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Story Bins: The Virtual Edition

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In the earlier blog entry, Seven Ready-to-Use Story Bin STEM Activities, you saw hands-on, makerspace-like activities to foster literacy. As important as hands-on, manipulative activities are, virtual story bins are something you can take advantage of. If you are familiar with Microsoft Minecraft or Minetest (free, open source version), then you can also adapt these Story Bin ideas for virtual construction. That’s right, instead of messing around with physical bins, you can do some of this in online virtual spaces!

Did You Know?

TCEA offers an online, self-paced course that shows you how to use a program for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux computers.:Virtual World Builder: Game-Based Learning, The program is free, no-cost, and is called Minetest.

Find out more about the TCEA course, Virtual World Builder now.

Engineering Design Process for Story Bins

Before exploring STEM challenges for story bins, let’s revisit the Engineering Design Process below:

Please find an adaptation of the Engineering Design Process. What if you ran one of the story bin challenges through this process?

Stages of the Engineering Design Process
Public View Link | Template Link

To use Minetest (or Minecraft), think of building something. Here are some AI-generated ideas to get you started:

ChallengeAskImaginePlanCreateShare
Build a castleHow do we build the best castle?Think of different castles.Draw our castle and list materials.Build our castle and fix any parts.Show our castle to others.
Make a farmHow can we make a farm with animals and crops?Dream up farms with animals and plants.Plan where everything goes on our farm.Create our farm and plant seeds.Share our farm and how we made it.
Create a rollercoasterWhat makes a super fun rollercoaster?Imagine rollercoasters with loops and drops.Draw the track and figure out where it goes.Build the rollercoaster and ride it.Show our rollercoaster to our friends.
Design a water parkHow can we make the coolest water park?Think of slides and pools.Plan out the water slides and where pools are.Build our water park and splash around.Invite others to see our water park.

Let’s explore what this might look like in the context of Minecraft (available via Microsoft Education subscription) or Minetest (free, no cost).

Minetest offers Castle mod, which can be quite helpful

Sample Instructions for the Build a Castle Challenge

In the first Story Bin challenge, you can see the question is, “How do we build the best castle?” Here is one set of instructions you can tailor for your own use:

  1. Choose Your Location: Find a suitable spot for your castle. Consider factors like terrain, space, and proximity to resources.
  2. Gather Materials: Collect blocks for your castle. Good options include stone, cobblestone, stone bricks, and wood. Don’t forget torches for lighting.
  3. Lay the Foundation: Decide on the size and shape of your castle, then create a flat foundation using cobblestone or stone blocks.
  4. Build the Walls: Erect the outer walls of your castle. Use stone or cobblestone for a sturdy look. Consider adding texture with different block types.
  5. Construct the Towers: Build towers at the corners and along the walls for defense and visual appeal. Make them taller than the walls.
  6. Add a Gate: Create a grand entrance using wooden doors, iron bars, or a portcullis made with fence posts and pistons.
  7. Create the Inner Courtyard: Inside the walls, build a courtyard with a well, garden, or training grounds.
  8. Design the Keep: Construct the central keep or great hall where the lord resides. Use impressive blocks like quartz or stone bricks.
  9. Add Details: Enhance your castle with details like banners, stained glass windows, arrow slits, and a moat.
  10. Light it Up: Place torches or lanterns to illuminate your castle at night and add ambiance.
  11. Furnish and Decorate: Add tables, chairs, beds, bookshelves, and other decorative items to make your castle feel lived-in.
  12. Finish the Roof: Top your towers and buildings with crenelated battlements or sloped roofs using stairs and slabs.
  13. Test and Refine: Step back and admire your work. Make adjustments as needed to improve the design.
  14. Share Your Creation: Give your friends a tour of your completed Minecraft castle!

What you may notice from these instructions is that all the materials for your challenge appear in Minecraft or Minetest.

Image Citation

Feature image. Castle featured from r/Minecraft. Available online 5/22/2024 at https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/kwgtzy/first_ever_attempt_at_building_a_minecraft_castle/

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Google Reading Practice screenshot
Google Tips and TricksMicrosoftReading

New Reading Tools to the Rescue from Google and Microsoft

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Google and Microsoft continue to announce exciting new tools that enhance reading. Let’s take a moment to review their contributions to improving reading skills.

Google’s Addition to Reading Tools

Read Along

You may recall that Google has been experimenting with various reading apps. In the past, you may have read about Read Along by Google: A fun reading app, which is now available as a beta product online. You cannot use it with a Google Workspace for Education account. Instead, use a personal Google account.

Kid Space

Another reading product from Google going through a transition? Google’s Rivet. This product transitioned to Google’s Kid Space. The 3,500 books available in Rivet found their way into Google’s Kid Space. Google is exploring offerings for children, and making the reading experience better.

Google Play Books

Another way Google is working to make the reading experience better? It’s improving the functionality of its Google Play Books app on Android.

Introducing Google’s Reading Practice

A new product has been announced in early June 2023: Reading Practice. It is a new feature added to Google Play Books. Targeted for early readers, it offers these enhancements (source):

  • Highlighted text. Text appears highlighted as they read out loud.
  • Play a word aloud. If a child doesn’t know how to say a word, they can tap the word to hear it.
  • Hear it by syllable. A child can also choose to hear the word syllable by syllable.
  • Listen to a sentence. And more than listening to a word by syllable or word, they can hear it used in a sentence.
  • Explain the meaning. Readers can tap to see or listen to an explanation of what the word means.
  • Mark their spot. Children can mark where they are in the text, then start forward from that point.
  • Review unfamiliar vocabulary. If a child encountered problems with a tough-to-pronounce or unfamiliar word, they can review it. Word reviews appear at the end of every page.

Having seen several different reading products, it’s clear Google wants to improve. Whether it has achieved that goal in its latest offering, you will need to decide. Although their product appears limited to Android and home use, Google is moving in the right direction. Let’s take a look at a school-friendly alternative.

Microsoft’s Reading Progress and Reading Coach

A veteran of making systematic improvements, Microsoft Teams offers two components of interest. These both work in schools. The aim of these is to provide an “inclusive learning experience.” You can hear Mike Tholfsen describe Microsoft’s offerings in the video below:

Reading Progress, says Tholfsen, assists educators in checking student reading fluency. Since teachers can do this with more frequency, he says it can help. Combining Reading Coach with Reading Progress (launched 2021) enables students to:

  • Review unfamiliar words students struggled with the most. It identifies five of those words, then presents them again.
  • Rely on text-to-speech when needed.
  • Break words into syllables.
  • Define unfamiliar words via a picture dictionary (source).

What’s more, teachers control Reading Coach and how it scaffolds students’ reading. You can see it in action via this video:

Reading Coach also appears in Immersive Reader, a popular enhancement to Microsoft 365 apps. Those apps include (or will soon) Word Online, OneNote, Teams, and Forms. Scheduled soon are more app integrations. Reading Progress and Reading Coach enhancements are not new. Yet, the constant improvement is noteworthy.

New Reading Tools to the Rescue

These updated or enhanced reading tools provide much needed support to early readers. Be sure to explore these on your device and in your ecosystem (e.g. Google Android/Web or Microsoft) of choice.

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Feature Image with title "3 AI Tools for Creating Spreadsheet Formulas" showing three screenshots, one for each tools, with their names on top of the images.
Artificial IntelligenceGoogle Tips and TricksMicrosoft

Three AI Tools for Creating Spreadsheet Formulas

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

If you’re like me, you find yourself using spreadsheets for a multitude of tasks beyond the common ones such as budgeting or inventory management. Spreadsheets empower us to handle data in ways that enhance our efficiency and productivity. When we begin to incorporate formulas into our spreadsheets, they gain new powers and can become even more insightful. However, as you may have noticed, crafting the right formula for a complex task in a spreadsheet — especially if it’s a task that’s new to you or one you haven’t tackled in a while — can be quite challenging. Fortunately, a variety of artificial intelligence (AI) tools have recently been introduced to the market specifically designed to assist spreadsheet enthusiasts in finding the right formulas. Let’s take a look at some AI tools for spreadsheet formulas.

1. Sheet+

Consider Sheet+ this handy AI assistant your new best nerdy friend. The freemium tool gives you five credits each month. But you can jump to the pro account to get unlimited credits and a soon-to-be-released add-on for Google Sheets and/or Excel. While I have been able to stay within the five requests per month, this is one tool that I’d be willing to pay for since I use spreadsheets for so many things.

I have mainly used the formula generator which is where you tell it what you want to accomplish and it generates the formula to make it happen. If you already have a formula and aren’t sure how to tweak it, then check out the formula explainer which will analyze your formula and make it understandable, so you can approach it with confidence. And if you have a formula that doesn’t seem to be working correctly, use the Debugger tool to have it detect and correct any errors in your formula.

Screenshot of Sheet+ tool
Screenshot by author

2. Ajelix

Ajelix is a robust tool for folks who may be working on formulas but may also want to write scripts (Excel VBA Script and Google Apps Script) to extend the functionality of the spreadsheet. An Excel add-on is available for you to download and use. The template generator will generate an Excel spreadsheet template based on your explanation of what you want the sheet to do. You can download the file and open it in Microsoft Excel.

Because it doesn’t have all the data for your spreadsheet, you can expect to tweak the spreadsheet more to get exactly what you want. You are able to preview the template before you download it. If you are hoping to have conditional formulas and dropdowns to choose from data that is in a particular range, then you are exceeding the limits of the template. But you can have Ajelix help with such sub-tasks of developing your spreadsheet by using the Google or Microsoft formula generator.

Screenshot of Ajelix tool
Screenshot by author

ChatGPT

Yes, ChatGPT can even help with crafting formulas for Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. When using ChatGPT, be sure to declare the role you want your AI assistant to take on. For these purposes, ask it to take on the role of a “Formula Expert” or a “Spreadsheet Consultant.” This will help ChatGPT know how to better guide you. And, as previously mentioned for Sheet+, be sure to specify cell references and/or ranges when you can so that ChatGPT can create accurate formulas tailored to your spreadsheet.

One example of a prompt request might be: “Take on the role of a formula expert for Google Sheets. I will explain what I want the formula to do, and I need you to craft an accurate but efficient formula. I want a formula that concatenates cells A2, B2, and C2. A space should be added between cells A2 and B2. Parenthesis should be added before and after B3. Add a line return after B2. After sharing the formula with me, explain it as if I’m five years old. Do you understand?”

Screenshot of ChatGPT
Screenshot by author

Similar to Ajelix, ChatGPT can also write scripts to add to Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel to automate some tasks. For this type of task, it’s best to use the highest version of ChatGPT available. After having it generate the script, ask it to analyze the output it gave for any errors.

Let us know which of these tools you’ve used to enhance your spreadsheet superpowers. And, if you found a different AI tool you like to help with spreadsheets, let us know of it along with a brief description of why you like it.

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Computational Thinking
AndroidChromebooksCoding/Computer ScienceiOS Tips and TricksMathMicrosoftProfessional LearningSTEM/STEAMWriting

TCEA Announces All-New Scratch Computational Thinking Course

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Make coding more than a programmer’s tool. Teachers can now learn how to use Scratch, a block coding tool, across the curriculum! This course allows you to learn how to use Scratch to teach computational thinking. Teachers can use it to present, animate, and gamify their lessons. The online, self-paced course (Scratch Computational Thinking) is available through TCEA.

An infographic with an orange cartoon cat and a talk bubble with a red heart and TCEA Scratch course logo. Behind the cat is a screenshot of Scratch code. To the right of the cat is information on cost, course structure, and what is included with enrollment. Above the cat is the title "TCEA's Scratch Computational Thinking" with a brief course description.

What Is TCEA?

If you don’t know us, we’re a nonprofit education association. Our mission? Advancing teaching and learning through the use of technology. Improving education with teachers and ensuring student success is our goal!

What You’ll Learn in the Scratch Course

Participants in the Scratch course watch videos to learn how to create animations, make mathematical instructional resources, and create games. And the course shows teachers how to pose and solve computational thinking problems.

TCEA Course Developer James Abela says that teachers will make lessons that encourage literacy and writing. Abela assisted in the launch of the Raspberry Pi at Cambridge, and he is also the course developer of TCEA’s Swift Programming course.

Abela says he loves teaching computer science, and with this course, teachers can take first steps into coding. “You will be able to create interactive animations. Teachers can support learning across all subjects!” he says.

Screenshot showing the block palette, code area, and stage in Scratch.
Image Source: Scratch Wiki

What Are the Scratch Course Details?

Once you complete the course, you will be able to create learning experiences for students with Scratch. “You can click things together just like Lego, so it’s a great way to get things started. It enables us to teach real models like the input process and output model,” says Abela.

The course includes five modules:

  • Module 1: Getting Started with Scratch
  • Module 2: Sequence
  • Module 3: Selection
  • Module 4: Iteration (Repetition)
  • Module 5: Interactivity

Enrolling in the course gets you a free TCEA membership, and once completed, you receive 12 CPE credits, and a digital badge. What’s more, you’ll get a digital certificate of completion! Course access lasts for one full year from a your date of enrollment in the course.

What Are the Scratch Course Prerequisites and Requirements?

This course is for teachers of students ages 7 – 14 and is an introductory course to computational thinking using Scratch. More sophisticated techniques shown here are suitable for older students. Scratch is also featured in Harvard’s CS50 course, which shows learning Scratch can benefit adult learners.

How To Sign Up

The course is available for $39, but for groups of 10 or more, the price is discounted to $34 per person. Contact Miguel Guhlin (mguhlin@tcea.org) for pricing quotes for 10 or more people. Large groups can also pay via TCEA Credit Card Authorization Form. Interested? Go ahead, enroll now!

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accelerating learning
CommunicationDigital CitizenshipDigital LiteracyEnglish Language Arts Reading (ELAR)MathMicrosoftReadingSocial-Emotional Learning

What Are Microsoft’s New Learning Accelerators?

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Announcing a host of new tools, Microsoft seeks to accelerate learning and reporting in the classroom. These tools expand on their ongoing effort to reimagine education with technology. Their tools seek to empower teachers and students with coaching and progress tracking.

“We formed our partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “In this next phase of our partnership, developers and organizations across industries will have access to the best AI infrastructure, models, and toolchain with Azure to build and run their applications.”

Source: Microsoft Blog, 01/23/2023

What will resonate with educators in Microsoft’s February announcement? These are AI-powered tools blended into Microsoft 365 products, including Bing, Teams and OneNote. PowerPoint, Word, and Immersive Reader have also been supercharged. These Microsoft 365 integrated tools, a.k.a Learning Accelerators, target critical skills, including:

  1. Reading and Literacy
  2. Information Literacy
  3. Mathematics
  4. Speaking and Presenting
  5. Social-Emotional Learning
Immersive Reader now features Reading Coach.

1. Reading and Literacy

Reading Coach and Reading Progress focus on helping “students practice fluency,” ostensibly through individualized instruction in critical literacy skills. Included in Teams and Immersive Reader, students get guided reading support. They can practice reading with exercises that aid with a variety of skills, such as:

  • Pronunciation
  • Syllabification
  • Reading Speed
  • Vocabulary Recall

Additionally, teachers are able to track students’ reading skills. This allows them to provide timely feedback that is actionable. With Reading Coach, teachers can upload a reading selection of their own or browse a catalog. The catalog allows you to filter by these criteria in search of “the perfect passage:“

  • Grade Level
  • Genre
  • Lexile Level
  • Word Count

These two Learning Accelerators offer a few more features of interest in the classroom.

2. Informational Literacy

Worried about fake news and misinformation finding their way into the classroom? You may need to be. Consider these statistics:

  • 62% of all Internet information can be fake
  • 80% of US adults have consumed fake news
  • 64% of US. adults believe that fabricated information causes much confusion about basic facts (source)

Worse, NPR reports that 80% of students surveyed believe fake news is actual news. Getting to the truth involves teaching critical thinking skills.

We tempted the AI chatbot [ChatGPT] with 100 false narratives from our catalog of Misinformation Fingerprints™. 80% of the time, the AI chatbot delivered eloquent, false and misleading claims about significant topics in the news, including COVID-19, Ukraine and school shootings.

ChatGPT generated false narratives — including detailed news articles, essays, and TV scripts — for 80 of the 100 previously identified false narratives. For anyone unfamiliar with the issues or topics covered by this content, the results could easily come across as legitimate, and even authoritative.

(Source: NewsGuard)

Microsoft’s Search Coach seeks to assist students in distinguishing fact from opinion. Their goals include assisting students with the following:

  • Forming effective search queries
  • Finding trusted sites
  • Thinking critically about search results in ad-free environments

Students can find Search Coach in Microsoft Teams. They can then rely on filters such as domains, date range, operators, and other sites. Search Coach includes NewsGuard results, a search progress component. Search Coach allows teachers to:

track the development of information literacy skills. It creates a window into students’ search activity and behaviors.

3. Mathematics

Math is not far behind reading in Microsoft’s Learning Accelerator Suite. Scheduled for release in the 2023-2024 school year, Math Coach and Math Progress (along with Speaker Progress mentioned below) will become available in Microsoft Teams. You can watch a demo of Math Coach and Math Progress in this @petrijamsen TikTok video:

@petrijamsen

Quick view of the new upcoming Math Coach #teams #microsoft #microsofteducation

♬ alkuperäinen ääni – Petri Jämsen

4: Presenting and Speaking

PowerPoint, Teams, and LinkedIn now feature Speaker Coach and Speaker Progress.

Preparing students to speak can be tough. Microsoft’s Speaker Coach and Speaker Progress offer information and analytics. Teachers and students can now measure speaking performance using criteria such as:

  • Pitch
  • Filler Word Usage
  • Pacing

Find these two Learning Accelerators in PowerPoint, Teams, and LinkedIn.

5: Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

Recognizing the importance of SEL, Microsoft has another enhancement for its digital classroom. Microsoft Teams, a learning management system, now has a reflection tool for students. Students are able to identify and express how they feel in “safe and fun ways” through emojis, emotional vocabulary, and a “Feelings Monster.”

With Learning Accelerators, Microsoft is making its student learning surveillance efforts more transparent. Data tracked and reported includes students, classrooms, and schools.

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MicrosoftPodcastsWindows

Recording Audio with Audacity

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Ever wish you could record audio playing off your computer? I do every time I run into an internet radio station or play a video I only want a snippet of audio from. Today I’ll share one of my favorite audio recording, editing, and capturing tools. I will also provide a list of additional uses for this versatile audio editor.

My favorite tool? Audacity. “It is a free, easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. The interface is translated into many languages. You can use Audacity to record live audio, record computer playback on any Windows Vista or later machine, and edit sound files.”

Source: Audacity website

How to Record Audio with Audacity

Find a talk show you can’t listen to behind firewalls and content filters? You might be tempted to use an approach that combines the free, open-source tool, Audacity, with self-recording. Here’s one way that works:

You’ll first need to install Audacity. Once you have it installed on your Windows computer, you will need to adjust some of its settings by changing the preferences as shown below:

Make sure to change the Recording settings to ENABLE “Sound Activated Recording.” That way, you can turn on Audacity and have it record once you start a radio station.

This will allow you to record audio from your Windows computer as the browser plays a radio station. Be sure to adhere to copyright guidelines, of course.

How to Use Audacity to Record Audio Books

There’s a bonus application for Audacity that you may not have thought of. On Windows computers, you can have an ePub or PDF book read to you. Audacity can record the audio of computer-generated reading as it is being read. To create your own audiobooks, follow these steps:

Step 1: Get the Freda App

Freda is a wonderful free ebook reader you can install on your computer. You can use the Freda app on Windows to read any nondigital rights management (DRM) ePub ebook.

Free Reader, or Freda for short, provides a wide variety of options that include reading EPUB books, changing type size, font, spacing, margins, layout and color scheme, along with being able to customize the controls and gestures. You can also add bookmarks along with highlighting and annotating sections of text.

The application allows you to search for words or phrases within a book and to search online for definitions, translations (great for those wanting to learn a second language), and information related to any text element you may select.

Step 2: Get Freda to Read a Book Aloud to You

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

Choose to have it read the ebook to you, ensuring you select the option READ ALOUD.

Now that you have Freda all set up to read aloud to you, you need some way to record your computer’s audio. This is where Audacity comes in.

Audacity has an extensive support area to assist you

Step 3: Adjusting Audacity’s Settings

The next question is how to record Freda reading the ebook to you. You can get Audacity online.

Once you have Audacity installed on your Windows computer, you will need to adjust some of its settings by putting in the preferences as shown below:

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

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

Listen to Microsoft David read “About Carroll.” Want to add more languages and voices? You can follow the steps outlined on this Microsoft Help page. One easy way to get started involves you going to your Windows 10 Start button (the Windows flag icon in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen), then going to Settings (represented by the gear icon). Select Time & Language. Then, go to Region & Language to add a language (e.g., Spanish), then go to Speech to select your default voice. There may be a slight delay as Microsoft adds a language to your computer.

Get Audacious with Audacity

There are many other possible uses for Audacity. Recording audio readings from books, or documents you create, like ebooks, is but one example. Some other uses include:

  • Create and explore sound effects
  • Cut, copy, and paste music tracks to generate phone ringtones
  • Remix existing audio to create new versions
  • Interview students, teachers, parents, and community for podcasting
  • Record book jacket recordings for QR Code readings
  • Record and edit stories for digital storytelling efforts
  • Record peer evaluations of other students’ work
  • Audio record journal assignments or provide oral responses to journals or written content

Give Audacity a try! You will have fun learning it and applying technology to new situations.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author

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AppleChromebooksGoogle Tips and TricksiOS Tips and TricksMicrosoft

10 More Shortcuts You May Not Know

by Sara Qualls
written by Sara Qualls

Back by popular demand, it’s a whole new batch of shortcuts you may not know. These guys can help save you time and improve your daily life. If you missed the first edition, read it here! But now, let’s jump right into a new batch of tech tips and shortcuts.

1. CTRL + Shift + Z (Undo Your Undo)

Okay, so you thought you needed to get rid of that text or image, but it turns out you didn’t after all. Happens all the time! Just tap CTRL + SHIFT + Z, and voila! Undo what you just did.

2. Missing Keys

I have no idea why (I’m sure some of you do), but the Chromebook does not have a delete key. You can use ALT + BACKSPACE to start deleting text to the right of your cursor.

What about the CAPS LOCK key? Chromebook decided to leave this one off the list, too. Now, you could just use the shift key, but sometimes, you need to say a lot loudly. Use ALT + SEARCH to get your shout on via all caps!

3. CTRL + SHIFT + V

Have you ever copied and pasted something from the internet into a document, and the font, text size, etc., didn’t match up? Use CTRL + SHIFT + V. This little trick will save you time as it will only copy the text and not all the other details and formatting that come along with it.

4. Bookmark a Webpage

Like what you’re reading? Save it with ease by using CTRL + D.

5. Gmail Shortcuts

There are a plethora of shortcuts in Gmail. Here are three:

  • Use R to reply to an email.
  • Use CTRL + SHIFT + C to add CC recipients.
  • G + T opens your Sent folder!

6. Rename Files

Need to rename a file? Just select it, and tap the F2 button. No more right-clicking!

7. Browsing Hacks

So you’re surfing the web, and you reach for your mouse. STOP! Just use the spacebar to read along.

8. USB Cables

Are you always having to try, try again when you plug in those USB cables? Next time, just look for the logo or symbol and make sure it’s facing up.

9. Don’t Give Out Your Wi-Fi

Tired of changing your Wi-Fi password after each guest is gone? Here’s a tip that you will love. Qifi.org has made your life a little simpler by generating a QR code that people can scan to access your Wi-Fi without entering a password.

10. Group Text Messages

If you have an iPhone and are in an ever-evolving group chat, chances are someone has checked out. So, if you need to get their attention, tag them by typing @ symbol followed by their name. Then, you just hit the space bar or add a punctuation mark. It will make their person’s name bold, and they’ll receive a notification.

Did you learn something new? Share with me in the comments. Is there a shortcut I need to know? Let’s hear it!

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Microsoft Surface Empowers learning and simplifies security
Microsoft

New Microsoft Surface Devices Empower Learning and Simplify Security

by Microsoft Education Team
written by Microsoft Education Team

Access to individual computing devices is critical for the education of K-12 students. Benefits of this access include better instruction, enhanced creativity and collaboration, fulfillment of accessibility and special learning requirements, and teaching workplace technology skill sets. Microsoft Surface devices create better outcomes for students while also making it easier for IT organizations to support 1:1 student device models, as well as freeing up teachers’ and administrators’ time. 

Now, you can provide students with high-quality Windows devices featuring advanced security and manageability, helping to optimize return on investment in educational technology. Microsoft has expanded the Surface family, and we are proud to introduce you to our newest devices for schools, Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5, and Surface Studio 2+. 

The Surface portfolio also includes additional secure, reliable devices to enable learning from anywhere: 

  • Surface Pro 8 – Experience the 2-in-1 versatility of an ultra-light laptop and digital pen-enabled tablet with the performance teachers and students need to teach and learn
  • Surface Laptop 4 – Enable teaching and learning from anywhere, supported by incredible style, speed, and performance
  • Surface Laptop Go – Tackle projects on a sleek, lightweight laptop built for everyday use
Educator using the new Surface Pro 8.

Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) for K-12 schools deploying Surface. The study provides readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of Surface on their organizations. Key findings included teachers saved two hours per week and had higher satisfaction using Surface, and students’ learning outcomes improved across a wide range of areas.  

Read our blog to learn more about new Surface devices and offers applicable to education. 

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conditional formatting
Google Tips and TricksMicrosoft

Google Sheets Tip: Conditional Formatting Custom Formulas

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Do you ever wish the color of your spreadsheet rows would change color to match the content? If yes, you may enjoy learning about conditional formatting. Conditional formatting is a wonderful feature in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Let’s explore how to use custom formulas that can change the color of cells and rows of data based on the data in a cell.

Diving 🏊‍♂️🥽🌊 into #GoogleSheets with Biology to show how Ss grew from pre- and post-Quarter 1 test using TEKS and a little conditional formatting. Source: Lauren Hawkins’ (@EdTechHawk) Tweet

Meet the Problem

“Oh, I use conditional formatting all the time. But I want to change the colors of the first column when the data in the last column changes. How could I do that?”

It might help to see what this problem looks like. Most spreadsheet users know you can use conditional formatting.

Consider this spreadsheet, which represents a list of workshops and the number of registrants for each course:

Conditional formatting could allow me to change the colors. For example, I could add conditional formatting rules for different conditions. Let’s take a look at examples.

1) Create a sliding color scale.

These settings would adjust the colors of the cells where values appear. For example, the minimum number “0” would be red. The midpoint (“15”) would be yellow, and the maxpoint (“30”) would be green. You can see what that looks like below, as well as take a look at the color scale:

2) Apply single colors.

This is the most often used conditional formatting solution. In this case, you can use a variety of format rules. These format rules say, “Format cells if…” certain conditions are met. Here is the list of most conditions you can apply:

I often use these when getting data from a Google Form, and I want to see how YES or NO responses look.

As you can see in the screenshot above, conditional formatting changes the color of the cell. The colors depend on the value in the cell. In this case, “Yes” is green, and “No” is red.

But what happens when you want the entire row to be green or red based on the YES or NO? That’s where custom formulas come to the rescue.

Introducing Custom Formula

Custom formula makes it easy to apply colors and formatting to an entire row of data. After you highlight the rows you want to apply conditional formatting to, go to Format -> Conditional Formatting. Then, enter a formula into the “Custom Formula” option, as shown below:

You can see that you will need to enter a “value or formula” into the custom formula box:

This will allow you to enter a formula for the conditional formatting rule. In this case, I want two rules to be present:

  • When the word “Yes” appears in column “C,” the entire row to turns green
  • When the word “No” appears in column “C,” the entire row to turns red

But how do you do that? What do you type into the custom formula box?

Here’s what that looks like with one custom formula rule applied:

Notice that the $ in the formula applies formatting that matches the row of data where it appears (A2 to C2, A3 to C3). This is referred to as “absolute references” rather than relative references. If I were to not include the dollar sign, only the first column would change color, as you can see below:

To add the red fill color to each cell in a row, I have to add another rule:

Both of the custom formula rules appear below:

  • When the word “Yes” appears in column “C,” the entire row to turns green:  =$C2= “Yes”
  • When the word “No” appears in column “C,” the entire row to turns red:  =$C2= “No”

And that looks like this:

Isn’t that cool?

Want to Learn More?

As a Google Sheets user, I often find myself learning new things about stuff I thought I knew. I’ve been using conditional formatting for years. Yet, I never thought to scroll to the bottom of the formatting rules to see what else was there! Now that you know about custom formulas in conditional formatting, how will you use them?

Learn more about conditional formatting and Google Sheets:

If you don’t use either Google or Microsoft, give OnlyOffice a try. It also offers many features in spreadsheets without the price. You can read my blog entry about OnlyOffice here.

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Screenhot of templates in Word
Microsoft

More Microsoft Word Features You May Not Know

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog about features of Microsoft Word you might not know about. And today I’m sharing even more tips and tricks to make Word more useful for you.

Signature Feature in Word

If you have a document that requires a signature, you are in luck. With Microsoft Word, you can draw a signature and add it to your document. To do this:

  1. Go to the Insert tab.
  2. Click on Shapes.
  3. In the Lines section, click on the icon that looks like a scribble.
  4. Your cursor will now be ready for you to click and drag your mouse to write your signature. Once you are finished, it will be converted into a picture that you can move around or resize.

If you have a touchscreen, it might be easier to use that instead of your mouse.

Screenshot of Microsoft Word's signature feature

Start Typing Anywhere

Don’t think that you must start typing in Word at the top line. You can start in the middle of the page or even at the bottom. To do this:

  1. Move your cursor to wherever you want to type.
  2. Double click on that spot.
  3. Start typing.

Word Shortcuts

Using shortcuts can save you a lot of time. Below are a few to try out:

  • Ctrl + W – Closes Word.
  • Ctrl + Z – Undoes your last action.
  • Ctrl + Backspace – Erases entire words.
  • Ctrl + Click – Selects an entire sentence.
  • Ctrl + Enter – Inserts page break.
  • Ctrl + F – Finds specific text.
  • Ctrl + End – Goes to the end of the document.

Pre-Made Templates

You can use pre-made templates when creating a resume, menu, brochure, or need to complete other projects. These templates are provided by Microsoft and set up the document so you can start working immediately. To find and use a template, do this:

  • Go to File, then New.
  • You’ll see templates appear. You can also use the search bar to search for templates.
  • Click on the template you want to use.

There is no use in recreating the wheel if a template already exists!

Screenshot of Microsoft Word's templates

Microsoft Word Translate Feature

You can use Word’s translate feature to read and write in foreign languages. To do this:

  1. Select the text or sentence you want to translate.
  2. Right click on it.
  3. Scroll to Translate. The Translator panel will open showing the text.
  4. Select the language you want to translate it to.

If you want, you can also place the translated text into the document by clicking Insert.

Screenshot of Microsoft Word's translate feature

Try a few of these tips and tricks to boost your Microsoft Word experience! For more tips and tricks when using Microsoft Word, check out this blog post. And feel free to add your own tips in the comments.

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