Put Google Classroom on one side, other work on the other. Give the Dualless Chrome extension a try. This add-on divides your browser window into two. You decide the ratio of how much space each window will take.

google classroom

Get Dualless

But, Wait, There’s More to Add to Google Classroom!

Are you a super admin who needs to manage all the Google Classroom courses in your domain? Or a classroom teacher who wants to manage your own classes? Give this G Suite Marketplace add-on, Classroom Manager, a try (watch video). You can add it to Google Sheets and it will make it easy to do the following:

  • An admin user can use the assignments menu to get an overview of the work being set by all teachers in the domain.
  • Drill down to view:
    • Number of assignments with details such as when an assignment was set, when it is due, who set it, title, and description
    • Announcements made for each class
    • How many students, and what teachers, are associated with a course
  • Edit various details of domain courses via the spreadsheet with the add-on enabled, such as:
    • The course status and name
    • Section and description
    • Room
    • Course owner
  • Add and delete teachers and students
  • Schedule jobs to sync data about teachers and students of classes with data from your School information system

Unlike other solutions, there is a cost for Classroom Manager (annual fee of $99 for a super admin or $10 for annual teacher license). If you get the super admin license, you do not need to purchase individual teacher licenses. Schools can take advantage of a similar tool known as Little SIS for Classroom. Available from Amplified IT, it is free to schools until July 1, 2020 due to COVID-19.

One final point to keep in mind. There are many apps that work with Google Classroom. You can even take our self-paced course, Google Classroom, if you want to earn your digital badge and certification.

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Good TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

Video Sharing in Google Classroom and Seesaw

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Need to share videos into Google Classroom or Seesaw? You’re not the only teacher who needs to put a quick tutorial video together for students. Here are some strategies that other educators recommend around the topics of video storage, sharing and creation tools and tips, as well as how to share videos in Seesaw and Google Classroom.

Storing Videos in the Cloud

With both Google Classroom and Seesaw, you can share links to existing videos. This means that you can make a video using any tool you want and then post it anywhere. That anywhere can be YouTube, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or wherever. One thing you need to be careful with is ensuring that the video is viewable by anyone with a link. This is an option when you put the video in a cloud storage space.

Did you know you might have almost unlimited storage in the cloud? Both G Suite EDU and Microsoft OneDrive offer unlimited (or almost) storage.

share video

A New Player? Loom Pro for Free

“Looms is my choice as a best option,” says TCEA board member, John Bimmerle. He goes on to point out that it is “super quick.” Loom Pro, which has gone free for teachers, is also open to students at K-16 education institutions. Loom Pro comes with a desktop version and Chrome extension.  Learn more about their COVID-19 Loom Pro free offer via their announcement. My experience? It lagged a bit in rendering the video on their website. After 10 minutes, I uninstalled Loom and opted for another tool. Let’s hope they improve and/or demand eases up.

Wait, Wait, There’s ONE MORE Newcomer!

Flipgrid announced on April 1, 2020 that they are adding screen recording to their amazing product. It’s a free, no-cost offering. Watch their announcement video via this Tweet (or see the unauthorized MP4 video I made of it):

The possibilities with Flipgrid screenrecording option are endless. You can now organize your screencasts, such as of your desktop and apps, into grids and allow others to contribute. What’s more, you can export those screencasts as MP4 video files to place on YouTube. What’s amazing is how easy it is to screen recording using Flipgrid. And, all of this is FREE and available at no cost to educators. It also allows you to start and stop video recording, which is an amazing feature.

Did You Know?

Sign up for one of our Google Certified Educator certifications. You’ll learn about more than Google Meet, as well as earn 12 CPE hours per course. Use these courses to get Google Educator certified. Find out more online.

Video Creation Tools

If you’re still looking for a good tool for video sharing, here’s a quick run down of other digital tools you can use to creating teaching videos.

  1. Screencast-o-Matic. Screencast-O-Matic is a fantastic tool that will let you record from their site. You can record up to 15 minutes, and it allows for webcam picture recording. Save your videos in .mp4, .flv, or .avi video format or you can upload them straight to YouTube.
  2. Screencastify. Screencastify is a Chrome extension that allows you to record, edit, annotate, store, and share video screen captures. Record a specific tab, or your whole desktop, at the click of a button. The free Lite version normally limits recording time to five minutes per video and has a watermark. Due to COVID-19, as of this writing, you can get premium version for free for 60 days. You may also want to look at some of their free e-learning resources. They are also announcing a new feature for students to use Screencastify. Find out more at Screencastify Submit. Watch a video intro.
  3. Nimbus Screencapture/Screen recording. Nimbus is a Chrome extension for capturing web pages, either part of one or the whole browser window. You can also edit your screenshots and screen record your desktop or a particular tab.
  4. Zoom. Available at no charge and in wide usage as a result of COVID-19, many people don’t know they can use it to record and share their screens. Using Zoom Basic, you can record webinars that feature picture in picture, play music as you share your screen, and save a video recording to your computer. Many videos you will create will be no more than five to 30 minutes, which fall into the free version of Zoom time limits. Of course, those time limits have been waived for educators during COVID-19.

Popular Screencasting Tools

Those are some of my favorite browser-based screen recording tools. There are also free screen recording tools that you can install on Windows. Of course, Mac users can rely on QuickTime, which offers free recordings. If you need to edit videos, Shotcut is a great editor for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux computers.

A Personal Recommendation

People often ask, “What do you use?” Until lately, I have relied on Screencastify. With its $29 price tag  for one year, it’s worth the investment. While I still use Screencastify when on a Chromebook, on Windows 10 and Mac I recommend another tool, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS). I can’t tell you how amazed I was at the flexibility, versatility, and speed of this free (and no-cost), open source tool. Gamers (e.g. esports) use OBS to stream their game-play to various streaming services (e.g. Facebook LIVE, Twitch, Periscope). You can use it to record your content, too.

Look hard? It’s not as bad as you think. Here’s what OBS looks like when I’m using it to record videos for TCEA Remote Learning.

Highlight Tool: Open Broadcaster Software (OBS)

Instead of recording your desktop, OBS allows you to record anything your computer does (see sidebar image for a list). While not for the faint of heart, OBS continues to get easier to use every day. If you have to record video, it makes switching between different scenes and input sources (e.g. audio, video, webcam, browsers, and apps) easy.

Intended as a streaming solution, you can use it to record and save video to MKV or MP4 format. I am truly astonished how fast it is once set up. However, the setup can be confusing, and so I encourage you to read my upcoming guide on recording videos with OBS. In the meantime, be sure to read the the OBS Studio Quickstart guide.

Even More Video Sharing Tools

Looking for other powerful tools to use? Here are a few.

  1. Flipgrid.com – Flipgrid is a free, fun, and easy way to have a video chat. It is a great tool to get student feedback while incorporating student voice. There is an iOS and Android app.
  2. VideoNot.es. Have students use this Google Drive app with their Google account. That will allow them to take notes while they watch a video that you assign. Notes work as video markers. Click the notes, and you leapfrog to the matching spot in the video.
  3. Vialogues. Vialogues allows you to create conversations that revolve around a video.
  4. EdPuzzle. This is the premier tool for adding content to an existing video. It makes it easy to use what you need from any video. You can insert audio notes or record over a video with your voice. You can even add questions at any point in the video and track your students’ understanding.
  5. Educannon (Playposit). This is a great way to annotate existing YouTube videos for students to watch at home.

share video

Some Quick Tips for Video Recordings

Here are some quick tips for video recording you may want to keep in mind:

1) Storyboard your content first, then create a video about your lesson. All the tools are free to get started.

2) Keep videos short, two to three minutes or five to 10 minutes max (shorter is better). You can always create more videos. Think “bite-sized chunks” that students can nibble on their way to/from school, sitting somewhere waiting for an adult to do something, or during the gap in a basketball game on television or in person.

3) Plan for reflective, online classroom activities. Use tools like Quizziz, Kahoot, and GetKnowt to create some online assessments.

Recording Video on the Go

Need tools for recording videos on the go? You can use your smartphone and an app to get the job done. Need some solutions for Android? How about iOS?

Sharing Videos in Seesaw

Sharing content in Seesaw has never been easier. The steps involve creating an announcement and adding an attachment. Then you select the type of attachment you want (a link). Afterwards, paste the link to your “shared with anyone” video resource. For a visual overview, check out this animated GIF that walks you through the process. Remember, you can have a copy of that video saved anywhere so long as it is “shared with anyone link.”

If you want to share a message straight to the camera, you can record video directly into Seesaw using your device’s camera. Instead of choosing LINK in the Add Attachment window, choose VIDEO, as shown in the picture below:

share video

Sharing Videos: Google Classroom

Google Classroom makes it easy to share content by posting it into its stream or to YouTube. If it’s an instructional video, you can then add questions with EdPuzzle. Dropping your videos into Google Drive, then sharing a public link is easy. Drop the link to the video in the Google Classroom stream. You may like Eric Curts’ video series on Google Classroom.

Final Thoughts

Still not sure what’s the best tool for the job? Let’s review the options below:

  • Flipgrid user? Need an easy to use tool, then Flipgrid screen recording is so easy. You can save your screencasts as MP4 videos on your computer. Flipgrid works via your browser, making it the perfect tool on mobile devices. This is also an amazing feature for students to use.
  • Screencastify? If you are a Chromebook users, or want to use a simple, powerful tool, then Screencastify will make the job easier. As a veteran Screencastify user, it’s one of my favorite tools. They are also announcing a new feature for students to use Screencastify. Find out more at Screencastify Submit.
  • OBS Project? Not afraid of a little complexity? OBS offers a free, no-cost screen recording tool that works on your Windows or Mac computer. It’s super-fast since it’s running on your computer.
  • Mobile user? Try XRecorder to screencast your Android screen, YouCut – Video Editor & Video Maker, No Watermark to blend pictures and video with light editing. On iOS?

Need a video editor? Use the free, open source Shotcut for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux. Or if you need a browser-based web editor, WeVideo may be your only option (check here for more info).

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Google Tips and Tricks

A Fresh, New Look for Google Classroom

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

A few weeks ago, Google rolled out a fresh new look for Google Classroom. Many teachers want to keep their Google Classroom organized and clean and the new updates will help accomplish this.

A Cleaner Look

When teachers log into Google Classroom, they will notice that Classroom has a new look and feel. At first, notice the new white background. Then, when you get into one of your classes, an obvious change you will see is that the class code is now located at the top on the header. There is also a new display icon next to the class code. When you click on it, the class code will appear largely and clearly. This makes is a lot easier to project your class code so new students can join your class.

new look

Drag and Drop Assignments and Topics on the Classwork Page

The Classwork page allows teachers to post assignments and questions. To better organize your classwork page, you can even group those assignments and questions into topics. For additional flexibility, Google has now added the ability for you to drag individual items within and between topics. You can even drag an entire topic to another location on the Classwork page. This will make rearranging and organizing your classroom even easier.


Personalize Your Google Classroom with New Themes

Google has introduced 78 new themes so teachers can now personalize their Google Classroom. The themes come with custom illustrations, ranging from history to math to photography. It’s now even easier to customize your Classroom than ever before. All you have to do is click on Select Theme and choose one of the nice new backgrounds. Of course, you still have the option to upload your own photo.

Hopefully, these are some changes that will be beneficial to you.  Stay tuned to our blog for new updates to Google as they come out.

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Google Tips and Tricks

Back to School with the New Google Classroom

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

Google unveiled the new and improved Google Classroom just in time for the first day of school. So that you are fully prepared for your students, let’s dive in and learn the three most important things you need to know about the new tool. If you want to review all the changes, check out Google’s Back to School 2018 FAQ.

Classwork = Better Organization  

When you create a new classroom, you will notice at the top of your new room that you have three tabs: 

classroom

The stream is no longer where you and your students will spend most of your time. Instead, you will be using Classwork to create, edit, and manage your assignments. One big improvement is that you will be able to group your assignments and posts by using the Topics. Google has also given you more control on the location of the content. This allows you to determine what you want your students to see first and in what order.  

Classroom

Grading Just Got a Whole Lot Easier

When you are ready to grade your students’ work, open the assignment you want to grade and then click on View Assignment.  This will take you to your grade book. In the upgrade, Google gave the teacher some tools to help grade assignments that reside in Google Drive. Below is an assignment using a Drawing template to help students identify the cause and effect of the Texas Revolution. To grade it, you would click on one of your student’s assignments. It will open you to a new grading tool. With this tool, you can add comments, assign the grade, and communicate back and forth with the student using the private comment feature.

Classroom

You’re going to love this next feature. You can create a list of generic comments to make it easier to provide feedback. When you open the comment field, insert a hashtag (#) and the suggested comments will appear. Click on the one you want to use and then post the comment. It is that simple!

Classroom

When you are finished grading and commenting on the student’s work, use the arrow at the top of the page to move to the next student. That’s right! They have made it super simple for you to scroll through your student’s work.

Classroom

No About Page

Google has taken away the About Page which teachers have used to post documents and forms their students might use all year long such as a syllabus, a reading log, class rules, etc. Google has announced they will soon provide a way for teachers to upload and post documents on the Classwork page. You will then be able to create a topic such as “Class Resources” that houses these types of documents.

Odds and Ends

At this time, you cannot add a Classwork section to an older classroom; however this is also something that Google is working on and  will release this feature soon. One last thing, you can now make a copy of an entire Classroom. It appears that it only works for new Classrooms however. This will allow secondary teachers to create a model classroom that can be copied for additional sections. 

What are you waiting for? Start creating magic in the new and improved Google Classroom.

 

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CTO/CIOGoogle Tips and TricksMicrosoft Tips and Tricks

TCEA Responds: OneNote with Google Classroom?

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Dear TCEA Responds:

Do you have any resources for a few elementary teachers that teach at a Google school, but want to use #OneNote and Class Notebook? Does each student need an Office 365 account? All our students have Chromebooks. Any help would be awesome!

Thanks, Vander

Dear Vander:

What an exciting set of questions. In my work, I often encounter organizations that have embraced a wide variety of technologies. While this can be beneficial, single sign-on (SSO) often causes problems for educators and students alike. Let’s explore some problem scenarios you want to avoid. Afterwards, I’ll share some workarounds for your situation.

Update 07/23/2018: OneNote Class Notebook + Google Classroom

Please be aware that as of 7/23/2018, the Windows 10 OneNote app supports Google Classroom. Great news that comes to us via Mike Tholfsen. Mike had shared this feature was coming a few weeks ago via Twitter. Now, the wishes and desires of educators around the world has come true. OneNote’s Class Notebook supports learning management system (LMS) integration with Google Classroom. This makes it possible to use Google Classroom as the virtual classroom space, answering the need of many educators who work in both Office 365 and Google Suites for Education environments. What’s more, this functionality is enabled for OneNote Online and OneNote on iOS as well. Chromebooks can access OneNote Online. Don’t forget that Microsoft offers free Office 365 accounts for students and/or staff. You can see a screenshot below:

Image Source: Mike Tholfsen (@mtholfsen)

Video Walkthrough of Connecting OneNote Class Notebook to Google Classroom

Note: As of Friday, July 27, 2018, the functionality is now missing in Windows 10 OneNote app. You will see that in Part 1 of the video series I was preparing to showcase the Google Classroom Connection in OneNote. Part 2 of the video shows the working connection to Google Classroom. It works well.

  • Part 1: In this video, I provide a little background and walkthrough. Unfortunately, this video documents my failure.
  • Part 2: In this video, I share a late-breaking announcement that changes in Google Classroom has broken the Windows 10 OneNote app’s connection to Google Classroom. However, OneNote Online’s Class Notebook connection to Google Classroom works great, so I recorded a quick, rough walk-through.

Screenshots:

Problem Scenarios

Here are a few common scenarios schools and organizations find themselves in. Avoid them, alone or in combination.

#1-Single Sign-On (SSO)

The organization adopts a variety of technologies (e.g. Apple, Google, Microsoft) without a single sign-on solution (SSO) in place. This requires students and staff to keep track of multiple usernames and passwords. In the end, no one knows where to go or what login to use when creating, collaborating, and sharing.

Solution: Get a single sign-on account management solution. This will allow students and staff to use ONE login and password for all district systems, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple. There are quite a few available you can take advantage of. Several to consider include ClassLink with OneRoster, Encore Technologies’ Enboard, or Rapid Automation.

#2-Split Domains

Some school districts opt to put students on Google Suites for Education accounts, but then keep teachers on Microsoft (or vice versa). This isolates teachers and students on different communication networks, forcing them to work with variety of tools. While some may favor this approach, the end result is often confusion, isolation, and mass abandonment of district tools.

Solution: Pick one and standardize across user populations (e.g. staff, students) to ensure that everyone has access to the same tools. Also, make sure everyone knows what digital tools will be used.

#3-Hardware-Ecosystem Mis-Alignment

The district decided to buy iPad carts for every classroom, then switched to Chromebooks. On top of that, it wanted to continue to use Microsoft for all users. This left people trying to sort out what device they need to use, what account, and trying to figure out whether their Microsoft OneNote Class Notebook will work with iPads and Google accounts for students.

Solution: If you own a lot of hardware, decide what’s the optimum ecosystem (e.g. Office 365, Google Suites for Education, Apple Classroom, or free tools). Your biggest investment is in the hardware, so unless you are going to pay to switch (not a wise use of funds), then align your hardware and ecosystem to each other. If you have Microsoft and want to see everyone adopt MS Teams and OneNote, then take a hard look at getting a hardware solution provider that supports Windows 10. If you are Chromebook rich, then adopt Google Suites for Education. Trying to mix and match pieces only results in confusion, isolation, and lack of usage.

Aligning Solution to the Facts

As you point out, Vander, you are in problem scenario #3, hardware-ecosystem mis-alignment. Let’s review some of the facts revealed in our email exchanges:

  • Teachers and students lack Office 365 accounts.
  • Students rely on Chromebooks.
  • Teacher(s) want to use Microsoft OneNote after attending a one-day Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Teacher Academy.

Given your situation, the least expensive and less difficult solution involves using Google Classroom with Google Drive with students and staff. But they may need professional learning. Here are two resources that may help you get started.  (Note: If you log in to Google Suites first, clicking on the link will make a copy of the document for your use).

For others who need Microsoft OneNote resources, be sure to check out the Microsoft Educator Community (MEC) for free online courses that generate digital badges and certificates for participants.

Detours to O365 Account Roadblock

Still keen on mixing Chromebooks (which can’t run the free OneNote Windows 10 app which provides great functionality)? Let’s explore what happens with teachers who DO have Office 365 accounts, as well as those that do not.

Worst Scenario

With teachers who do have O365 accounts, while working with students who lack O365 accounts for students, it is a bit more difficult. The easiest approach is for a teacher to set up a OneNote notebook using a free Microsoft account. They would share the notebook with students’ G Suite email accounts with rights to edit content. The teacher would manually set up a section for each student, copying and pasting content into each as needed. Once each section was created, the teacher would apply a password. That password for each section would only be shared with each student. This would create a safe space for both student and teacher. Loss of the password would result in the loss of all data stored in the section. This approach is NOT recommended.

Better Scenario

With teachers and students who do have Office 365 accounts, the teacher can use the OneNote app on Windows 10 with the Class Notebook built-in functionality. They will be able to create class notebooks for each of their students. Students will then access the OneNote Online version of the Class Notebook. They won’t have all the functionality, but they will be able to do quite a bit via the OneNote Online interface on a Chromebook. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only way OneNote Online would work with students using Chromebooks. Students could also access the Class Notebook on their other devices (e.g. Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac). The best scenario would have students using low-cost, high quality Windows 10 tablets with keyboards. Google Classroom and OneNote Class Notebook now work together, so educators and students can enjoy the best of both worlds.

Amazing Updates

What’s even more exciting, the Windows 10 OneNote app now supports Google Classroom for teachers/educators who want to connect OneNote Class Notebook to a Google Classroom. This works for OneNote Online and OneNote on iOS as well.  Isn’t that amazing? Special thanks to Mike Tholfsen for providing this insight. See screenshot below:

Image Source: Mike Tholfsen (@mtholfsen)

Final Thoughts

As you consider the best way to deploy technology, avoid the mis-alignment of hardware and ecosystems. Instead, plan ahead, aligning the strengths of two matched systems.

 

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Google Tips and TricksUncategorized

Two New Features in Google Classroom

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

On January 11, 2017, Google announced some powerful new features for Classroom for both teachers and administrators. Both of these features really focus on providing the ability to personalize learning.

For Teachers

For teachers, the program provides for more differentiation. A teacher can now decide which student/s should receive a specific assignment or question, allowing her to personalize the learning more. To make this feature work best, the teacher should create subsets of students based on their unique needs. This is perfect for allowing struggling students to practice more or to provide an extension activity to students who have already mastered the content. And, with the update, teachers will also receive two new Classroom notifications: one when students submit late work after the due date and the other when students re-submit work.

Google Classroom

 

For Google Administrators

Google administrators will now see Classroom data included in the Admin Console Reports. You will be able to see the amount of time being spent on Classroom and how many posts are being created. You can also view this data schoolwide, on a class-by-class basis, or by individual user. This will make it easier to target professional development for staff who may be struggling with how best to use Classroom.

Thanks to Google for continually listening to educators about the needs for this wonderful tool!

 

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ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Updates to Google Classroom, Forms, and More

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

As another school year gets ready to begin, Google has announced changes and updates to a variety of its offerings. Most of these are welcome and will make learning a little bit easier this year.

Google Hangouts on Air

The first announcement came yesterday when they let us know that, effective September 12, they will be discontinuing Hangouts on Air and are instead encouraging people to move to YouTube Live or their new Duo app (available free for Android and iOS). While this may not be something to thrill your heart, it will help to combine two products into one and make it easier to schedule and host video conferences/discussions.

Google Classroom

For Classroom, Google now includes summaries of student work that can be automatically shared with parents by teachers. The summaries (or classroom announcements) can be sent daily or weekly, depending on what you prefer. This will make that home/school connection even stronger. There are also a few updates to the Classroom mobile app. Now it will allow you to annotate documents, turning them into whiteboard-like screens. You can use the annotations to mark papers, grade assignments, highlight mistakes or excellent work, and demonstrate concepts. In addition, the teacher can now add topics to posts and allow students to filter their own streams for topics of interest to them.

More Google Goodness for the Classroom

Google has also released Cast for Education, a free Chrome app that lets educators share their screens wirelessly to a projector. This is another great way to make the teacher more mobile and get him/her away from the front of the room while teaching. It’s very easy to use. Just install the app, give your device a name, and invite your students to cast. A GAfE account is required.

For Forms, Google has now added the ability to include images in questions or in multiple-choice answers. This is especially great for math, social studies, and science educators who want to have students focus on complex concepts that resonate better in graphics than in text.

If you’re using the Google virtual reality program Expeditions, you’ll be delighted to discover more virtual field trips have been added. Using smartphones paired with inexpensive cardboard viewers, Expeditions brings the world to your students with more than 200 trips now available.

Google continues its strong support for teaching and learning. And we definitely appreciate that!

 

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Google Tips and Tricks

Updates to Google Classroom

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

Google has come out with two new updates to Classroom that will make educators very happy. One is available now and the other will be available in the fall.

Scheduling for Later Posting – Google Classroom now allows the busy teacher to schedule announcements, assignments, and questions for a later date. Just look for the scheduling option when posting new items. You can find scheduled and draft posts in the “Saved posts” section of your class stream, and you’ll get email and mobile notifications when your scheduled posts go live. This is great for perhaps getting ready for the new year by scheduling things over the summer or for when you’re going to be out of school. Additional updates will also be added this next week for easier-to-read email notifications and improvements to the Classroom iOS and Android apps.

By the way, did you know that TCEA members are given access to free monthly webinars on everything Google, including Classroom, with their membership? Find out more about the Get Your Google On series and start your learning today. Want to try it out first? Here’s one recorded webinar from this year’s series on Making the Most of Google Classroom.

 

If you like that webinar, sign up for the new series of Google sessions here to make sure you don’t miss a one. All of the webinars are free to members. If you’re not a member, you can join with full benefits for just $49.

Keeping Parents in the Loop – In the fall, Google Classroom will allow parents and guardians to sign up to receive daily or weekly email digests of their child’s progress, upcoming work, and class announcements. Administrators will also be able to invite parents directly and set domain-wide policies for linking and notifications. This will be a great tool for keeping parents informed and engaged with their child’s learning.

If you want to learn more about the power of Google Classroom, check out our post Check Yes or No: Add Polls to Google Classroom.

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Google Tips and Tricks

Check Yes or No: Add Polls to Google Classroom

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

When I taught high school Spanish, I used exit tickets all the time. An exit ticket can be a great way to set up the next day’s learning. Before students left my class, they would answer a quick poll about the day’s lesson and what they had taken away from it.

In the past, these exit tickets could be cumbersome and difficult to check, even when I took advantage of technologies like Google Forms. Google Classroom makes that process of multiple choice form creation a lot easier, and, if you haven’t heard the news, you can now create polls in Google Classroom. Teachers can choose to create a multiple choice or short answer poll to distribute to the class. They will be notified and can quickly see the answers to the poll.

For example, consider this example from Google’s blog, illustrating the new feature:

“Cindy Nordstrom, a teacher at Oak Ridge Elementary School in Minnesota, uses polling to make sure students understand the main points of a lesson. She explains, “We were studying poetry and talking about novels in verse. Since this was the first time that most students had encountered the format, I wanted to see if they knew what novels in verse were. I created this poll as an exit slip for the class. I could click on students’ answers and see their names associated with their response. This helped me get an at-a-glance view of who understood the concept and who didn’t.” Source: Google for Education

Getting an at-a-glance view is powerful for teachers, especially secondary teachers working with 120+ students, because it provides a quick, easy measure of student learning.

If you are interested in exploring Google Classroom further, consider attending the TCEA 2016 Chromebook Academy this July where you can spend hands-on time with Classroom, as well as other Google tools and resources. You can find more information about the academy here.

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