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Miguel Guhlin

Transforming teaching, learning and leadership through the strategic application of technology has been Miguel Guhlin’s motto. Learn more about his work online at blog.tcea.org, and mguhlin.org. Catch him on Mastodon at @mguhlin@zirk.us

Areas of interest flow from his experiences as a district technology administrator, regional education specialist, and classroom educator in bilingual/ESL situations. Learn more about his credentials online at mguhlin.org.

CTO/CIOTechnical Support

Technology End of Year Procedures

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

As school districts near the end of the academic year, one important document is under review: the Technology End-of-Year (TEOY) Procedures. This essential resource is the focus of many K–12 public school technology departments, capturing the detailed steps required to properly store and secure district technology over the summer. These procedures cover a wide range of devices, from computer labs to staff-issued laptops and classroom technology. Come along to learn some key tips for creating or refining your TEOY procedures and provide a sample document to support your planning.

Tip #1 – Review and Update Procedures

It may come as little surprise that the first tip is focused on reviewing and updating your TEOY procedures before April or May. Some quick ways to review it is to begin a multi-step process that involves stakeholders. Stakeholders can include:

  • Classroom teachers: This group of stakeholders offers practical insights into what works, or does not, when it comes to packing away technology. For example, leaving the classroom desktop computer(s) out for the summer may not work. While the technology department may want these left out for quick remote imaging, custodial staff may have a different idea about packing these devices up prior to stripping and cleaning floors.
  • District custodial support supervisor: This can involve the person(s) responsible for all custodial staff in the district and whoever sets the schedule for taking care of things.
  • Campus technical/instructional technology staff: Often, these individuals have walked the campuses and classrooms affected. They know what’s worked and what hasn’t at the start of the school year.

In fact, remember to make notes at the start of every school year. Check on whether last year’s TEOY procedures worked or just set everyone up for turmoil the following August.

Tip #2 – Dispose of Old Equipment

While some school districts hold onto technology until it dies with a pop or a quiet whimper at a critical moment, best practice says that the technology department should set expiration deadlines. Modern inventory management systems (e.g. Hayes, WASP, REI) allow you to “age” equipment. That is, you enter the date of manufacture of the device and then set the expiration date based on your district’s equipment replacement plan (obsolescence ranges from three to five years depending on the type of equipment and usage). One point to keep in mind is that technology in classrooms and lab should not be any older than the equipment you accept for donations and vice versa. Many a school district has been caught with donations that are obsolete on arrival.

Tip #3 – Utilize Cloud Storage

Despite the technology department’s best efforts, staff with limited tech proficiency may end up saving hundreds of files directly to their device. If your district hasn’t enforced automatic cloud backup (such as Google Drive for Desktop or OneDrive), it’s time to revisit this important step. Remind staff that they have access to secure cloud storage options, like Google Drive or OneDrive, and encourage them to transfer all important files from their local device (Windows or macOS) to their designated cloud workspace before the school year ends.

Tip #4 – Proper Equipment Storage

Nothing chaps my hide more than walking into a school during the summer only to find custodians and technology stuck in an un-air conditioned wing of the campus. Both people and technology equipment need to be at a temperature that won’t melt or shorten the life of components. Here is an excerpt of some of the top recommendations in the sample TEOY procedures for your review:

  • NEATNESS COUNTS. Neatness is essential when stowing away network cables, as well as input devices like mice and keyboards.
  • LABEL EVERYTHING. Tag every piece of equipment with the teacher’s name to whom it is assigned.
  • BOX IT AND TAPE UP THE BOX. Box up your equipment and be sure to tape the box up. Consider using baggies to house dust-sensitive items or components.

You can find more tips in the sample procedures.

Tip #5 – Put Policies in Place for Technology Issued to Staff

Every year, technology walks away and disappears. This is true in large and small school districts. While I support checking out equipment to staff (if the principal can take an iPad home and let her five year old get it all sticky, shouldn’t other staff have that opportunity?), it’s important to hold folks accountable.

Checked out equipment can also be problematic when staff transfer from one campus to another (and twice as big a problem when working with administrators). When staff on one campus discover they are moving to another campus, it is expected that they will return all equipment issued to them to the highest ranking administrator on campus or his/her designee.

A help desk work order can be submitted to have all confidential information wiped from the computer once necessary work files and documents have been backed up appropriately. A digital form, whether in Eduphoria, Microsoft or Google Forms, that gets reviewed works fine.

Put these simple procedures into place and both your end of school and your start of school will go smoother!

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warehouse
CTO/CIOLeadershipTechnical Support

District Data Warehouse: Proposal Process

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In part one of this series, I shared some of the scenarios for recognizing a data warehouse. In part two, please allow me to share a sample proposal. The proposal follows the model outlined in this blog entry, Solving Wicked Problems: When Details Matter (Part 3). Before seeking a data warehouse, it’s important that a school district take stock and organize itself.

Challenges to Overcome

Before starting down the road, district staff need to have a realistic understanding of how data flows. Administrators looking for a procedure document may find one here. That flow varies from district to district. Below, you will find the diagram that captured the flow of data in my district. Before I created it, few had a clear idea of how data moved from one place to another. In fact, it might as well have happened via magical means. This process needs to be mapped for each data file that will be tapped as a source for student data in the data warehouse.

warehouse

Process for Automated Upload of Student/Staff Data to an External Vendor System

  1. Given a need, a technology-based intervention or assessment tool is desired that requires student/staff data imports on a regular basis
  2. Project contact and technology department contact meet with vendor to identify the data file elements needed and complete the  Data Request Form
  3. Once the Data Request form is complete, it is submitted to the Student Information System (SIS) contact
  4. When data files are received and tested successfully, the technology department contact will ensure the file gets to the vendor nightly via an automated, secure file transfer process
  5. The process is complete when data is flowing nightly into the external vendor system

Example of Process in Action

  1. Need for providing an instructional intervention for students in grades 3-8 to facilitate differentiation
  2. Curriculum director contacts technology director and a joint meeting takes place. After speaking with the vendor, a comma-delimited file needs to be created nightly that contains students’ firstname, lastname, campus, student ID#, TSDS#, district username, and password. A tentative start date is set for when this is needed.
  3. A Data Request form is prepared mapping SIS data element names to what the vendor needs an item to be called, then submittted to the student information system (SIS) partner
  4. Once the SIS vendor partner has finished creating the student data file, they save it to a secure FTP server. Technology staff sets up an automated process to transfer the file to the vendor so it can be processed nightly (e.g. 2:05am)
  5. Curriculum director and end users (e.g. teachers in grades 3-8) verify that information in the vendor system is up to date.

This data file creation process is offered as an example. The intent of sharing this is to help you review your own processes for data file creation.

The Proposal

The purpose of this proposal is to 1) facilitate easy, safe, and appropriate access to data that campus and district staff need to accomplish essential job functions, and 2) eliminate time staff currently waste in data hunting and gathering, sifting, and organizing that consumes more time than the data analysis component requires. The end result is a more informed leadership and better decision-making in the service of students and staff.

Achievement of the tenets of this proposal enable staff to have tiered levels of access to generate reports derived from data critical to their job functions via a web-based interface to a data warehouse of content.

  1. A data warehouse – This component serves as a district-controlled repository of all data–a local copy regardless of the source–on students and employees from a variety of data sources including, but not limited to, student assessments, student and parent lists, employee data from internal (e.g. Eduphoria, special education, Scholastic programs) and external sources of data (e.g. STAAR, iStation, iTCCS, TxGradebook, eSPED).
  2. A web dataportal – This component provides as a browser-based, easy to use interface to the data warehouse that enables campus and district staff to have point-n-click query-creation abilities to generate a variety of reports that juxtapose data from a variety of internal and external data sources.

Need

The district has a clear and urgent need to institute a data warehouse that is easily accessible by district/campus level staff. Some examples:

  • Assessment Office: The district lacks a locally-controlled, central repository of all–Eduphoria Aware only provides some access–student/staff data, making it a time-consuming (e.g. hours to weeks) chore to correlate data from multiple sources (e.g. SMI/SRI and STAAR).
  • Bilingual/ESL: TPRI/TejasLee staff and student data exports have to be obtained via a single district person, and this can involve wait time.
  • Curriculum Department: Lack of a customizable data aggregation and reporting functions that are automated and easy to produce force reliance on a single person to generate reports for various locations.
  • Campus Level: Staff spend hours per day, even weeks, tracking and sifting through data to create end of course (EOC) student lists that could be generated with a custom query that had access to all data sources. Furthermore, staff must keep track of alternative measures using Excel spreadsheets, which they assert is time-consuming and error-prone.
  • iTCCS Access: The district currently has to provide ALL or nothing access via Open DataBase Compliant (ODBC) connection to staff, making it difficult to grant general users access to a subset of sensitive, confidential data they need to work.
  • Special Education: Both district and campus staff have to correlate data between the student information system (SIS) and vendor systems–whose disparate systems are unable to “talk to each other”–to get the results needed to serve special populations.
  • Technology Operations: The technology department must manually manage and try to create student/staff listing for an increasing variety of vendors. This involves manual updates that must be done daily, requiring a full-time, dedicated staff member simply to ensure account management is handled.

Note: Videos of stakeholders are available to provide specific details.

Process

A diagram (presented in part one of this blog entry) of how this would work appears in this section. It is modeled on how other districts’ data warehouses operate. Beginning at the top, end-users, whether at the campus or district level, would be able to interface via their web browser to a local repository of data. End users would be able to generate a variety of custom reports that juxtapose data they need to provide student level interventions (e.g. EOC, dropout, alternative measures, SMI/SRI to STAAR correlations, projections based on existing data to state/national standards). End users would not require an ODBC connection to the student information system (SIS) or administrative level access, instead running reports that give them access to data customized for their job function (e.g. principal vs. teacher) and location (e.g. campus staff can only see their data).

This data is composed of information gleaned programmatically and updated nightly via automated connections. Data flows from the SIS and other external data sources into the data warehouse. These automated connections–operating as many as two times per day–synchronize the data available in the Data Warehouse.

Cost

The approximate cost of establishing a web dataportal and data warehouse will require the following:

  • $85K – $95K: DataBase Administrator (DBA) – Job description attached.
    Description: This is an individual who will create the following:

    • A local repository of databases and tables (e.g. MySQL/MariaDB, MS-SQL)  that mirror internal and external data sources that is updated two times per 24-hour period.
    • A secure (HTTPS) web data portal that enables end users to have tiered-level access to data via queries that interface with the data warehouse and generate reports in HTML, PDF, and XLS formats for easy viewing and manipulation.
  • $30K: Servers and Software to Create Data Warehouse and Web Data Portal
    Description: Specialized software and servers will be needed to create the data warehouse and web data portal. This cost is not anticipated to impact until year 2 after the DBA is hired.
  • $30K: Identity Automation and Account Management
    Description: The identity automation component–which can be independent of a data warehouse–enables automation of 95% of current account creation/login management, elimination of work, and systems integration. The $30K is an initial cost that will drop to approximately 10% after year 1 launch.

Timeline

Pre-Development

  • Hire database administrator
  • Purchase identity automation system

Phase 1

  • Construct data warehouse
  • Develop data join queries that merge data from multiple sources of data.
  • Map out data queries  to obtain desired reports (e.g. EOC tracking, dropout reports, correlations, and projections).

Phase 2

  • Create tiered access matching staff member’s right to data access.
  • Create district web portal that presents desired reports.
  • Enable access for district and campus staff.

Phase 3

  • Enable drill-down data mining for teachers to student level.
  • Enable teacher/parent/student web portal views and reports.

Assessing Success

Success is defined by achieving all phases defined above.

Closing Thoughts

As you begin the process of putting in place a data warehouse, you may be tempted to seek out a vendor partner who can help you bridge the gap from where you are to where you need to be to see student data in a usable way. Be careful that before you involve a vendor, you are prepared to change how you work. Perhaps even more important, make sure that you have top level support to change the workflows for others in your organization. In part three of this series, we will take a look at finding a vendor partner.

 

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Infographic with PDF tools
MicrosoftTechnical Support

Top Five PDF Annotation Tools on Windows 10

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“I need to edit PDFs as part of my work. Do you have any suggestions?” asked a colleague two months ago. At the time, I had been relying on two Office Suites to get the job done. Neither worked all that well. My colleague’s  question forced me to take a harder look at available annotation tools. Finding the right PDF tool can be a challenge. There are so many choices available online.

Need to sign a PDF document on the go? How about fill out a PDF on your smartphone or Windows 10 tablet?  Here’s my top five list of tools to accomplish those needs. Before we look at the list, here are my criteria.

PDF Criteria

The main thing I am looking for is simple tools that get the job done. With PDF annotation tools, you have many to choose from. Some feature complex graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Others are bare bones. Here are my criteria for simple PDF tools:

  • The tool has a simple interface.
  • The program facilitates editing, filling out forms, and signing documents.
  • It’s easy to split PDF files into their individual pages or combine multiple pages/PDF files into one.
  • Free or low-cost

These four criteria do not include everything you could look for in a PDF editor. But one reason to keep it simple is that Adobe Acrobat Pro offers so many features that they are baffling. We all need a little less complexity in our lives. Therefore, you won’t find FoxIt, Adobe, or NitroPDF on this list.

Now that you know what I’m looking for in a PDF editor. Let’s take a look at some of my favorites.

Tool #1 – Xodo PDF Reader & Annotator

annotation toolsWhen I found Xodo, I was waiting to board a plane. I had to fill out a PDF form, sign it, and then email it. My Windows 10 device was stowed away; the only device I had was my Android phone. After using Xodo to get the PDF on its way, I made a mental note to see if it was available on Windows 10. Sure enough, you can get Xodo as an app in the Windows 10 Store. In addition to working as a native app on your Android or Windows 10 device, you can also access it via a web browser. A little more information about Xodo is available online:

With the Xodo web app, you can now merge multiple PDFs into one, which is perfect for when you need to compile resources into one package to send to your colleagues. And now you can merge PDFs from your computer and Google Drive.

The new Xodo web app provides more flexibility than ever before. You can now insert, delete, reorder, and even rotate pages to manipulate your PDF to fit your needs…Xodo can also open other file formats such as docx, pptx, jpeg, png, cbz, and other image files. Here’s a list of its features. Each link points to an illustrated blog post:

  1. Merge PDFs (NEW!)
  2. Organize pages: insert, delete, reorder, and rotate pages (NEW!)
  3. Access PDFs on Google Drive
  4. Online collaboration
  5. Secure: your files never leave your computer
  6. Print directly from your browser
  7. Multiple view modes and flexible zoom
  8. More annotation options
  9. Use without signing in (NEW!)

On their website, you’ll find testimonials from its users, including classroom teachers. This is a great, free tool to use, no matter what device (e.g. Windows, iOS, Android devices; Mac and Chromebook via the Web) you are on.

Tool #2 – Drawboard PDF

annotation toolsThe first time I tried Drawboard PDF on my Windows 10 tablet, I almost threw the tablet out the window. Drawboard boasts various features, such as the following:

  • Mark up any PDF from your computer
  • Available on Windows 10
  • Ink annotations feel just like pen and paper

While Drawboard isn’t the simplest to use (I find the radial interface confusing), some will like how easy it is to highlight the screen and annotate it. You have maximum control over your digital pens and markers.

Drawboard make inserting editable shapes, lines, arrows, polygons and clouds straightforward. You can even insert dynamic content like ink signatures, images, text boxes, and notes. Want to merge, re-order, or arrange PDF documents? You will need to get the Pro version of Drawboard PDF ($4.99 on sale or $9.99 regular price).

Tool #3 – Inkscape

Need to edit words on a page in PDF? If you need to change the words on the page, then Inkscape will get the job done. It only allows you to edit a single page at a time and insert images onto a page in a PDF. Here’s a video walking you through the process of PDF editing with Inkscape:

In a pinch, you can skip buying the expensive Adobe Pro software to edit a PDF document. Use the free Inkscape. Need a vector graphics editor? Read this blog entry, Vector Images: Make Magic with Two Free Tools, to see how cross-platform (e.g. Windows, Mac, GNU/Linux) Inkscape can help.

Tool #4 – Cloud Convert

While Office suites like MS Office and Google Suites have made it easy to convert from PDF to their respective formats, you may also have a need to use Cloud Convert. It “supports the conversion between more than 200 different audio, video, document, ebook, archive, image, spreadsheet and presentation formats.” You can open PDF files from a variety of sources, then convert them to anything you like. Files can be opened from Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft’s OneDrive, or Box.

annotation tools

Cloud Convert has your back when working with PDF files that you may have stored in the cloud.

Tool #5 – PDFsam Basic

One of my go-to PDF tools (works on GNU/Linux, Mac, and Windows) for a long time has been PDF Split and Merge (SAM) Basic. The program has grown over the years. You can get the simple version of PDF SAM. It makes “split, merge, mix, extract pages and rotate PDF files” easy to do. I can’t count how many times I drop into PDF SAM to split a PDF document, extracting a single page to share out of a 100+ page document. The PDF SAM Basic offering does quite a bit. However, if you find yourself wanting to pay for PDFsam Enhanced or PDFsam Visual, you’ll find it taking a hefty chunk out of your wallet.

annotation tools

Recommendations

My top picks from my list of favorites? That depends on what you need. Since my needs range from quick form filling, signing PDFs, and/or splitting PDF documents, I rely on Xodo and PDFsam Basic as my top two tools. Need to do some quick editing? Use Inkscape.

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Google Home
Google Tips and Tricks

A Homeschooling Parent’s Dream: Google Home

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

While technology directors often object to allowing Google devices designed for home use into public schools and classrooms, there’s no doubt one group is breathing a sigh of relief. That group is home school parents. Digital assistants are welcome to stick their noses into the privacy of home schoolers. Google Home has the potential to be huge in these home classrooms, serving an estimated 58 million learner (ages five to seventeen) nationwide. In Texas, that accounts for five million students in the same age group, approximately 151,000 in 2017-2018 (source). Before we explore some of the ways home schoolers are finding Google Home a useful tool, let’s answer two common questions.

Would Google Home Be Unwelcome in Public Schools?

While teachers may welcome such a personal assistant with open arms, there are some problems that may keep it from finding a home in every school district classroom. Here are a few of those:

  • The device lacks WPA2 Enterprise level WiFi support. This is a show-stopper and one of the reasons why Google Cast never made serious inroads into public schools, although many teachers could have used it. Most technology directors, including me, would not take it a step further.
  • Easy access to inappropriate content. Explicit content is available via Google Home through the various music services. Only YouTube Red (which costs money) offers content controls. You can learn more about control of the device.
  • Management of Google Home devices (e.g. setting up accounts, etc.) promises to be a headache. Unlike Chromebooks, this technology lacks a “management license” that can be purchased to better control these devices.

What are some other reasons for keeping Google Home out of K-12 school districts?

Do You Know What Google Home Can Do?

You may already know that with Google Home, you can accomplish the following:

  • Use Google Translate to help you speak in 90 different languages
  • Tap or swipe using its touch-sensitive surface at the top
  • Conduct free form searches that are based off of Google Search engine
  • Listen to Google Play music and YouTube
  • Stream to Chromecast-connected speakers or compatible devices
  • Recognize the voices of individuals

Looking for a comparison chart between Google Home and Amazon Alexa? You may want to take a look at this infographic. Let’s take a quick look at some ideas for using Google Home in your learning environment.

#1 – Google Knowledge Graph

Are you familiar with Google’s Knowledge Graph? The Knowledge Graph is searchable via the Google Home device. After viewing this tweet, I was able to learn about Knowledge Graph. You can start with one search. Knowledge Graph provides you with a visual, browse-able list of related collections of information.Here’s what the carousel looks like:

Watch this short video about KG:

 

#2 – Questions to Ask

Did you know that your Google Home could answer all these questions? Wade Gibson’s tweet points out that it can respond to various questions:

Watch these elementary students use Google Home to check their math work. Thanks to Jeff Hennigar for sharing the tweet.

The folks at Bookwidgets point out some additional approaches you can take:

  • Ask Google Home to share a fairy tale
  • Ask it to spell a complex word
  • Have the device answer students’ questions
  • Let it roll a coin and have students predict whether it will be heads or tails
  • Get Google Home to answer questions about book authors or movie characters/actors

For a different take on this device in the home school environment, read Meaghan’s piece at More Than a HomeSchool Mom.

What about Inappropriate Responses?

As Meaghan points out in her piece, you will want to set some boundaries and ground rules up front for Google Home use:

Google will answer questions. I keep our Google Home in the living room where the family is. If you are worried about your children being exposed to certain information, please supervise their use. I know for mine, I have had all the big talks with them so I am not concerned. This will vary based on the household.

Ready to let Google Home enhance the home school teaching and learning relationship you have with your child?

 

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Microsoft
MicrosoftProfessional LearningSTEM/STEAM

2018-2019 TCEA Microsoft Professional Learning Opportunities

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Are you an Office 365 school district and wondering how to maximize professional learning opportunities? Then bookmark this blog entry so you can check what exciting professional learning opportunities are upcoming this spring and summer. In this blog, I’ll share some of the events taking place that you will want to attend. Remember that in addition to these activities, you can always request a dedicated session, like Area 2 has done for a two-day Minecraft: Education Edition Academy.

Did You Know?

Want to sign up? Go to http://ly.tcea.org/attend to register for Lunch and Learns! TCEA Lunch and Learn events do require a TCEA membership ($49). If you have one, then the event is free.

Benefits of Attendance

What is in it for you? Attending TCEA Microsoft workshops and academies garner several benefits, including:

  • Membership in the free, Texas-wide community of Microsoft Innovative Educators (MIE). You get to interact with educators in public/private schools, as well as Microsoft, who are committed to accelerate your learning. Come learn with us!
  • Earn digital badges and certificates via the Microsoft Educator Community (MEC). All workshops, academies, and events earn you points that enhance your status in the MEC. And those certificates and badges can be easily printed to share with your employer.
  • Share your insights with others about using Microsoft products in your work. How are you using Microsoft Teams to transform communications in your district? Assist others as you learn more yourself.

If those aren’t enough reasons, you will also get access to a wealth of professional learning via TCEA, a non-profit education association dedicated to advancing teaching and learning through the use of technology.

Did You Know?

Join the TCEA MIE Facebook Community and connect to Texas educators from all around Texas, as well as Microsoft folks.

2018 Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

Attend these regional events in Fall, 2018. Registration is open now. Click links to access information form and registration link for each session.

October, 2018

November, 2018

Questions about content?

The facilitator for all sessions listed above is Miguel Guhlin, MIE Certified Master Trainer. Reach him via email at mguhlin@tcea.org or on Twitter @mguhlin

Professional Learning for Summer 2018

Robyn Hrivnatz, Keynote Speaker, 2018 TCEA Microsoft Academy

An amazing amount of TCEA learning opportunities abound. Let’s focus in on a few where Microsoft professional learning will be available.

Webinars

Not able to join us for face to face sessions? Then be sure to jump start your learning with online professional learning offerings via our Lunch and Learn series as well as other offerings. See you soon!

Did You Know?

TCEA features a team of MIE Certified Master Trainers, Certified Minecraft Trainers, as well as Google Certified Trainers and Administrators. They are ready to help you learn, whether that involves a technology audit or amazing professional learning experiences.

But wait, there’s more! Check out this collection of one hour, free webinars from Microsoft on a variety of popular topics. Topics include the following:

  • Six Steps for Building a Collaborative Classroom with Microsoft Teams
  • Bring the World to Your Students with Skype in the Classroom
  • Build a Digital Classroom with OneNote
  • Authentic Assessments with Forms, Sway, and More
  • Ten Things You Can Do with Office 365 Online that You Never Knew

Don’t wait. Time to get busy learning.

Past Events

  • 9/27/2018 – 1-Day Physical Computing and Its Role in Education – FREE EVENT
     Location: Arlington, TX
  • 9/13/2018 – MIE 1-Day Office 365 Teacher Academy (BYOD) – FREE EVENT
    Location: Arlington, TX
  • 9/1/2018 – MIE 1-Day Office 365 Teacher Academy (BYOD) – FREE EVENT
    Location: Edinburg, TX
  • August 2-3 – Two-Day Minecraft Education Edition Teacher Academy: This exciting two-day event, closed to the public, will be available for Burleson ISD teachers. If you would like a similar event for your district, please let us know. Location: Burleson, TX
  • July 12-13 – 2018 TCEA Microsoft Academy: The keynote speaker will be Texas educator and Microsoft Fellow Robyn Hrivnatz. In addition to sessions that will have an immediate impact on your classroom and use of Microsoft tools, attendees at the Academy will also be able to earn badges. Digital badges will be available in the Microsoft Education Community. Two  six-hour academies will be available. The first is the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Certified Trainer six-hour session. The second is the Minecraft: Education Edition Certified Teacher. Location: Austin, TX
  • July 17-18 – Minecraft Teacher Academy: Attend one of the all-day Minecraft: Education Edition academies being held at the Denton ISD Technology Integration Academy (TIA). You can register online at the TIA Conference website.
  • July 24-26 – Technology Learning Extravaganza: Come join us for three days and gain a wealth of knowledge and first-hand learning experiences in our Technology Learning Extravaganza in San Angelo, July 24-26. The sessions will provide educators learning opportunities to enhance knowledge in a variety of Microsoft-related areas such as Office 365, OneNote, Minecraft, Makecode, and more. Location: San Angelo, TX
  • July 31 – MakeCode for Micro:bit and Minecraft: Education Edition: The micro:bit is sweeping the globe as an accessible, inclusive approach to computing education that combines the magic of making with the power of code. The maker education movement has proven to engage and interest girls and other nontraditional CS student populations through creative, personally meaningful projects. Learn how combining the maker mindset with computational thinking can result in transformational learning experiences for all students.By the end of this session attendees will know how to construct and download simple programs to their micro:bit, and they will know where to find curriculum & resources for their classrooms. You will also learn how to use MakeCode to control the Agent in Minecraft: Education Edition. This is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) hands-on session for all levels (no prior computer science experience required). Location: Austin, TX
  • June 4 – MIE 1-Day Teacher Academy: Ready to begin your journey as a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE)? You will get certified as an MIE and receive support and guidance on this journey. Location: Laredo, TX (Area 1)
  • June 10-12 – Elementary Technology Conference: Read more about this conference online. There will be several Microsoft sessions offered at this event. Location: Galveston, TX
  • May 9 – PBL in the Minecraft: Education Edition Classroom: In this session, you’ll learn how to design Problem/Project-based Learning (PBL) experiences in virtual worlds like Minecraft: Education Edition. Participants will also experience PBL lesson-based design opportunities. They will develop a lesson plan, build a sample student product, and engage in world building. Location: Amarillo, TX (Area 16)
  • May 15 – Productivity Tools for Administrators: This conference will feature a variety of Microsoft tools that can enhance your productivity as an administrator, an administrative clerk, classroom teacher, or docent. Sessions offered will allow you to earn MEC points and/or digital badges and certificates. Location: Austin, TX (Area 13)
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Good TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

Create Voyages of Digital Discovery with Google Tour Builder

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Ready to create your amazing digital journeys, illustrated with pictures, text, and video? Google Tour Builder presents you, as both teacher and learner, the opportunity to create digital voyages of discovery. In this blog entry, we’ll explore a variety of elements, as well as a short how-to. Special thanks to my colleagues (Eric Curts, Ryan Bradford, and Jered Martinez) for sharing their resources online.

About Google Tour Builder (GTB)

When I explain what Google Tour Builder is, I describe it as a way to create a multimedia-rich digital trail of breadcrumbs, a learner-annotated digital map that anyone can access. Eric Curts describes it in this way:

Google Tour Builder allows you and your students to create virtual tours on a map, including locations, images, videos, descriptions, hyperlinks, and more. These tours can be used in any subject area such as retelling the events from a novel, tracing the locations of a historical event, visiting different biomes or landforms around the world, and more. Tours can be viewed by others in Tour Builder, or even imported into Google Earth for a full 3D experience (source).

Tour Builder enables students to create a virtual tour of their research data, adding photos, text, and video as needed. This map-based approach enables students to organize their research according to location and impact, which is appropriate for a topic like African immigration in colonial America. They can combine research, life stories, images, and video to make a compelling case for their research thesis.

GeoSpatial Importance

With Google Tour Builder, students can interact with research data in a different way. They can learn to situate research within a geospatial context. Understanding the geospatial is important. Why? Consider the following points:

The scientific community has hailed geospatial technologies as one of the three leading technologies…that will shape the development of science, technology, and society in the years to come. Geospatial technologies are an amalgamation of several technologies, including but not limited to remote sensing, GIS, GPS, and related fields such as computer mapping, spatial modeling, and data visualization. (Source: Daniel Z. Sui, Editor, JSTOR, 2007)

As a result of the impact of geospatial technologies, we have seen increased use of these technologies (e.g. location-based services). Now you can’t go anywhere without your mobile device. The device knows where you are. Assisting students to understand how to map media to location can break the ice of confusion when it comes to these technologies. What’s more, Tour Builder offers learners a phenomenal way to organize resources.

Examples

There are a variety of wonderful examples for Google Tour Builder. Here are a few from Eric Curts. Be sure to visit his site for more.

Create a tour for a faraway journey or for your local community, identify famous scientific discoveries in your country or around the world, or make a tour of the settings of a story or narrative. The power for globe-trotting creativity can be yours.

Try It on Your Own

For fun, I put together two quick Google Tours. The process was incredibly easy, but required some advance planning. Before you try it, you may want to put together an outline like the one shown below.

  • I. Introduction
  • A. Descriptive paragraph with links
  • B. A photo that captures the overall impression of the Tour
  • II. Location #1
  • A. Descriptive paragraph with web links
  • B. Multiple photos or video links that describe the location
  • C. Custom images for location icon or use one of the existing ones.
  • III. Location #2
  • A. Descriptive paragraph with web links
  • B. Multiple photos or video links that describe the location
  • C. Custom images for location icon or use one of the existing ones.
  • IV. Location #3
  • A. Descriptive paragraph with web links
  • B. Multiple photos or video links that describe the location
  • C. Custom images for location icon or use one of the existing ones.

Repeat as needed for each location.

Give Tour Builder a Try

Ready to give it a try? Check out the illustrated step by step. Or watch Eric Curts’ hour presentation. Creating voyages of digital discovery is only a few fun steps away.

 

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Content AreasGood TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

Creating gBooks, er, eBooks Just Got Easier

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Creating ebooks just got easier with the addition of new tools. If you haven’t kept up to date, you’ll want to read this blog entry. We will demystify key elements such as locating ebooks, ebook formats, converting eBooks, three fun approaches to creating ebooks, and copyright-friendly media. Ready to get started? If so, let’s begin!

1- Locating eBooks

Below, you will find some sites I have used in the past to find non-DRM (Digital Rights Management)-formatted ePubs. Finding non-Digital Rights Management (a.k.a. non-DRM) books can be a challenge for schools. This may be why OverDrive is heavily used in many libraries, and solutions like BiblioTech are quite popular.

As in any library or book store, there exists content that may be inappropriate for younger readers. Have learning conversations with students and parents when counseling that they “find free stuff” to read on the web. With that caveat in mind, I have tried to link to the Children’s/Juvenile section of each ebook distributor below.

Did You Know? You can get free audio versions of traditional books via LibriVox. Why not use a QR Code to link directly to a story’s audio version? Or have students make their own!

2- eBook Formats

eBooks come in a wide variety of formats. Let’s review them, shall we?

ePub

ebooksEPUB is an ebook file format with the extension .epub that can be downloaded and read on devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, or e-readers. It is a technical standard published by the International Digital Publishing Forum. Wikipedia

It is the standard format for these book publishers/sellers:

  • Amazon Kindle Fire (not previous versions of Kindle, though)
  • Apple iBooks
  • Barnes and Noble
  • Kobo

It is easy to make ePub-formatted documents. In fact, many word processors like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and OpenOffice/LibreOffice support the export of documents to ePub format. Read about how Jonathan Moeller, one of my favorite authors, uses  Sigil (a free cross-platform tool) to create/edit his ebooks.

ePubs come in two formats:

  • Standard (without media like sound/videos) (text/images are included)
  • Multimedia ebooks which feature sound/videos/text/images

Some eBook readers that work well with this format include Aldiko, Lithium, iBooks, Google Play Books, Freda, and Kindle. Some web-based tools include Readium or ePub Reader for the Chrome browser, and ePUBReader for Mozilla Firefox browser.

Mobi

ebooksMOBI is an e-book file format with the extension .mobi that can be downloaded and read on devices that support the Amazon Kindle app. The format, customized by Amazon, is often used by Amazon’s ebooks and on little else. There are various programs for making a .mobi ebook file and Amazon provides some tools you can take advantage of. “You can upload and convert your eBook manuscript file from several supported formats. Before you publish, browse the topics below to learn more.” Learn more at this link.

Some ebook readers that work well with Mobi format include Aldiko, Lithium, iBooks, Google Play Books, Freda, and, of course, Kindle.

PDF

PDF is not an ebook format. Rather, it is a format that seeks to capture the printed version of a document, capturing the look-and-feel of the printed item as if it had appeared on the author’s printer. A large percentage of documents presented as ebooks appear as Adobe Portable Document Formats (PDFs).

The reason PDF is not an ebook format is that it was never designed to appear in eReaders or reshape itself into a format viewable in such a device. It CAN be viewed on most modern devices, however.

Considering what version to publish ebooks to? The best answer is that ePub is the best format to create ebooks in. You can convert most documents into the ePub format and it will work on almost all devices using an eReader piece of software.

3 – Converting eBooks from One Format to Another

ebooksNeed to convert ebooks from one format to another? Use Calibre, the free, open source software that works on any computer (not Chromebooks, though). Here’s how it’s described:

Using Calibre to convert is very easy.

  1. Plug in your ebook reader.
  2. Open Calibre and click the “Add books” button on the top left. Select your book.
  3. Click open. Select your book in the library list. By now, Calibe should have detected your ebook reader.
  4. Click “Send to device” from the middle of the top toolbar.
  5. Calibre is smart enough to know if the book is in a format supported by your reader. If it’s not, it will ask you if you want to auto convert it. Say yes, and it will take care of the conversion and put the book on your reader.

Calibre worries about the formats and converting for you. Auto conversion is the easiest way to go and, in most cases, will be all you need to do. Here is a short video explaining how to use Calibre:

4- Creating eBooks: Fun Approaches

There are several approaches you can take to create ebooks in your classroom. Let’s explore a few, as well as learn about a new one from Apple that just became available.

Approach #1 – Book Creator

If you haven’t used Book Creator, it is an excellent, collaborative ($) ePub creation tool boasting over 15 million ebooks. It works on Chromebooks, iOS, Android, and Windows devices. Book Creator allows you to create a simple ePub without media or an enhanced ePub with video, audio, and more embedded. Read their blog for TONS of ideas.

This versatility means you can create content on an iPad/iOS device and share it with a wide variety of audiences. You can also share it to cloud storage (e.g. Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, or iCloud).  It also supports the creation of digital comic books, something your students will love. That’s amazing!

Check out my ebook on App-Smashing, created with Book Creator.

Approach #2 – Google Docs to ePub

EPUB is the most widely-supported file format for publishing accessible documents and digital books, allowing people to consume long-form content in their preferred apps on a diverse range of screen sizes and devices, including smartphones, tablets, and ereaders.

To make it easier for authors, publishers, and academic institutions to create works that can be consumed digitally, today we’re launching the ability to export Google Docs files as EPUB publications. Simply go to the File menu > Download as > EPUB Publication (.epub). (Source)

Here are two ebooks created in Google Docs using the ePub export.

What documents could you take and export to ePub format to make them easier to read on mobile devices?

Approach #3 – Google Slides to PDF

Use Google Slides as a collaborative ebook development tool. Ready to get started? Follow these four easy steps outlined in this TCEA blog entry, Google Slides Ebook Creation in Four Quick, Easy Steps:

  1. Customize the slides
  2. Add content
  3. Download as a PDF (or publish online as a Google Slides)
  4. Share the ebook

Here’s another guide to ebook creation from Texas’ Kasey “Shake Up Learning” Bell.

Use one of the many available ebook templates available in PowerPoint to create your own Google Slides ebook.

Tips for PDF eBook Creators

Here are some tips from two ebook authors, Erfili Davis and Jennifer Gonzales. Check out Erifili Davis’ blog entry on the topic of ebooks with Google Slides. She’s created some great video tutorials and a free template packet (click link to make a copy) you can start with. Read Erifili’s six tips to help you (or your class) create your first ebook using Google Apps for Education. As she points out, “These techniques are just as useful to anyone looking to self-publish an ebook, including general users of the free Google Drive and Google Apps for Work users.”

 “With Google Slides, students can create a simple ebook that includes text, photos, videos, and links,” says Diana Benner in this TCEA TechNotes blog entry. “They can even create or select themes, templates, and layouts for their book. Once created, the ebooks can be shared with other students, both locally and around the world, for feedback.” Find more ideas online at this blog entry to find out about more ideas.

Apple Announces ePub Export Function

“The update to Pages brings some of the features of Apple’s book creation app for the Mac ‘iBooks Author’ to the iPad for the first time,” states the Book Creator blog entry. Apple’s Spring 2018 Education event made this news public. “With Pages, you can export your documents in EPUB format so they can be read using iBooks on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or with other third-party EPUB readers,” says the Apple website where you can read up on the process.

Make Computer Voice Narrated Audiobooks (Updated: 7/28/2019)

Wish you could turn student-created ePub files into narrated audiobooks? Or, make any ePub into an audiobook? You can on your Windows 10 computer. Take advantage of the Freda ebook reader’s built-in audio reader. First, save your Google Doc file as an ePub file on your computer. Then, open the file using Freda ebook reader. Once the file is open, have Freda read the file to you.

When you first ask Freda to read an ebook to you, you will see the following…you’ll want to choose READ ALOUD:

You can choose several voices (Microsoft David, Zira, or Mark) when having Freda read the ebook to you, as shown below:

Try out the different voices to see which you prefer.

The next question to consider is, How to record Freda reading the ebook to you? To accomplish that, you’ll need to get the free, open source audio editor, Audacity. Once you have it installed on your Windows 10 computer, you will need to adjust some of its settings. You’ll need to set the preferences as shown below:

Make sure to change the Recording settings to ENABLE “Sound Activated Recording.” That way, you can turn on Audacity, have it record once you turn on Freda to read aloud.

This will allow you to record audio from your Windows 10 computer as Freda ebook reader reads the book aloud to you. Here’s what that looks like:

Listen to Microsoft David read About Carroll.

Ready to Begin?

“Student-centered products enable learners to showcase their new knowledge and skills in relation to a particular topic in an infinite variety of ways,” write the authors of Digital Media in Today’s Classrooms. Charge your students with tasks that require creativity, analysis, and application. Get started now!

 

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shortener
Google Tips and TricksOnline Tools and Apps

Replacing the Goo.gl Shortener

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Did you get the bad news? Goo.gl, the URL shortener service, will no longer be available after April 13, 2018. In this blog entry, let’s explore some alternatives. Those alternatives must address some of the main features of Goo.gl’s service, namely statistics, QR code generation, and easy URL shortening.

vain

The Official News

The official announcement came via Slashdot and Engadget:

Google is replacing its URL shortener service, goo.gl, with Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL) as of April 13th. These new smart URLs will let you send people to any location within iOS, Android or web apps.

The complaints came fast and furious when people read that Google’s URL shortener was going away. Responses on Twitter included:

  • Well that stinks. There are plenty of others out there but theirs was the best. (Tracey Smith)
  • Sadness, I just shared it last week w/ one of my most reluctant to tech staff members & she was optimistic on it. Now, I get to tell her “no more” — sad. (Jen Wagner)

The complaints arise because Goo.gl offered statistics as well as QR code generation. While some have already offered a few solutions (e.g. Tinyurl.com, Bit.ly) to replace Goo.gl, let’s take a look at some other approaches. If you require information about the usage of URLs, you can rely on shorteners like Bit.ly.

For Chrome browser users, you will find a nice collection in the Chrome Web Store. Firefox browser users can find a wealth of add-ons that qualify as  URL shorteners online.

QR Code Generator, Anyone? For those seeking QR code generation, the process may often involve first creating the shortened URL and then pasting it into a QR code generator of choice. Be sure to check out DrawSplat.org’s QRSplat Studio. It offers custom colors and image insertion into your QR code. You can also give QRGenHub a run, too.

Other solutions, like ReBrandly, allow you to buy your own domain ($2 was the going rate for tceamg.xyz) and publish your own custom URLs. This can be handy since you will get access to a management console with statistics on visits or hits on each link you have created. As the ReBrandly folks point out, there are various reasons for getting a “vanity URL.” Here are some of the ones they mention:

  • Social media tracking and advertising
  • Link tracking and viewing sources of hits
  • Build brand awareness

You can read more about each of the reasons above. If you have the technical chops to host your own URL shortening service, however, then you will find the two below of interest.

Hosting Your Own URL Shortener Service

If paying a few dollars and letting someone else handle the server management is not your cup of tea, then,you may want to host your own URL shortening service. Here are two solutions to explore. These would be great for a school district hosting its own server. Each may also be great for someone who is relying on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud to host content. Getting your own server may be a part of your first step towards hosting your own website or blog for yourself, your school, or district/organization.

Solution #1 – YOURLS

YOURLS describes itself as “a small set of PHP scripts that will allow you to run your own URL shortening service.” Since it is free, open source and offers statistics for your custom web addresses, it has a lot to offer. You can find a list of server requirements online. Here is one example: OE.CD (Organization for Economic and Cooperative Development).

Solution #2 – Phurl

Not unlike YOURLS, Phurl is a set of PHP scripts you can set up on your own server. It offers a variety of features, such as:

  • Simple, easy and neat interface
  • Basic admin panel to view, search for, and delete shortened URLs
  • Notification of new version of Phurl via admin panel
  • Shorten URLs using an alias generated by the script, or enter a custom alias
  • Browser Bookmarklets included for one-click shortening
  • Installs in a few minutes with built-in installation wizard

No matter what URL shortener you use, if you’re looking to make it easy for others to access your content, be aware that some URL shorteners are used for nefarious purposes. You may need to decode short web addresses.

Decoding Short URLs

If you use TinyURL or Bit.ly, you may want to make note of these “decoders.” Some ways to “decode” include CheckShort URL. The benefit of URL expanders is summarized in this way:

CheckShortURL is an expand link facility: it allows you to retrieve the original URL from a shortened link before clicking on it and visiting the destination. We provide furthermore information about unshortened URL such as title, description, keywords and author of the page. It also checks if the original URL is on search engines, Twitter, and lets you know if the hidden link is safe or not.

vain

You can take any TinyURL and get a preview of where it might go. To do so, adjust your TinyURL to include the word “preview” in it. For example, consider these two shortened website addresses:

When Services Fail, Be Nimble

Web services come and go. This is true even when Google hosts those services (view the Google Graveyard). Be nimble and switch to another service. The solutions mentioned in this blog entry should make your next transition a hop and a skip rather than a jump into the unknown.

 

This blog entry was updated August, 2026 with new content.

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data warehouse
CTO/CIOLeadership

District Data Warehouse: Recognizing the Need

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Can your district recognize patterns in student achievement data and then craft appropriate instructional interventions? Many districts have a clear and urgent need to do so. The problem is that they don’t know it. Achieving the technical reality can be difficult to grasp for top leadership. In this blog entry, we’ll explore some of the reasons why a data warehouse can be helpful.

Web Portal with Data Warehouse

When I first proposed the need for a data warehouse, the district I served thought what they had was sufficient (e.g. Eduphoria Aware). One reason was that they didn’t know how many systems needed to interact with each other. For each system, a manual process was involved. The image below captures some of the various data systems that needed to interact with each other. See if this looks familiar to you.

warehouse

Conversations with school leadership staff soon revealed that they spent weeks combining various data sources (e.g. assessments) into spreadsheets. Unfortunately, these spreadsheets were prone to errors and seldom resulted in swift instructional interventions that impacted teaching and learning. Worse, district leadership didn’t know what they did not know. They did know that digging up, reviewing, and crafting data reports manually took time. They didn’t realize that campus staff spent weeks doing it.

One of the challenges was identifying the steps to go forward. The initial journey was imagined to take about six months. However, the process took a full year with constant interventions. The main obstacles? Getting the district’s internal systems exporting the data to match the required schema, as well as getting the various vendors to work together (e.g. Student Information System (SIS)).

warehouse

Once district leaders understood the potential of a data warehouse with a web-based data dashboard, they decided to move the project forward. One way of helping them understand involved collecting scenarios from various stakeholders.

Scenarios

Here are a few scenarios that illustrate why a data warehouse is needed:

  • Due to ELA Reading and Writing scores being combined, campuses will need to know if a student met minimum composite scores and ascertain minimum section scores. To effectively track students for End of Course retesting, we need to know two collections of data:
    • Student information (e.g.ID#, first year enrolled in high school, first year in a Texas high school, and testing results (three tests per year per subject). This data is combined with…
    • Combined ELA Reading and Writing scores. This spring, the ELA tests will be combined. The district will need to know if the student met a minimum composite score and a minimum score for each section. This information is then compiled to determine who needs retesting.
  • A need exists to evaluate special education services. Six components of information that need compilation and juxtaposition include the following: level of inclusion, modifications, accommodations, nine weeks test scores, and STAAR results, all listed by teacher.
  • A teacher needs to complete a report about AVID at his school. He needs to know student performance in AVID as compared to other students. One piece of information he needs is the percent of students that drop Pre-AP classes.
  • List of students to test for gifted and talented. The campus staff person begins with a basic list from SMI/SRI scores. Then the staff person goes into Aware to look at quarterly assessment scores, STAAR scores, and then into Texas Gradebook to look at grades. The campus staff person has to look at 45 different students to gather the data. The process is repeated each time a list of students needs to be tested for gifted and talented. It can also involve greater numbers of students.
  • When beginning the RTI process, teachers must complete a Review of Student Records form. Teachers must pull attendance data, previous intervention data, screening data, and possibly others as well like grades. In the past, many teachers have even called in sick so that they could complete these forms. In most cases, it took several hours to gather the data prior to even compiling it on the forms.
  • A need exists to pull data from the following: iStation, SAM, ALEKS, Think Through Math, Tango, AIMs Web, and Eduphoria. Current practices involve going into each program individually and then extracting data from each to compile.

Even More Scenarios

Wondering about some other possible reasons for a data warehouse from a special programs perspective?

  • Bilingual/ESL Office: TPRI/TejasLee staff and student data exports have to be obtained via a single district person and this can involve wait time.
  • Special Education: Both district and campus staff have to correlate data between iTCCS and vendor systems–whose disparate systems are unable to “talk to each other”–to get the results needed to serve special populations.
  • Technology: To assess the implementation of digital devices and their impact on instruction, it would be wonderful  to query and generate reports. Data needed includes student attendance (comparing one classroom to others), individual attendance reporting, student achievement across grade levels, individual performance, and discipline referrals.

If these scenarios are familiar to you, a data warehouse may be the solution to your problem.

Data Warehouse Next Steps

The goals of establishing a data warehouse include the following:

  • Facilitate easy, safe, and appropriate access to data that campus and district staff need to accomplish essential job functions, and
  • Eliminate time that the staff currently waste in data hunting-and-gathering, sifting, and organizing that consume more time than the data analysis component requires.
  • Enable staff to have tiered levels of access to generate reports derived from data critical to their job functions via a web-based interface to a data warehouse of content.

The end result is a more informed leadership and better decision-making in service of students and staff. To achieve that, your district will need to make a plan. In part two of this blog entry, we will explore a sample plan you can customize for your own district.

 

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Office Mix
Microsoft

The Demise of Office Mix

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In a few short weeks, the demise of Microsoft Office Mix will be complete. Office Mix is “a free extension to PowerPoint that makes it easy to turn your PowerPoint presentations into interactive online lessons and share them” (source). While Microsoft has incorporated many Mix features into PowerPoint, there are various elements educators will miss. Because of this, in this blog entry, we’ll explore a few alternatives to Office Mix.

Did You Know?

The 2018 TCEA Microsoft Academy will feature amazing educators sharing their best ideas for the use of MS tools in the classroom. Won’t you join them? Register now for the July 12-13, 2018 event.

The Demise of Office Mix

Consider this recent announcement about Microsoft’s Office Mix:

“[Microsoft is]…excited to share that we are bringing the best of Office Mix directly into PowerPoint, Microsoft Stream, and Microsoft Forms for Office 365 subscribers on Windows PCs.

This new integrated experience in PowerPoint will remove the need for downloading an add-in. You’ll be able to easily access the feature via the Recording tab in PowerPoint after you turn on the feature by customizing your PowerPoint toolbar ribbon.”

While Microsoft encourages us to use Microsoft Stream, that option may not be available in your particular situation. Let’s explore a few alternatives to Office Mix for creating and sharing videos.

Screencasting Alternatives to PowerPoint with Mix

Here is a short list of screencasting alternatives. This listing includes browser-friendly tools, as well as those you can use on your computer.

Free Tools

Purchase Required

  • SnagIt ($29.95) for Mac or Windows
  • Camtasia Studio ($179.90) if you need higher end video capture and editing on Mac or Windows.

Note:Windows 10 has built-in screen recording.

Five Easy Screencasting Steps

  1. Develop an outline or map of where you want to go.
  2. Develop your presentation.
  3. Pick your recording tool.
  4. Screencast using shortcut keys.
  5. Publish/share your video.

Take some time to explore these tools and create your own screencasts. While many will miss Office Mix, try combining PowerPoint with some of these screencasting tools. You can, as Microsoft points out, place your content in Microsoft Stream. But you can also use other video sharing services such as YouTube, Vimeo, and TeacherTube.

Other Screencasting Resources

 

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